The Numismatic Society of Nottinghamshire

23/08/2026

Thanks to Simon Wilson for his latest post:

Northampton Christmas Dinner Fund 1914

In the late 19th century, and persisting into the early 20th, Northampton had a tradition of putting on Christmas dinners for the poor and infirm at Christmas. The weather on Christmas Day 1914 in Northampton was “delightful” according to the papers – crisp, frosty and fine. On that day 879 hampers were distributed to families, containing gifts for 2,449 poor children. A further 248 parcels were distributed to those known as “bedridden folk”.

This was 500 hampers fewer than in the previous year, as there was more employment due to the upturn in the market for military boots, though there were 36 more parcels given to the invalids.

The appeal had, this year, also included a Santa Claus Fund, providing gifts for children with parents or siblings in the forces. It was said that 2,914 children in Northampton were dependents of men serving in the forces, and 80 were the children of men posted killed or missing since the beginning of the war.

There were also 3,000 gifts (mainly clothing) provided by collectors in the USA and the town also provided gifts of chocolate and ci******es to wounded men being treated in Northampton and the surrounding area. The American gifts included provision for Northampton's children and for 34 Belgian children living in town.

Apart from the normal volunteers who supervised the parcels, Boy Scouts were used to help with the American gifts and the Santa Claus Fund and the Soldiers' and Sailors' Families Association compiled the necessary list of children with serving parents.

It was also announced that instead of toys, the children of Northampton would be given a commemorative war medal. This would be given to all children between the ages of 3 and 14 years who resided in a house where at least one member was serving in in the forces. This was said to be “commemorative of the great struggle in which Britain is engaged”, though there was also a shortage of women to produce toys and dolls as they were performing other volunteer work in relation to the war.

The intention was for the medals to be distributed before the children broke up for the Christmas holiday, but the parcel of medallions was held up due to chaos on the railways. So many men were going on leave for Christmas, and so many parcels were being sent to servicemen that the system couldn't cope. The medallions were caught in the backlog and were eventually distributed on Tuesday 12 January 1915, after the return to school.

3,100 were supplied. One hundred were retained by the committee for distribution to children too young to go to school and the rest given out at school. Compared to the issue of 22,000 Coronation medals issued by Northampton in 1911, this is a very limited distribution.

The obverse bears the arms of Northampton with “CHRISTMAS DINNER FUND” above and “MAYOR/E. C. PARKER on a tablet below the castle and “CASTELLO FORTIOR CONCORDIA” on a scroll below.

The reverse has crossed flags (Union Flag and Royal Standard) with a soldier and sailor standing by a shield with the inscription “A/RECOGNITION/OF MY/FATHER'S/PATRIOTISM”. The reverse is bordered by a wreath of oak leaves and has the makers name Vaughton, Birm outside the wreath at the bottom of the medal.

The medal is made of brass and is 32mm in diameter and a loop at the top for a pin suspender. It is very similar to the 1911 Northampton coronation medal from the same company.

23/05/2026

Thanks to Simon Wilson for his latest post:

Chesterfield Peace Medallion 1919

Base metal Peace medals, given out by the thousand to school children in 1919, are reasonably common, but in general we know very little about them. Many of them hardly merited a mention in the local papers at the time. However, the Chesterfield medallion appears in the press several times.

It is a modest white metal medallion with a diameter of 39mm. The obverse is a standard design from Arthur Fenwick of Birmingham, bearing a chain circle around the outer edge with the names of allied countries, and three shields inside the chain, two bearing the emblems of the allies and the Empire, and one having the union flag on it. On the left side are the floral emblems of the home nations (rose, shamrock, thistle and daffodil) and on the right a spray of laurel and some indeterminate leaves which could be a palm. At the base of the shields are clasped hands and a scroll saying “UNITED IN THE CAUSE OF LIBERTY”. The words REG NO and the number 665632 appear under the scroll.

