London Mint Talk

I have been asked by the  Yorkshire Numismatic Society to give a talk on the London Mint. The talk will focus on the period from AD 319 to 325 and will be based on my recent article and research. It will take place on 5th March 2011 at the Swarthmore College, Woodhouse Square, Leeds at 2.00pm for 2.30pm and I am informed that guests are all welcome.

Those were the days .......... !

The Cae Bardd hoard featured significantly in my article on the London mint covering the period AD 319 to 325. Found in 1981 and published in Coin Hoards from Roman Britain Volume VII it contained 4,716 coins including 1,978 from the London mint. The report records that the hoard was subsequently bought by a dealer and dispersed.

Thanks to a good friend of mine (thank you Adrian!), this week I have obtained a copy of the dealer's sales catalogue for the hoard. Issued, I think, in 1982 by D.B.Coins, it lists 188 individual coins including an example of RIC 288 (GVF) for £22 and many EF silvered examples for between £20 and £30 each.

Parcels of ten VF coins would set you back £90 and 100 fine to VF coins £700. Thirty years on, these prices have probably not kept pace with inflation but it has been a while since I have seen this amount of coins of this quality available in a retail catalogue.