COIN COLLECTING

Greymouth Evening Star, 27 December 1944, Page 4

COIN COLLECTING

BOOM IN BRITAIN

London numismatic experts say coin collecting is having its greatest popularity for many years, and bids fair to rival philately (says the London correrspondent of the “Sydney Morning Herald”). Interest in all branches of numismatics has resulted in rising prices, and people who have been collecting over a number of years are making large profits. servicemen inveterate coin collectors, have done much to stimulate interest in England, where, it is stated, the craftsmanship of the engraver and medallist has not received the recognition which centuries ago it gained in Greece, Imperial Rome, and Renaissance Europe as one of the major arts. These collectors of old coins need more patience than most other connoisseurs, for they are seldom rewarded with a really startling find. This is due to the great quantity of coins that exist; excavators are constantly turning them up, and the subsoil of England is littered with them. The only two Edward 11. gold florins of 1334 in existence, for instance, were found by small boys mud-larking in the Tyne. They are m the British Museum, and it is impossible to estimate how much they would bring if they were put on the open market. One of England’s leading numismatic enthusiasts had a stroke of luck in France when he picked up a solitary example of the Edward VI. halfpenny, not until then known to exist.

Britain’s coinage is linked up with some of the most romantic and momentous incidents of her history. One of the most unusual coins, the size of sixpence, was supposed to have the power of curing scrofula or the “King’s evil.” It was struck by the man who claimed to be the last Stuart king—Henry, Duke of York and Cardinal. The coin bears the imprint of “Henry, Duke of York, Car? dinal, Bishop of Pusculum, and King of Great Britain, France and Ireland.” The Stuarts claimed the power to cure scrofula by means of these “touch pieces.” One coin rarity, a Queen Anne five guinea piece of 1706, contains a minting error. It coiners stamped it with the shields of Great Britain, Ireland, and France a year before the Union between England and Scotland in 1707.

One of the most recent errors was made when West African natives were given King Edward VIII. coins bearing on one side a stated value of 10 cents —a denomination intended for the other side of the Continent. These pennies are now worth 300 times their face value. Edward V. was king for only a few months, but within three weeks of his accession a coinage of angels and groats was rushed out. These are England’s rarest angels. Richard 111 did not wait for new dies, but used those of the' boy king; stamping “Ric” over the first part of

“Edward” so that the coins bore the name “Ricard.”

A fortune of £275,000 is in the hands of coin collectors—the present value of the gold Coronation coins issued in 1937. A set of the coins now

brings £50 —little more than the actual value of the gold. There were 5,500 sets of the coins minted and sold through dealers to collectors. The four gold pieces of ATS, £2. £l, and 10/- were worth only their ace value-of £B/10/-, but Were not intended for general circulation, and the edges were left unmilled. The Mint sold them at £2l, their bullion value at the time.

Specimen sets of Coronation silver and bronze coins have not risen much above the original value of 30/-, but American soldiers are sending up values. They are paying £1 for George V Jubilee and George VI Coronation 5/- pieces.

Initials on coms are sometimes a cause of error. The tiny initials “K.G.” tucked away in the designs on silver coins are frequently thought to mean King George, but they are the; initials of Kruger Gray, artist and designer of the coins. Similarly “8.M.,” which appears at

the base of the King’s neck on the coinage of George V., is sometimes taken to mean “Birmingham Mint,” but again they are the initials of the designer, Bertram Mackennal.

KING GEORGE’S REQUEST Incidentally, Mackennal was fond of telling a story of how the King said to him at the time, “Make the V as prominent as possible, it would be awful to be taken for any of the other lour Georges.” • Many coins of recent years are more remarkable than some pieces of the past. Rarest of all is a penny dated 1933. There were only four struck. One is in the foundations of London University, one in the stonework of another building, and the Mint and the British Museum have one each. Generally the coinage of 1887, her Jubilee year, did not please Queen Victoria. She was shown as a real martinet with the crown stuck at a jaunty angle on the back of her head. A committee appointed to examine the offending coins agreed that the Queen was made to look ridiculous and the coinage was withdrawn. The sixpences had been immed : ately recalled because they were easily gilded over and passed as half-sovereigns. The “bun” penny of 1860-95 is socalled because of the way. the Queen’s hair is done.