The reverse design consists of a pomegranate plant and, in a ring around it “SIGILLVM COMMUNE BURGI CESTREFELD” - the seal of the town of Chesterfield. Outside that ring is further lettering “TO COMMEMORATE THE TERMINATION OF THE GREAT WORLD WAR: COMMENCED 4 AUG·ARMISTICE 11 NOV 1918·PEACE 28 JUNE 1919”. The medal has been pierced for a suspension ring and the word “TO” has been obliterated.

I would have thought the town seal was the obverse and the shield design the reverse, but this I how they are described in the newspaper reports.

The first mention of the medal is in the Courier on 12 July discussing plans for the Peace celebration and mentioning that the response from the ex-servicemen of the town had “not been up to expectations”. I suppose that after serving in the war the last thing many of them wanted to do to celebrate peace was to form up, be shouted at and march round town, even if a free lunch was on offer. The same report said that a commemorative medal is being designed with the Borough arms and would be issued at a later date.

The next mention of the medals is in the Derbyshire Times 13 September 1919 when the costs for the celebration were itemised – the cost for 8,100 children, ”including medals” was £739 3s 0d (1s 10d per child). They were given a good meal, with real butter rather than margarine on the bread.

The third mention comes from the Derbyshire Times 4 October 1919. G A Eastwood, the Chairman of the Chesterfield Education Committee made a speech and gave out medals, with red, white and blue ribbons, at the Central Secondary School. Medals were given to class monitors, who were to distribute them to classmates. Pupils who left between January and June of that year were also to receive them, as were the Belgian refugees who had attended the school during the war. Mr Eastwood was presented with one of the medals by a pupil, who pinned it on his jacket.

He reminded them all of the importance of what the medals represented, and the sacrifices made by the thousands of soldiers, buried in France and Flanders, who had died fighting for their country.

The final mention of the medals come in a court case in the Belper News 10 October 1919. An argument between two children in Chesterfield had escalated to involve the mothers as a 13-year-old-girl had tried to take a medal off a younger boy. The girl's mother assaulted the boy's mother and was taken to court, where the following exchange took place:
- The Chairman (Dr Booth): What kind of a medal was it you were quarrelling over?
- Witness: It was a Peace Medal (Laughter.)
The defendant was fined 10s and costs.

22/05/2026

The State of Israel was established in 1948 as the result of the Zionist political movement which was founded at the end of the 19th century by Theodore Herzl. In 1958 the state created the Israel Coins and Medals Corporation in order to be "an ambassador for the distribution of the legal tender commemorative coins issued by the Bank of Israel and the Israel State Medals, as well as for the promotion of Israeli artistry and Judaica." Attractive souvenir medals were made most years, and are popular with members of the Jewish diaspora and collectors in general.

This medal is from the estate of Bruno Frei, a prominent Marxist author who lived from 1897-1988 and who we will look at in more detail in a later post. It was made in 1963 and has on the front a map of the Holy Land showing the Sea of Galilee, the Dead Sea as well as key locations such as Jerusalem and Joppa.

The reverse is very simple, with a quote from Leviticus 19:18 in French, English and Hebrew which reads "Love thy neighbour as thyself". I offer no further comment on these important words beside inviting you to take a moment to reflect on them and their significance.

16/05/2026

The First Jewish - Roman War was an important event in world history, with consequences that can be felt to this day. The main fighting ended in 70 AD when a Roman army under the command of Titus, the son of the recently appointed emperor Vespasian, captured and largely destroyed Jerusalem, including the temple that was the centre of the Jewish religion.

After their hard-won victory, the Romans held celebrations at their siege camp and then moved on (though leaving the 10th Legion 'Fratensis' as a garrison). The Jewish historian Josephus who was with the Romans tells us that "[Titus] then went down with his army to that Caesarea that lay by the seaside and there laid up the rest of his spoils in great quantities, and gave the order that the captives should be kept there; for the winter season hindered him then from sailing into Italy."

We therefore know that Titus had taken the plunder from Jerusalem, which must have included the treasure from the temple, to Caesarea. This was in the winter of 70 AD, which according to the way regnal dates were calculated put it in the third year of his father's reign (even though he had only been proclaimed emperor just over a year before).

