British Museum Numismatics Summer School

I attended the British Museum's numismatics summer school last year. Applications have opened up for this and I couldn't encourage you more to apply if you are able. You must be a university student and will require a reference from one of your tutors: https://www.britishmuseum.org/learning/adults_and_students/courses/numismatics_summer_school.aspx

I was able to handle a wide variety of rare coins throughout the week, here are a few of them:


Alfred the Great London mint penny


Alfred the Great large coin. This is one of only two surviving examples.
I also got to handle two of the few surviving Anglo Saxon gold coins (7 or 9 in total I think)


King Offa imitation dinar
Here it is back on display in the coin gallery:



Aethelred the Unready gold coin. I'm still annoyed that the photo of the obverse is blurry.


Aethelred the Unready lamb of god coin


Edward the Confessor Pennies


Constantine the Great coin


Heraclius coin


Justinian the Great coin


Edward VI crown. The first dated English coin


Elizabeth I milled coins


Elizabeth I Sovereign


Henry VII sovereign


Philip and Mary coin


William the Conqueror penny


Henry VIII coins. Notice the gradual debasement of the coins as Henry aged.


Standing Caliph coin


Charlemagne coin



James VI £20 coin. This was my personal highlight


James III Groat. The first coin minted in Northern Europe with a realistic portrait.


Edward III coin die


Eric Bloodaxe coin


Silver bars found in a Viking hoard.


Viking coin weights.

Apart from the summer school itself, its also an opportunity to visit the British Museum. The BM has a brilliant numismatic display, here is some of it:


Queen Anne £5


Gothic Crown die


Una and the Lion and gold Gothic Crown


Gold Cartwheel 2 Pence


Various Soho Mint coins


Coin Tree


Chinese coin string


Gold Chinese coin


Coin dies


Jacobite crown of the Old Pretender


Catherine the Great Soho Mint pattern roubles. She died before they could enter wide production.


Peter the Great rouble

I also visited the Tower of London as part of the course. Here is the Charles II Petition Crown that is on display in the Tower Mint exhibition

Sneak me out that gold cartwheel.....

what an amazing experience that must have been.

Fantastic, thanks for sharing

Quote: "redsmithstudios"​ Sneak me out that gold cartwheel.....
​
​ what an amazing experience that must have been.

It was incredible. I went into it not expecting to get a lot of hands-on experience with coins but by the end of the week I'd handled coins that most people only get to see behind glass. Absolutely amazing. I've already accepted that, coin wise, everything is going downhill from there.

If you know any coin collecting students then please encourage them to apply.

That. Sounds. Amazing! They have something over here at the ANA in Colorado. Although it is open to anyone. I have been able to examine and hold notes and coins worth millions. I wish I was in the UK at university...

Awesome pictures!

Congratulations for being able to take part in a historical journey through coins and thank you for sharing such beautiful coins :)

I'm so envious. I reckon that's one for the mental scrapbook. I wonder if some enterprising travel agent might one day organise a tour of the world's greatest collections? For a coin collector it would be the trip of a lifetime.

I did get to see the Tower Mint collection including the finest surviving Petition Crown on my last visit to London.

What a fantastic opportunity. You are so lucky to have had the chance for such an experience. I hope some others here get the same chance too.

Thank you so much for sharing!

Quote: "Oklahoman"​That. Sounds. Amazing! They have something over here at the ANA in Colorado. Although it is open to anyone. I have been able to examine and hold notes and coins worth millions. I wish I was in the UK at university...

Please elaborate. I'd assume it was mainly early American coinage? I didn't get to handle anything like that but I did see an American 1795 dollar in the BM's money gallery.​

Quote: "pnightingale"​
​I did get to see the Tower Mint collection including the finest surviving Petition Crown on my last visit to London.

​I wasn't aware that the Tower Mint crown was the best surviving example, its a shame they could only display one side of it. I think I remember them mentioning that the Tower Mint crown was on loan from the British Museum, they have at least a couple in storage.

I'd love to return to the Tower, I only had about an hour of free time once the Tower Mint lecture (given in a room directly above the jewel house) was over so I had to rush through the Crown Jewels display and the White Tower. There's so much still to see.

Make sure to give the British Museum a visit if you are ever back in London. I must have spent a cumulative total of 10 hours going through the museum and I barely scratched the surface.

A few more photos from the course:


Edward III Anglo-Gallic Sterling

Edward the Confessor Penny

I cant remember exactly what monarch issued this coin but it the only piece of evidence we have that a particular Anglo-Saxon king exists.


I think these are coins of Empress Irene, with and without her son. Whom I believe she had murdered.



Various Byzantine coins

Edward IV Ryal

Mary I Groat

William the Conqueror Penny

Early Islamic coin

Gold Ottoman coin

Persian coin

Norman Italy coin. The knight is strikingly similar to depictions on the Bayeux Tapestry.

