For the present, because of government restrictions enforced due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Society is meeting online via Zoom.
Minutes of the Meeting of the British Numismatic Society, held online via Zoom on Tuesday, 22 June 2021, Dr Clancy, President, being in the chair and 36 other people present.
NOMINATIONS: Dr David Ian Calvert (London), Elizabeth McKeown (Belfast) and Ricky Thomas Parrish (London) were nominated for Ordinary Membership. Arrun Jack Thuraisingham (Norfolk) was nominated for Student Membership.
ELECTIONS: None.
RESIGNATIONS: Cristina Sanna (Wiltshire, 2015) and Dr Gordon Andreas Singer (USA, 2000) had tendered their resignations.
Chris Barker then read a paper entitled ‘In case of emergency’: the return of sovereign production after the Second World War.
The President then announced the date of the next meeting and closed the meeting.
The Society's autumn programme commences next Tuesday, 28 September, when our speaker is Ken Eckardt, and his topic Tortola cut and countermarked coins: a century of marketplace money.
Capacity is limited, so members are asked to register in advance. To join the meeting, please use the registration link emailed you in the September E-news.
Those who register will be sent log-in details via email. If you are using the desktop version of Zoom, please ensure that you are using the most up-to-date version before joining the webinar. The meeting itself will commence with formal business at 6pm London BST and Mr Eckardt's lecture will begin immediately after that.
Cut and countermarked coins, mostly of Spanish-American origin, augmented by local tokens, served as the money of the day throughout the West Indies during the 19th century. The various series hold a fascination of their own and enjoy a keen following among present-day collectors. If you are one of them, you will not want to miss this lecture by one of the foremost students of it.
More details:
Neglect relative to coinage from the home countries created a problem in the West Indies from the mid-18th until well into the 19th century. The local solution was to cut and countermark coins, mainly from the Spanish-American mints, in order to allow day-to day market place business to function. This paper will set out to review the cut and countermarked coins used in Tortola, establishing their typology, a time line for their production and ending up with their withdrawal from circulation after a century of use.
Ken Eckhardt is an independent scholar and collector. He grew up in Los Angeles and started collecting coins as a schoolboy. His work in the electronic components industry took him to Barbados, which sparked his interest in the numismatic history of the colonial West Indies. A move to Puerto Rico in 1975 enabled to him to develop his interest further, meeting many of the 'big guns' in the West Indies cut and countermarked series. Subsequently he moved to the UK to establish a business in the TV broadcast industry. Now retired, he is working on a number of projects relating to West Indies cut and countermarked coins with a view to publication. He is a Life Member of the American Numismatic Association (50 years of membership this year), The American Numismatic Society, Oxford Numismatic Society and Numismatics International.
Meetings continue online for now, but the next in-person meeting is set for November
Because our regular meeting venue, London's Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, has imposed an audience limit of 20 people for all third-party functions, the Society will continue to meet online in September and October. However, Swedenborg Hall, our traditional (and larger) venue for the Society's May and November meetings, is currently hosting third-party functions for up to 60 people, so it is hoped to stage the Anniversary Meeting there on 23 November as a hybrid event. More news on this nearer the date.
The Society's postponed Summer Meeting, in the form of a conference entitled Currency Systems: Reforms, Renewals and Failures, will take place on Saturday 2 July 2022 in the Headley Lecture Theatre at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford.
The Blog continues to publish a wide spectrum of articles and welcomes further submissions. In August alone we have published articles on Commonwealth shillings, a James I shilling, long cross coins of Henry III and Edward I, a continental sterling, and Bedfordshire tokens. A handy index to all blog articles may be accessed here: Link
We would like to supplement our small core of regular authors with new contributors, and although some articles appear quite formal it must be emphasised that formal articles to academic standards are not a requirement for publication; it is intended that informal articles also be included. The BNS Research Blog provides a mechanism whereby the voice of the everyday collector may be heard, as well as that of established numismatists. As the content of articles is not subject to editorial review prior to publication online, readers may provide editorial comment or questions by means of the blog comment facility. Prospective authors that have questions about the blog publishing process are encouraged to contact our Website Officer, Robert Page, via This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
We encourage you to consider submitting an article; or check out the latest contributions at https://britnumsoc.blog
Missed a previous meeting? Then catch up with it on the website
From time to time, and with the permission of our lecturers, the Society will make available recordings from our monthly meetings. You can access the February, March, April, May and June talks at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., go to the menu tab for 'Meetings', then click the link to view a particular presentation. The video recording should succesfully play on any computer that has a suitable video player installed, e.g. VLC, which can be freely obtained online.
Proceeds from an Anglo-Saxon collection to benefit the Society
Normally E-NEWS is not in the habit of promoting commercial numismatics, preferring to refer those interested in significant offerings to consult the list below. However, an exception can be made, partly because half of the the proceeds of the auction of the Anglo-Saxon coin collection formed by our late member John Cross, from Canterbury, directly benefits the Society, as per the terms of Mr Cross's Will.
The collection is being sold on 3 October in an online event by Canterbury Auction Galleries (thecanterbury auctiongalleries.com). Descriptions of the coins on the company's website are modest, to put it mildly, and not all should be assumed to be correct, but as the auction is being staged on a Sunday and unlikely to attract wide interest we are happy to bring it to the attention of our members here.
2021
September 23. Comber Collection Part II (London). https://www.google.com/url?q=http://stjameslondon.co.uk&source=gmail&ust=1632638853298000&usg=AFQjCNHTtI9YxW6ivk6K_vyV67tO_Pou0w">stjameslondon.co.uk
September 24-25. COINEX (London). CONFIRMED. https://www.google.com/url?q=http://bnta.net&source=gmail&ust=1632638853298000&usg=AFQjCNE7CZKxrz4dbnEdozogp17LiNM4Sw">bnta.net
September 28. Abramson Collection Part III (London). https://www.google.com/url?q=http://spink.com&source=gmail&ust=1632638853298000&usg=AFQjCNGhT6NQpdug_mDm_BaOfehy6eBTlA">spink.com
September 28. Hird Collection (London). https://www.google.com/url?q=http://spink.com&source=gmail&ust=1632638853298000&usg=AFQjCNGhT6NQpdug_mDm_BaOfehy6eBTlA">spink.com
September 28. Society meeting (Online)
September 30. Abramson Collection Part IV (London). https://www.google.com/url?q=http://spink.com&source=gmail&ust=1632638853298000&usg=AFQjCNGhT6NQpdug_mDm_BaOfehy6eBTlA">spink.com
October 1-2. 50th World Paper Money Fair (London). CONFIRMED. https://www.google.com/url?q=http://wpmf.info&source=gmail&ust=1632638853298000&usg=AFQjCNFVtdKI_Bhs3XGYS4FKlUvhmy-58A">wpmf.info
October 1 to 3. Annual Token Congress (Northampton). CONFIRMED. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
October 26. Society meeting (Online)
December 1 to 4. FIDEM Congress (Tokyo). fidem2020.tokyo
December 9. Comber Collection Part III (London). https://www.google.com/url?q=http://stjameslondon.co.uk&source=gmail&ust=1632638853298000&usg=AFQjCNHTtI9YxW6ivk6K_vyV67tO_Pou0w">stjameslondon.co.uk
2022
April 8 to 10. British Association of Numismatic Societies Congress (Portsmouth). This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
September 11 to 16. International Numismatic Congress (Warsaw). CONFIRMED. ihttps://www.google.com/url?q=http://nc2022.pl&source=gmail&ust=1632638853298000&usg=AFQjCNEb_PYKsG9roKXSclQEd-WneyLHIA">nc2022.pl