At this time, silver tetradrachm coins appeared which were quite different from others in circulation at the time. On some variants Vespasian was shown, and others Titus. The coins' reverses had an eagle standing on a palm branch with an upright club to its left. These coins are believed to have been minted in Caesarea Maritima, and all are dated to Vespasian's third regnal year, meaning it is likely they were made from the treasure taken from Jerusalem.

Analysis of the metals in the coins has shown that their composition is substantially different to contemporary tetradrachms that are attributed to Antioch and Alexandria. This is consistent with the hypothesis that they came from the plunder of war rather than the Roman mints' usual sources.

The design is also interesting. The Jews paid their temple tax in shekels of Tyre, a rich city further up the coast. A silver tetradrachm like this would have paid the annual tax for two people. An eagle and an upright club were the main design elements on the Tyrian shekels, and it is unquestionable that it was the inspiration for this coin's reverse design.

So here we have here a coin that was made in 70-71 AD, probably using treasure taken from Jerusalem and its temple. It is likely that it was made at the behest of Titus to reward his soldiers, pay suppliers and to fund the extravagant celebrations that followed the victory. Its design was carefully chosen to highlight the fact that Roman tetradrachms now replaced Tyrian shekels as the silver coin of choice in Judaea, and possibly to emphasise that it was made with the very shekels that had been used to fund the temple which now lay in ruins.

16/05/2026

Thanks to Simon Wilson for his latest post:

Death of Queen Caroline – the Injured Queen of England

In her day she was as notable, and as divisive, as Diana, Princess of Wales, a fact driven home by a 2008 radio play. Her funeral procession in 1821 was routed to avoid the city centre, but the mob that gathered redirected it through Westminster. The crowd pelted escorting soldiers with cobbles torn from the road and the soldiers retaliated by firing on the crowd. Two men were killed - Richard Honey, a carpenter, and George Francis, a bricklayer. Eventually, after spending the night in Colchester, the coffin embarked on a ship at Harwich on its way to burial in Brunswick Cathedral.

How did this come about?

Well, her life started conventionally enough, born in 1768, the daughter of the Duke of Brunswick, her parents didn't believe in educating girls, though she was taught English, as were many daughters of the German aristocracy, because her parents were hopeful of her marrying into the English royal family. She accomplished this is in 1794 when she married the future George IV. Unfortunately, he was already married to Maria Fitzherbert. It was a complicated situation, as he could not marry without the permission of his father, so the marriage was invalid. If it had been declared valid, George would have been removed from the line of succession as Mrs Fitzherbert was a Roman Catholic.

The position of Catholicism in the UK has been problematic for centuries. Henry VIII started the ball rolling when he founded his own Church to get a divorce, the Pope then excommunicated Queen Elizabeth I and it took many years to reconcile the two religions – the Succession to the Crown Act 2013 being the latest legislation about something that started in 1531.

It was not a union destined for happiness – on first meeting both were disappointed by what they saw. They had one daughter, Charlotte, and three days after her birth George made a new will, leaving all his property to "Maria Fitzherbert, my wife" and leaving Caroline just a shilling.

The marriage broke down and there were many attempts to destroy her good name, but although she was cut out of Royal society she remained popular with the public. In 1806 she was the subject of the “Delicate Investigation” - a report of her alleged immorality. It found no evidence to back up the allegations. That same year her father was killed in battle with the French at Jena. Eventually, having negotiated an annual allowance of £35,000 (approximately £2.4 million in today's values) she went to live abroad, creating more rumours and, eventually, returning to London in 1820, where she became the subject of the Pains and Penalties Bill 1820.

This was essentially a trial of her moral character which would allow the King to divorce her. It was necessary, at the time, for one party to admit adultery and as the Queen denied it, the King had either to admit his own, numerous, infidelities, or mobilise parliament in an attempt to force a trial where she had no safeguards. Radicals were outraged and petitions in her favour raised a million signature, about one in eight of the population.

