In January 2019 metal detectorists discovered a major hoard of coins in the Chew Valley, near Bath. This paper presents a summary of the contents and an initial interpretation of its significance for the understanding of English coinage both before and after the Norman Conquest of 1066.

Dr Gareth Williams is curator of Early Medieval Coins and of Viking Collections at the British Museum and an Honorary Reader at University College London. He curated the exhibitions 'Vikings: life and legend' at the British Museum in 2014 and more recently has been involved in the development of a new Viking Museum in Oslo. He has published extensively on Anglo-Saxon and Viking coinage and culture. He was awarded the RNS Lhotka prize in 2008.

This paper will compare the siege coinage of the British Civil Wars and the Eighty Years War in the Netherlands, the war of independence fought by the Dutch United Provinces against the Spanish Empire. The sixteenth and seventeenth-century wars in the Low Countries were hugely influential in Britain; thanks to the Dutch diaspora in England and the presence of large numbers of English and Scottish soldiers fighting in the name of international Protestantism in the low countries. The paper will argue that these experiences were the main method by which good military practice was introduced to the British Isles in the years before the Civil Wars, including the use of obsidional coinage.

Tristan Griffin is a recently submitted PhD candidate at the University of Cambridge who has worked on the British Civil Wars for the past six years, since his undergraduate degree at the University of York. During his MPhil on Royalist castle garrisons in Yorkshire, he came across the subject of the Pontefract and Scarborough siege coinage-experience that he later used in completing a 2016 internship funded by the BNS at the Yorkshire Museum working with their Civil War coin collection.

William Wyon's work aroused much controversy and comment. This paper looks at the market for medals and coins, the impact of his work on contemporaries and the reputation that it created for him and the Royal Mint during his lifetime.

Sir Mark Jones, former curator of medals at the British Museum, is Chair of the National Trust for Scotland, the Pilgrim Trust and Hospitalfield and owner of Golden Hare Books.

This paper examines the connection between the Iron Age/Celtic coinage of Britain and Gaul. The changes in British coinage after the conquest of Gaul have primarily been seen as an independent development or one inspired by political relationships between British elites and officials in Rome. Through the use of coin hoards and iconographic evidence, this paper demonstrates that a cross-Channel connection between the coinage of Gaul and Britain existed from the beginning of coinage in Britain. This connection continued even after the Gauls were conquered and the cross-Channel relationship remained despite changes in political circumstances. This had implications for other forms of material culture, which became tied to changes in the coinage.

David Swan has recently submitted his PhD on cross-Channel developments in Iron Age coinage at the University of Warwick. He has published a paper comparing the use of the image of the carnyx on both the Iron Age and Roman coinages, and he has worked as an intern at the British Museum and as a volunteer at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford.

This paper begins by summarising the correspondence in the Stewartby Archive, focusing on that of Christopher Blunt, which constitutes the most voluminous component, and drawing attention to other highlights of the collection, for example the correspondence of Michael Dolley. It also discusses Lord Stewartby's intense collaborations with Philip Grierson, which eventually evolved into some of Grierson's more significant contributions to the discipline, and it reviews some of the general areas of Lord Stewartby's academic interests.

William Day has a background in Economic History, Medieval History and Numismatics. He came to Cambridge twenty years ago to work with Philip Grierson on the remaining Italian components of the Medieval European Coinage series, publishing vol. 12 on Northern Italy with Michael Matzke and Andrea Saccocci in 2016. He is also author of numerous articles on Italian Medieval Economic History and Numismatics. He is currently working on vol. 13 in the MEC series, which covers Central Italy.

Regular sovereign production in Britain had ceased well before the end of the Second World War but, even though the coin had disappeared from active circulation in the UK, it had maintained its reputation around the globe as a trusted and reliable bullion coin. This was particularly the case in the Middle East and the Balkans, and throughout the war the sovereign had played a significant role in supporting Allied operations. As one conflict drew to a close in 1945, another shadow war between East and West began to take shape. Preventing war-torn countries from seeking answers in communism was vital for the Western powers and, as countries like Greece teethed on the verge of economic collapse, Britain inadvertently found itself in a position where it was trying to support an international gold coinage that was no longer in use in the UK. Supplies of sovereigns were not inexhaustible, but its usefulness as a payment of last resort had been proved beyond doubt and more were needed. As international tensions grew around the world, the Royal Mint once again began striking sovereigns.

Chris Barker read History at the University of York where he also completed an MA in Cultural Heritage Management in 2011. In 2012 he began working as Assistant Curator at the Royal Mint Museum. He regularly gives talks and has spoken on topics as varied as the Royal Mint during the First World War through to the introduction of the £1 coin. He continues to work at the Museum as Information and Research Manager and is currently researching the role of the sovereign in post-war Europe.

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 marketplace 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 finishing with their withdrawal from circulation after a century of use.

Ken Eckardt 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 serious collectors of the West Indies cut and countermarked series. Subsequently he moved to the UK and set up 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), a member of the American Numismatic Society, Oxford Numismatic Society and Numismatics International.

Carl Savage is currently undertaking his PhD at the University of York and National Museums Scotland (NMS). He specialises in medieval and post medieval coins and his main research interests are in the Scottish coinage and numismatics in Scotland and how archaeological methodologies can be utilised in conjunction with single finds and hoards in Scotland. He also has an interest in the circulation of Scottish coins in England and the role and influence of borders in coin loss and interaction. He is currently working on a die study of David II’s REX SCOTTORVM pence and a new survey of numismatic finds recorded in Scotland from 2011.  He has previously worked as a commercial field archaeologist and numismatic specialist.

"In my four previous papers to the Society as President I have looked at how the coinage has been reformed at key moments over the last 350 years.  In my final paper in the series I intend to look back further still to investigate what common themes might be evident and the particular circumstances that resulted in recoinages of a more distinctive nature.  These passages of reform have had far-reaching implications determining specifications, design and usage but the motive forces behind them have often been far from purely monetary or economic.  At times political or military forces have had a substantial influence and, by taking a long view, my intention will be to present some observations that might not otherwise be apparent".

Kevin Clancy is the Director of the Royal Mint Museum, Secretary to the Royal Mint Advisory Committee on the design of coins, medals, seals and decorations, and President of the British Numismatic Society.