Early Viking Halfpenny

Yes. The ANA is the American Numismatic Association. The Money Museum is located on the campus of Colorado College in Colorado Springs. I got to see and hold an 1804 dollar, 1913 nickel, uncut sheets of 10 and hundred thousand dollar bills, see artwork for the development of what was to be the education series of banknotes..
one time they even had a petition crown on display, with tons of artifacts that were Oliver Cromwell's...including his death mask.

Wow, great pictures, and what an amazing experience for you!

(I am a little surprised they let you handle all those one-of-a-kind coins with your bare fingers!)

I am super envious, I wish my college offered a course like this.

The one at the ANA is open to all.

wow

It's really nice of the British Museum to offer a free course like that (unlike the ANA which charges a substantial fee).

At least the ANA classes are open to all.

wow.......Simply jaw dropping.

It goes without saying how every one of us would love to have this experience, especially those of us who are a year or two past the student age.

Thanks for sharing, stunning to look at.

Quote: "Jesse11"Jesse11
​
​(I am a little surprised they let you handle all those one-of-a-kind coins with your bare fingers!)

So was I. Just imagine if I'd dropped one of them.

I must admit, I'm quite envious. It must have been a fantastic experience though and I'd love to hold coins like these in my hand one day.

Thanks for sharing the pictures and the experience!

Various Viking coins.
I cant remember who issued them. Some are imitations of Anglo-Saxon coins and others feature various Norse symbols.












This last coin is interesting as the bird may be deliberately ambiguous. To the Norsemen it could represent a raven and to Christians it could represent a dove.

The whole experience was incredible. It was an absolute privilege to handle the coins and interact with the staff at the BM and various outside lecturers from museums such as the Fitzwilliam.

Just a few coins from my uni's museum. Some people might be interested

Victorian proofs, including the beautiful Una and the Lion £5

The finest surviving example of a coin of Cleopatra VII

Various gold coins from Ptolemaic Egypt. They were difficult to photograph

Gold Athenian coin. A gift from George III to William Hunter

Sorry about the multiple posts. I'm writing from my iPhone and it's a tad glitchy

I am unbelievably jealous!

Quote: "cmaclean"​I attended the British Museum's numismatics summer school last year. Applications have opened up for this and I couldn't encourage you more to apply if you are able. You must be a university student and will require a reference from one of your tutors: https://www.britishmuseum.org/learning/adults_and_students/courses/numismatics_summer_school.aspx
​
​I was able to handle a wide variety of rare coins throughout the week, here are a few of them:
​
​
​Alfred the Great London mint penny
​
​
​Alfred the Great large coin. This is one of only two surviving examples.
​I also got to handle two of the few surviving Anglo Saxon gold coins (7 or 9 in total I think)
​
​
​King Offa imitation dinar
​Here it is back on display in the coin gallery:
​
​
​
​Aethelred the Unready gold coin. I'm still annoyed that the photo of the obverse is blurry.
​
​
​Aethelred the Unready lamb of god coin
​
​
​Edward the Confessor Pennies
​
​
​Constantine the Great coin
​
​
​Heraclius coin
​
​
​Justinian the Great coin
​
​
​Edward VI crown. The first dated English coin
​
​
​Elizabeth I milled coins
​
​
​Elizabeth I Sovereign
​
​
​Henry VII sovereign
​
​
​Philip and Mary coin
​
​
​William the Conqueror penny
​
​
​Henry VIII coins. Notice the gradual debasement of the coins as Henry aged.
​
​
​Standing Caliph coin
​
​
​Charlemagne coin
​
​
​
​James VI £20 coin. This was my personal highlight
​
​
​James III Groat. The first coin minted in Northern Europe with a realistic portrait.
​
​
​Edward III coin die
​
​
​Eric Bloodaxe coin
​
​
​Silver bars found in a Viking hoard.
​
​
​Viking coin weights.

wow, it's incredible! thanks for sharing!
I hope I have a chance to attend this school next summer! fingers crossed

It's very nice to see the amazing coins,
It's very surprising that they have allowed you to touch these amazing coins bare hands... No gloves etc...

Quote: "Karisar"​​wow, it's incredible! thanks for sharing!
​I hope I have a chance to attend this school next summer! fingers crossed

Best of luck with the application. ​

Quote: "arvin11"​It's very nice to see the amazing coins,
​It's very surprising that they have allowed you to touch these amazing coins bare hands... No gloves etc...

I was surprised too. I knew I'd be handling some nice coins but I didn't expect them to give us some of the rarest coins on the planet. It was incredible.

I think gloves are generally only used when handling proof coins with a mirror finish. I could be mistaken though. ​

Just Amazing, i have no words to so much beauty in a single post.

Here are a few coins that I didn't include in the initial posts




Two Henry VII testoons.

Bohemond III of Antioch coin. A personal favourite of mine. I hope to own one eventually.

A gold coin of Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian. This coin was the basis of the English sovereign.



If my memory serves me right then these are coins from Norman Italy/Sicily.

Double headed coin of Isabella and Ferdinand of Castile and Aragon