Although the Bill passed, narrowly, in the Lords, the Government did not dare risk putting it before the Commons, as many of the witnesses were clearly unreliable and the Commons were likely to bring out details of George's behaviour, causing severe strain on his already flawed reputation and destabilising the Government, which was already weak.

She was famously locked out of the Coronation of her husband, in 1821 and lost some public sympathy for her undignified behaviour, though that returned when she died three weeks later. Death was due to obstruction of the bowel, which was maybe cancer, though others said that she was poisoned.

This medalet is brass and 25mm in diameter. The obverse bears a left-facing profile of the Queen with the wording “CAROLINE QUEEN CONSORTOF GEORGE IV” and the reverse bears a funery urn on a plinth, with weeping willow trees. Dates of her birth and marriage are around the edge, with the date of death on the plinth under the urn.

11/05/2026

Thanks to Simon Wilson for his latest post:

William Beckford - A Man of Contrasts

This is another Sentimental Magazine medalet of famous personalities which were issued between March 1773 and March 1774. When I last wrote about one (David Garrick in October 2025) I mentioned how they were a useful lesson in the nature of fame and used the words “by the time you get down to William Beckford, it's time for Wikipedia”. Well, William Beckford is my next subject, and Wikipedia did feature heavily in the research.

Although little known today he is both an interesting man and a monster. He was a champion of political liberty in England, a supporter of the Radical John Wilkes, and at one point, publicly called on George III to dismiss his councillors and return to "our happy constitution as it was established in the Glorious and Necessary Revolution". The Common Council of London erected a statue as a tribute to him and had these words engraved on the plinth. He represented three seats in parliament and was Lord Mayor of London twice (1762 and 1769).

However, he was probably the richest commoner in England, inheriting a large fortune in cash, Jamaican sugar plantations and 3,000 slaves.

He neatly encapsulates the difficulty in writing history – a champion of liberty and an owner of people - and how to understand that the two things could exist in one person.

We are not helped in this by the one-sided and one-dimensional view of slavery that portrays it as a racist European crime against Africans.

The triangular trade, as it was known, was a comparatively short-lived part of the slave trade. British ships took manufactured goods to Africa, where they were traded for slaves, then shipped the slaves to the Americas before bringing back the goods they produced – sugar, to***co and cotton.

However, labourers on British Caribbean sugar plantations included white people -10,000 prisoners of war from the Civil Wars, and around 500,000 indentured labourers. These included a number of kidnap victims, with one agent said to have kidnapped over 800 people in a year. The indentured labour system was used again after slavery ended, concentrated on Indian and Chinese labourers and lasted until the 1920s.

Slavery has a history dating back around 11,000 years. At the time of the triangular trade it was already well established in Africa, with up to 30% of the population in some areas being slaves. As recently as the 11th century there were slave markets operating in England. The slaves were white – Irish, Welsh and English prisoners of war being sold as a result of capture by Vikings and in domestic rebellions. In 1086, around 10% of the population of England were slaves. Slavery in England was ended by statue in 1102, though serfdom, which was a less repressive form of forced labour, persisted until the Black Death (1348-9) broke the feudal system.

In more modern times, the treatment of the workforce was very little better than slavery, and in the case of the children purchased from workhouses by mill owners, was almost indistinguishable. In the 1790s it is reported that a third of the workers in the cotton industry were “pauper apprentices” as the children were known. Sold as young as seven, they were condemned to 14 years within the system. A local mill that took children was Lowdham, which closed in 1803 and sold the child apprentices to a mill in Derbyshire. This story reputedly inspired Dickens to write Oliver Twist.

So, although nothing can ever make slavery acceptable, you can start to see how people of the time were able to accept it as a concept.

The medalet is a simple design with a low relief portrait on the front, signed “KIRK” and the name of the subject on the reverse (“RIGHT/HONOURABLE/WILLIAM/BECKFORD”). Struck in copper, and 25.5 mm in diameter, it was available to subscribers who paid 6d for the magazine.

Further details of the series can be found on this page (David Garrick - October 2025).

