December 24th 2020.

Upcoming club meetings:

Monday 4th January – 8pm.

·        Subject - This will be another ‘Zoom’ meeting, open to all members. We will  be having a talk from Peter as well as bringing members up to date with any developments.

 

November Meeting

The electronic ‘Zoom’ meeting was attended by nine members.

 

John informed everyone that being in tiers meant that there have been no changes and that future meetings will still be electronic till we get out ‘the other side’. Graham has had some interesting books in, including one on the Iconography of Early Anglo Saxon Coinage. It’s for sale if anyone is interested. There followed a discussion about the days of collecting when you needed a licence for gold coins. John then informed the members of the one piece of good news we have had, namely that the Abbey Baptist Church will not be putting up the rent next year! We have also had the latest copy of the BNJ and if anyone wants to get hold of it, let me know and we’ll arrange something.

 

If you have not joined in our Zoom sessions before, please do have a go. Its not difficult (ask any grandchild to help you) 😊. We believe it is important to keep the members of the club in touch with one another and this is a good way to do it. Meetings are currently limited to 40 minutes and only once a month so they shouldn’t take up too much of anyone’s time.

 

We were now treated to Gavin’s Christmas Quiz. The questions are below and in the PDF attachment, the answers will be in January’s newsletter. The winner of the quiz was Michael with eleven out of twenty, Graham was second with 9 and there was a tie for third place (John and Alastair) with eight. Well done Michael and thank you very much to Gavin (and Ann) for all the hard work they put into the quiz.

 

1)      Whose portrait is this?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


2)      Which country introduced the hippopotamus to modern numismatics?

3)      The first silver crown-sized silver coin in the world was struck in 1486.  Who issued it?

4)      When were Lundy Puffins originally struck?

5)      Which country issued this coin?

6)      In which year was the first English gold sovereign struck?

7)      What do the initials IBSCC stand for?

8)      What was one of the main reasons for the introduction of the window tax on dwelling houses?

9)      A horn of plenty and a beehive appear at Britannia’s feet on what English coin?

10)  What is missing from this coin?

 

 

11)  Of what country could one say that coin collecting is FUN?

12)  What main civilisation never used coins?

13)  Whose portrait is this?

 

 

 

 

 

 


14)  What is the name of the horse on the 1953 crown?

15)  When was Pistrucci appointed Chief Engraver at the Royal Mint?

16)  What derisive name was given to the reverse design of the 1953 sixpence?

17)  Whose portrait is this?

18)  Which British milled coin was only issued for four years?

19)  In what part of the world did tin ingots circulate as money?

20)  Whose portrait is this and on what coins does it appear?

The meeting the turned into a discussion amongst the members covering such areas as how the price of silver has varied over the years, from 4 times face to 28 times face and how gas meters were a good place to find older shillings. Sovereigns were available at £3 15/- and Michael recalled how his first Krugerrand cost £16.

 

I am looking for contributions for the newsletter, along the line of the one below, to go in the January and later newsletters. These are only meant to be short articles and I’ll be grateful for any help received.

 

You will also find the latest communications from the BNS along with this newsletter, there are three in total. Sadly it is impractical to print them out for our non e-mail members.

 

In this issue of the newsletter we have another article from Graham about an interesting medal he obtained recently.

 

NOT ALL MEDALS ARE ROUND

 

This silver medallion weighs in at a hefty 113 g with vital statistics of 80mm X 50mm X 4mm.

 

 

It is from the Durham School and dated 1882. The School, founded in 1414 by a Thomas Langley, is now an independent boarding and day school. In 1541 it was re-founded by Henry VIII, and in 1844 the school moved from its site on Palace Green to its current location across the river. It was an all-boys institution until 1985 when girls were admitted to the sixth form, becoming fully co-educational in 1998.

 

The Schools fine coat of arms features in bold relief. Mr. Holden had been the school’s headmaster since 1853 and introduced the three-term system used today. He also arranged for the enlarging the playing fields and the building an open-air swimming pool.

 

It came into my possession with a good fitted case together with a battered silver frame containing the recipient’s photo, HGS Burkitt. The back of the photo was marked ‘17 Dogras’.  The infantry- regiment became part of the British India Army in 1922 after the Indian government decided to reform the army moving away from single battalion regiments to multi battalion regiments. After the partition of India in 1947 it was allocated to the new Indian Army and renamed the Dogra regiment. No other details of Mr Burkitt have been traced.

 

 

IN HONOREM HENRICI HOLDEN S.T.P.  ANNO XXIX ARCHIDIIDASC. ALVMINI MEMORES A.S. MDCCCLXXXII

 

Engraved: MERUIT HGS BURKITT MCMXXXII

 

Past Events

 

Finally a Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year to All Our Members.

Club Secretary.