Token Publishing

Stolen BEM

Phil Mussell — 03/05/2013 15:23:00

On Thursday 2 May 2013, a British Empire Medal awarded to Vernon Harold Sellwood for bravery in the Auxiliary Fire Service in 1941 was stolen from the D-Day Museum in Portsmouth. His name is engraved along the edge of the medal. Any information relating to this theft would be gratefully received. Please contact either Andrew Whitmarsh at the D-Day Museum on 023 9282 6722, or Crimestoppers (crime reference number 44130158291). Thank you.

Tweet Tweet!

Phil Mussell — 01/05/2013 14:44:00

We're officially on Twitter - you can follow us on @coinsandmedals

Keep abreast of all numismatic and medal news, find out where we'll be (and real time updates on what the show is like) learn about our new books, what's coming up in the magazine and much, much more!

We can't promise you wit and wisdom, we can't promise you anything really - it's all new to us but we'll give it a go and see what happens!

The Mighty Hood

Alyson Thomas — 29/04/2013 10:46:11

Happy Birthday to us!

I MAKE no excuses for writing this month�s Editorial as one long �congratulations� to Token Publishing Ltd (and myself if I�m honest), as this month (April 2013�it may be the May issue but we are always a little ahead of ourselves) marks no less than 30 years since Token Publishing Ltd came into being. We (Mary, my then wife, and I) started work on the May issue of Coin & Medal News from our tiny offices above a plumber�s shop in Station Road, Liphook, Hants (the shop is still there!). I had previously been editing the magazine for Epic Publishing, based in London (having previously been employed in the stamp world by the auctioneers H. R. Harmer Ltd), but when they decided to sell off their titles I jumped in with both feet and took over the title I was working on. At the time I had no idea what I was letting myself in for, and whilst there have been trials and tribulations along the way, I can honestly say it was the best decision I ever made.

A great deal has changed in those past 30 years, both personally and professionally�when I formed Token Publishing Ltd I had my wife working with me and both sons were at school . . . now I have a different wife, Carol, as my business partner, my elder son, Philip, is a Director of the company and my two grandsons are at school! That small office above the plumber�s shop, with just two of us working there, has grown to a large office complex and a warehouse, with 14 staff and a host of �freelancers�. We have gone from publishing just the one title every month to two magazine titles (COIN NEWS and MEDAL NEWS were split in 1989), three �yearbooks�, dozens of �one off� books and now we sell accessories too. But to be honest there isn�t much about any of it I would have changed. I started my professional career in print, as an apprentice printer�s reader back in 1958, and whilst I�m not quite ready to fully retire yet, when I do I will do so as the Managing Editor of a successful publishing company�you can�t ask for much more than that! Throw into the mix that I have been lucky enough to travel all over the world with this job and that I have met some amazing people, many of whom have become very good friends, then you will realise just why I feel very fortunate to have made that decision 30 years ago to bite the bullet, take out one of Maggie Thatcher�s �Enterprise initiative loans� and go for it.

Of course, it isn�t just down to me, or my wife, son or staff�the longevity of this company has stemmed from darned hard work, and from the fact that in the early days we worked our socks off to make it work, often staying at the office until three or four o�clock in the morning on press days�and in recent years Phil has given up just about every spare weekend to make sure he was promoting the business as much as possible at fairs up and down the country. Without all that, and the hard work our staff put in too, we wouldn�t have survived. Of that there is no doubt, but the real secret of our success is, and always has been, the loyalty of our readers and advertisers. No amount of hard work, late nights or weekends away would have meant anything unless the dealers were prepared to advertise and the readers were there to support us, and many of you have done so since the very beginning. So, whilst I am very proud to have reached this milestone, and will allow myself to be a little smug about it, I would also like to take this opportunity to thank you, all of you, for the part you have played in getting Token Publishing Ltd to this point�it really is �Happy Birthday� to us all!

Sad loss

Carol — 24/04/2013 10:44:00

It is with great sadness that we report the death of one of the UK�s most popular medal dealers, Fred Walland. Fred was a well known face at many leading fairs and in particular the Britannia Medal Fair which he originally founded with Malcolm and Jeannie Gordon. A pioneer of the hobby of medal collecting, Fred�s regular lists became a familiar part of the collecting scene. We understand Fred was 74 and had been battling cancer. Our thoughts and condolences go out to his loved ones.

Yate Militaria Fair

Carol — 17/04/2013 10:49:00

The Token Team, John and Carol in this instance as Phil is away in the US at the Chicago International Coin Fair, will be attending the Mark Carter Yate Medal & Militaria Fair on Sunday 21st April. As well as Medal News magazine, all of the Token titles will be available including the very latest Michael Maton title Honour The Recipients of Foreign Awards. Get up early and see you there!

Outwood Anybody?

Phil Mussell — 03/04/2013 16:17:00

We don't normally do Andrew Jukes' Outwood (Wakefield show) at the Outwood Memorial Hall, Outwood, Wakefield WF1 2NE as it's a long way "up north" to commit to attending every month (it's always the first Sunday of the month) but just occasionally Andrew can squeeze us in - and he's managed to this week.

It's an early start, 8.00am for the public, stupid o'clock for us dealers, but the one we attended in December was definitely worth it and with high profile medal dealers like Chris Dixon and Steve Sewell attending (not to mention Andrew "the Medal Centre" Jules himself) it is a decent show to come along to. See you there...!!