26/04/2026

Thanks to Simon Wilson for his latest post:

Preston Guild 1882 - the Independent United Order of Mechanics

In 1882 several organisations, including the Independent United Order of Mechanics, issued medals to commemorate them taking part in the Preston Guild. The procession of Friendly Societies starting at 10am on the Tuesday of Guild Week.

The Order was established in Lancashire in 1757 when several masonic lodges left the main movement. It prospered for the next 100 years and established itself in northern England and southern Scotland. It registered as a Friendly Society in 1878, in line with the requirements of the Friendly Societies Act, though this caused a split within the society with many, being against state interference. Friendly Societies provided services that are now provided by the Welfare State, many offering funeral insurance and others going much further – providing such things as health insurance and pensions, and a succession of Acts in the 19th Century ensured that the societies were properly run and that the contributions of the members were secure.

The Order spread across the world, reaching the USA in 1910. Today it has Grand Lodges in the UK, Canada, Caribbean, USA, Netherlands and South and Central America. Their World headquarters are now in Brooklyn, NY.

They follow a spiritual path, with a variety of rituals and symbolism similar to that found in the Freemasons, even to the extent of meeting in temples symbolically echoing the temple of King Solomon.

In the 1870s there were around 32,000 Friendly Societies with a membership of around 5 million. The population of the UK in 1871 was just over 26 million. Recruitment methods included the use of regalia, parades and annual feasts. Membership was not easy to obtain as there were many medical questions (including family members) and some, like the Hearts of Oak Society had a minimum wage requirement. The cost of joining the Mechanics was 6s (if aged 18-35, more for older members). This covered a funeral grant of £8 for men and £6 for wives. In addition, a 1/- a month subscription qualified members for sickness benefits of 9s a week and unemployment pay of 1s 4d a day. Although 9s a day was a big drop from the 20 or 30s a skilled man could make, it was enough to keep a family from starvation.

The Mechanics seem to have peaked at a membership of 17,378 in 1876 but disagreements over registration and various other matters saw this fall to around 9,000. There were, as a result of several splits, so many different Mechanic's Societies that the Parliamentary Committee remarked “it is very difficult to distinguish the several orders of Mechanics”.

There was, at one time, a Cumbrian schism, resulting in the Free and Independent United Order of Mechanics. They ran in parallel with the parent group for many years, but as local industries closed and the National Insurance Act of 1946 came into force, it eventually dissolved in 1951.

This medallion, like others in the series, is 39mm in diameter and is often seen with a brass brooch showing the arms of Preston

The obverse is well struck and bears the arms of the society with a number of masonic style emblems, including an all-seeing eye, which has been mainly obliterated by the suspension piercing. It also has the wording “INDEPENDENT UNITED ORDER OF MECHANICS” around the upper edge. Above the arms are the letters TUC. I can only think that this refers to The Trades Union Council, which was established in 1868, though I have yet to find further details of the link. Under the lower scroll are the words “WINDSOR”, “LONDON” and “REGISTERED” which also currently need further research.

The reverse has a border of laurels with the inscription “IN/COMMEMORATION/OF THE SOCIETY'S/DEMONSTRATION/PRESTON GUILD/SEPTR-1882” above clasped hands and “REGD”.

25/04/2026

The Roman Empire was built around the power of its military and its ability to dominate its neighbours. By the time the Sasanian Empire was established in Persia around 224 AD, Rome had extended its boundaries to their maximum extent and had a long-standing border along the Euphrates river which was garrisoned with 10-12 legions. These were partly to ensure control over the vassals and populations who were subjected to Roman tax farmers, and partly to guard against the Persians who were considered one of Rome's main rivals.

The Sasanians considered parts of Roman Syria and Mesopotamia to be their rightful lands - and so there were frequent wars as they sought to force out their neighbours who needed to also protect their long and tenuous German and Danubian borders while being beset by frequent internal revolts and civil wars.

This coin is a silver obol made under the Sasanian Emperor Shapur I. It weighs just under 0.7g and was worth 1/6 of a silver drachm. On the front we can see Shapur himself with a legend which translates to "The Mazda-worshipping Lord Shapur, King of Kings of the Iranians and non-Iranians, whose essence is from the gods." The reverse shows a Zoroastrian fire altar flanked by attendants.

