President's Report

President's Report

Annual General Meeting: 19th November 2015



General Meetings

We were addressed on January 16th at the York Stamp & Coin Fair by Andy Woods who spoke on the fascinating Viking camp at Torksey. On 14th February, I talked on early Anglo-Saxon coinage, at a joint meeting with the Yorkshire branch of the Council for British Archaeology (CBA) at Claremont, Leeds. Ailsa Mainman addressed us on Anglian York on March 18th at the annual Harrogate Coin Fair. All of these events were well attended.

Major meetings

Yet again the Society successfully hosted the Annual Joint Summer meeting of the British and Royal Numismatic Societies. This event took place at the Yorkshire Museum, in their splendidly renovated library, on Saturday 11th July. Andy Woods’ full report is on the Society’s website.

Achievements in 2015

As proposed at the last AGM, bridges have been built with other local societies. Apart from the joint meeting with CBA, I have spoken at Scarborough Historical and Archaeological Society and Leeds Philosophical & Literature Society, both of which were attended by YNS members. Moreover, our social media continues to attract new members and our blog reports all of these events. I am grateful for the support of Vice President David Lee in these endeavours. Andy Woods continues to promote the society among his many contacts at Yorkshire Museum Trust. This year's Leeds International Medieval Congress had significant numismatic content with strong attendance from leading universities and museums. Our members continue to publish widely; notable recently is Lee Toone’s joint authorship of The London Mint of Constantius and Constantine, available from Spink & Son.

Membership

The small decline in membership is entirely attributable to non-renewal by postal members, an inevitable cost of migrating to an online presence. Numbers are now:

Honorary 4

Ordinary:

UK 41

Overseas 4

Associate 14

Total 63


Social Media

The Society now has 490 Twitter members (LY 301) and 131 in the Facebook group (LY 107). The YNS blog has received a total of 13,354 page views (LY 17,131) from 80 different countries.


Finances

The Society remains in a healthy position having again registered a surplus. Members will receive a set of accounts separately.



Organisational Matters

I am prepared to continue in a caretaker role as president and bookkeeper but nominations are welcomed for all the Society’s offices. I encourage any fresh ideas, especially as regards organising the annual programme, but with one caveat: those proposing the ideas must be prepared to implement them, or find others who will. Examples might included coin handling sessions based on the collections at York/Leeds museum/university or just informal gatherings of like-minded collectors.

If another member wishes to assume the responsibility for running the society, I will have no qualms about stepping aside and assisting as best I can.

Finally, I would like to thank all those who have supported me this year.



Kind regards,
Tony Abramson.

November 2015.