Medal Theft in Gleadless

Phil Mussell — 03/04/2013 12:06:00

South Yorkshire Police have informed us of a large collection going missing from a house in Gleadless, Sheffield in March - the collection, which includes Victorian campaign (NGS, MGS, Mutiny, Crimea and more) right up to WWII is beginning to appear on the market now and the police are asking us all in the medal world to be vigilant. The full list of stolen property is too large to publish here but if you purchase anything that seems too good to be true (or want the full list) then contact DC Steve Robinson on 0114 296 3464 ext 713449

Posthumous VC

Alyson Thomas — 28/03/2013 11:23:38

Man or medal?

THERE has been a debate on-line recently about medals vs men and what we as collectors should be researching and how we should be doing it. This is nothing new, it is a subject that has been brought up in conversations at medal fairs and medal clubs around the country on a regular basis for years, but I�m not entirely sure that I have covered it here. Essentially, the argument is whether we, as collectors, should be more interested in the recipient of the medal or the medal itself? In other words, are we just collecting good stories about brave men and women or are we more akin to coin and stamp collectors: collecting varieties of physical items? The arguments for the first type of collection are obvious�after all, without a man (or woman of course) there would be no medal, they had to have actually done something to be awarded that medal, be it an act of heroism, fighting in a campaign or a period of long service, but if we are simply collecting mementoes of service or heroism why is it that we don�t collect photographs? Or diaries? Surely these things are even more personal than the medals, aren�t they? Yes, many of us will eagerly search for a photo of �our man� or keep his diary with his group, but few of us would actively seek out such things were the medals not with them. We are medal collectors not ephemera collectors, but if we claim to be honouring the man then why don�t we collect ephemera?

So if we are collectors of items rather than collectors of �stories�, why don�t we collect coins? Stamps? Banknotes? Why don�t we worry too much about condition? Why don�t we care overmuch if a medal has been repaired (as long as it is original) or if comes from a broken group? Yes of course these things do matter and when confronted by a medal that is in poor condition, or previously brooched, next to a similar one in pristine condition a collector will generally go for the latter, but they are not �deal breakers�, not factors that will stop a medal collector purchasing, whereas a coin collector would be horrified at being confronted by something in such poor shape! No, we are not numismatic collectors in that sense, but there are aspects to medals that are perhaps overlooked. It is relatively easy these days to �write up� your collection. Ancestry, Findmypast and similar websites, etc., have made finding the biographical details of recipients relatively easy and thus you can research your medals far more easily than at any point in history, but do you ever bother to research the medals themselves? Do you ever take more than a cursory glance at what suspension it has? What legend the obverse bears? What the naming style is and whether it differs from others issued? How many were awarded? What metal it is made from? I suspect the answer is no. Most of us will do the obvious checks for renaming or fakery but we won�t really do much in the way of in-depth research on the medal itself, we would rather research who it was awarded to�and that is reflected very much by the types of articles that we (and even research journals like the OMRS or JOMSA) receive every week. Is this because everything is already out there? Is there maybe no reason to do the research on the medal itself because it has all already been endlessly covered elsewhere? To a certain extent this is true�there�s little point in just regurgitating the information from great works of the past, but I do feel that somewhere out there there is still some original research to be done. So here is my challenge: if you want to write something for us we would be delighted to receive it, whatever its subject matter, but we would be especially delighted to receive some research work on the medals and not just the men behind them. It is great to read about Uncle Bill in the trenches. After all, the medals without the recipients are just lumps of metal, but conversely it would be good to learn a little bit more about those lumps of metal too. So next time you feel like writing about that trio why not look at things differently�why not start researching why there was a Star as the first campaign medal of World War I not a more accepted round medal? Why the colours of the ribbon of the British War Medal were what theywere? Why the Calcutta Mint named things in one style whilst the Royal Mint namedthem in another? Why the 1914 Star had battalion numbers on but the 1914-15 didn�t?There are dozens of topics to look at and whilst I will always maintain that the menare more important than the medal, there is, I think, room for some good research onthese funny little beribboned metal things. I can�t imagine it has all been said before can you . . .?

VC for Afghanistan

Phil Mussell — 16/03/2013 11:22:00

L/Cpl James Ashworth of the 1 Battalion Grenadier Guards who was killed in June 2012 whilst on a reconnaissance patrol in Afghanistan has been awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross.

Speaking at the time of L/Cpl Ashworth's death his commanding officer said "He was killed while fighting his way through compounds; leading his fire team from the front, whilst trying to protect his men and he showed extraordinary courage to close on a determined enemy,"

The Full citation can be found here

Britannia Time

Phil Mussell — 16/03/2013 11:14:00

Sunday March 17 sees the 9th MEDAL NEWS Britannia Medal Fair at the Carisbrooke Hall, Victory Services Club, Seymour Street, London from 9.30 until 2.00pm

The Dealers attending are as follows:

Baldwins

Bonhams

Bostock Medals

Gary Brown

Philip Burman

John Cannon

Mark Carter

Mark Cashmore (DCM Medals)

Charlie's Medals

Jonathon Collins

DNW

David Empson

Gordon's Medals (CoCollector)

Great War Medals

Tony Hall

Liverpool Medals

The London Medal Company (Chelsea Military Antiques)

The Military Archive (Jonathon Murphy)

Peter Morris

Morton And Eden

David Nuwar

Our Heritage War Medals (Bob Lynes)

The OMRS

Derek Pheasant

George Rankin

Scotmint

SMC

Spink

Steve Sewell

V J C Collectables

Steve Wheeler

Howard Williamson

Worldwide Medals

And of Course TOKEN PUBLISHING!!