Shapur ruled from around 240-272 AD and is most famous in the west for his conflicts with the Romans, including getting an indemnity of 500,000 gold coins from the Emperor Philip I "The Arab" to secure a peace treaty and later in 260 AD capturing the Emperor Valerian at the Battle of Edessa and allegedly using him as a mounting stool (though this was probably just propaganda). We do know that the prisoners from Valerian's army were put to work by the Sasanians, building a large dam/bridge near Shushtar known as Band-e Kaisar (Caesar's Bridge) which can still be seen to this day.

19/04/2026

Thanks to Simon Wilson for another fascinating post:

General Strike 1926 - Almost a Revolution

The General Strike is one of those events that has many interpretations, and which highlights the difficulties in writing about things a hundred years after they occurred. It's a question of perspective. The strike, according to several writers, was the foundation for many important reforms achieved by unions. To the Communists it was a failed opportunity, to the Government, a revolution averted. To Arthur Cook, leader of the miners, it seemed that “a complete surrender” had been conceded by the TUC.

Even before the Great War, the “Great Unrest” had seen multiple large-scale strikes and troops had been called out to keep order. The Suffragettes were even more of a handful and set off a number of bombs. The Great War gave people a new focus – without it there may well have been significant violence, and even a revolution according to several historians. The Russian Revolution, the Spartacist uprising in Germany and the UK riots in 1919 reignited these fears. Even trade unionists and the Labour Party were worried, in case increasing Communist-inspired militancy lost them the sympathy of the public.

When the General Strike was called in 1926 many people rallied round the Government. This was not accidental, the Government had formed an organisation, the Organisation for the Maintenance of Supplies (OMS) in 1925, as fears of confrontation grew. The OMS was compared to the Ku Klux Klan and the Blackshirts by the Daily Express, and was declared to be a fascist organisation by the Metropolitan Police. This was ironic, as fascists were expressly banned from membership unless they renounced their affiliations.

I know of only one medal associated with the General Strike, the large, dull, bronze medallion given out by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS). I use the word “dull” deliberately, as it describes both the matt finish of the bronze and the uninspired design. It was given out to staff and volunteers who kept the railway running during the General Strike.

It was designed by Ernest Gillick (1874-1951), who was raised in Nottingham and educated at the Nottingham School of Art. There he met his wife Mary, whose work included the bust of Elizabeth II used on British pre-decimal coins.

The obverse features a helmeted Britannia. She is holding an olive branch in an outstretched arm. Above the arm is the wing of the LMS badge. It is flanked by a rose and thistle, in place of the more normal sprays of rose and thistle with foliage.

It has the inscription “FOR SERVICE IN/NATIONAL/EMERGENCY/MAY 1926”, inelegantly broken up by the figure.

The reverse shows three classically draped female figures standing back-to-back and holding two steam locomotives. This represents unity and teamwork, and the key role of the railways. There is an inscription, again fractured by the figures. “LARGITAS/MVNERIS/SALVS/REPVBLICAE”. This translates as “generosity of service is the safety of the republic”.

It is signed E. GILLICK at the base.

The medals are 51mm in diameter and were struck by the Royal Mint. Records indicate that 7,370 were produced.

I didn't know, until I started to research this medal, that the Flying Scotsman express had been derailed by striking miners at Cramlington. They removed a rail, thinking they were going to stop a slow-moving coal train that was breaking the strike. What they actually did was derail the Flying Scotsman express, moving at speed with 281 passengers on board. Fortunately, nobody was killed, though several people were hurt – one or two passengers (according to different reports) and one volunteer crewman. It's too long a story for here but it also involves large groups throwing stones at maintenance staff and, a few hours later, another crash, in Edinburgh, caused by lack of trained staff (460,000 rail staff being on strike), where three people were killed and thirteen injured. These were both LNER crashes, rather than LMS, but it does show what a battleground the railways were during the General Strike. These medals were hard-earned.

14/04/2026