Harrogate Spring Coin Fair, Old Swan Hotel Lecture Programme

Harrogate Spring Coin Fair, Old Swan Hotel

Lecture Programme

Celebrating YNS110!

Friday 15^th March, 12:00 – 4:00pm and Saturday 16^th March, 10:00 – 2:00pm

Fri 12:00 Tony Abramson Welcome: The Yorkshire Numismatic Fellowship

Early Anglo-Saxon coins

Fri 13:00 Adrian Marsden 17th century tokens

Fri 14:00 Richard Abdy Are not two sparrows sold for an as? 

A brief survey of Roman coppers in Britain

Fri 15:00 Richard Fynes Collecting tokens and medals Some examples from Yorkshire C17-20^th

Fri 16:00 John Philpotts Iron Age coins in Britain

Sat 11:00 Barrie Cook The coinage of the Wars of the Roses

Sat 12:00 Frances Simmons 20th century medals 

Sat 13:00 Pam West Collecting banknotes

Sat 14:00 James Booth Late Anglo-Saxon Coin 'Portraits'

Abstracts

Tony Abramson will open the congress with a few words about the Yorkshire Numismatic Fellowship, 1909-17.

Early Anglo-Saxon

Is it possible to assemble a meaningful selection of early Anglo-Saxon coins without breaking the bank? Tony will suggest some ideas for the collector on a modest budget.

Tony is President of YNS and has written a number of books on early-pennies (sceats).

Adrian Marsden: 17th century tokens

Seventeenth-century tokens have, over the last few years, become a popular area of collecting. It isn’t hard to understand why this has become the case – as well as furnishing attractive examples of 17^th century art with a wide range of interesting designs, the issuers themselves can be traced in the historical records and sometimes prove to have led interesting lives. This talk will show the sort of research that can be carried out and will focus on the lives of some of the Norfolk issuers.

Adrian works as Numismatist for Norfolk County Council and runs the Norfolk Token Project (www.norfolktokenproject.wordpress.com). He is also a specialist on the Roman Imperial coinage and interested in imitations of coins of all periods.

Richard Abdy: Are not two sparrows sold for an as? A brief survey of Roman coppers in Britain

It is commonplace to say there was a 'big problem over small change' in antiquity due to the limited technology available for manufacture and supply. With Roman Britain being an island at the edge of a vast empire, the logistics were as hard as they could get. This talk focuses on the copper as, the humblest coin generally available in Britain in the early centuries of Roman rule. How were they made and used in Roman society? More specifically, how did they get here and which types were the Britons likely to encounter - as no doubt many such types may still be encountered at this weekend event!

Richard is the curator of Roman Coins at the British Museum.

Richard Fynes: Collecting tokens and medals: some examples from Yorkshire

The aim of the talk is to provide novice collectors with an introductory overview of the material known as paranumismatica. Tokens and medals, ranging in date from the seventeenth to the twentieth centuries will be discussed and illustrated by examples with a Yorkshire provenance.   Within this broad range of material, much of which remains unstudied, there are many potential themes for a collection that is inexpensive in terms of initial outlay but rich in terms of its interest and significance

Dr Richard Fynes is a long-standing member of the Yorkshire Numismatic Society.  He is a Research Associate at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.  

John Philpotts: Iron Age coins in Britain

A brief introduction to the coinage circulating in Britain during the Iron Age, we will look at the tribes, denominations and Roman influences on coinage during the 1^st Century B.C./A.D.

John is the Iron Age coin specialist at Silbury Coins Ltd, one of very few companies who specialise in Iron Age coins and bring them to the market for private collectors to study and enjoy.

Barrie Cooke: The coinage of the Wars of the Roses

An examination of the 15th-century English coinage, focussing particularly on the silver, from the reigns of Henry VI to Henry VII.  It will cover the denominations issued and the mints involved, design changes and problems of identification.

Barrie Cook is curator of medieval and early modern coinage in the Department of Coins and Medals at the British Museum.

Frances Simmons: 20th century medals 

From royal commemoratives to funky artworks, the 20th century has lots of variety for the collector to choose from and at rather modest prices too.  Spanning the century this short talk will feature medals struck for royal events like the Investiture of the Prince of Wales, coronations and jubilees.  Also we’ll look at medals published in series, to celebrate anniversaries and to hoard precious metal.  Finally, we’ll look at so-called art medals, produced as provocations or simply for pleasure.

Frances is a Director of Simmons Gallery Ltd, the numismatists, and has collected of medals since 1980’s. She has often written about and lectured on the 20th century medal.

www.simmonsgallery.co.uk

Pam West: Collecting banknotes

Just an overview of collecting banknotes, muses and suggestions for collectors.

Pam is a long-time collector and dealer. Publisher and editor of various books on the subject and currently chairperson of the London branch of the International Bank Note Society.

James Booth: Late Anglo-Saxon Coin 'Portraits'

From the coinage reform of Edgar (c.973) until the Conquest in 1066 (and well beyond) the coinage shows a uniform design template: on the obverse the king's 'portrait'; on the reverse a cross, plain or ornamented, to facilitate the division of coins into cut halfpennies and farthings. Between 973 and 1066 the type changed at regular intervals (six years, later 2-3 years) and there are 25 substantive types, struck at more than 60 mints. The king's 'portrtait' frequently copies a fourth-century Roman clean-shaven diademed bust, though 'Anglo-Saxon' elements increasingly occur: crowns, pointed helmets, beards. This talk illustrates some of the types alongside their Roman or Byzantine prototypes. All the types shown can be found at the Harrogate Fair.

James Booth devised the standard classification of the Northumbrian coinage of the 8^th century (1984; 1987). He wrote a biography of Philip Larkin (2014) and has amassed and dispersed various coin collections since 1974.