News & Blog

Rorke's Drift Defender Pte Michael Minehan's "Zulu" Medal fetches £86,800 (incl. premium) at DNW 8/12/16

We are in the process of developing a new look website and we would like your opinion on how it should look. Is there anything about this site you don't like? Anything you think is great? Anything you'd like to see less of? More of? Do you like the colours? Is it functional? Easy to use? Let us...

Faking it THE Royal Mint Museum recently announced that they were to display one of their choicest pieces—a sovereign from the curtailed reign of Edward VIII; one of 49 coins featuring the Monarch that the museum holds, coins that were all ready for mass production but which never made it in to...

Remembering today BY the very fact that you are reading MEDAL NEWS I feel safe in assuming that you are a collector, a researcher or just someone who is interested in medals and the men and women to whom they were awarded. You may be interested in this hobby of ours because of your desire to know...

Our new COLLECTOR'S CHOICE product catalogue is available now! Chock full of books and accessories for the coin, medal and banknote hobbies the new catalogue is a great place to start your Christmas shopping. You can either download it from our homepage or call 01404 46972 and we'll send you a...

Our "local" show is one we always try to attend and the one this Sunday (November 27) is no exception! Mark Carter's fairs are always well attended by both dealers and collectors alike and are always a pleasure to go to - as always it's being held in the Yate Leisure Centre (not too far from...

A favourable verdict LAST month in NEWS & VIEWS we commented that by the time readers were looking at the October magazine we would know whether the Orders and Medal Research Society (OMRS) Convention had been a success or a “bold but flawed experiment”. Well now I can tell you—the move to...

Are you going to the London Coin Fair this weekend? As usual, it is held at the Holiday Inn, Bloomsbury on November 5th 9.30am-4pm. Go to our facebook page at facebook.com/TokenPublishing for a £5 off voucher for any Token Publishing product at our usual table. Please share this voucher with your...

Lost in London on Friday October 28 (Walkabout Temple/ Embankment area) . The group comprises: South Atlantic/ GSM 62 (Northern Ireland) /Golden Jubilee/ Diamond Jubilee/Police long service. The first two named to Mne PO41143D C Whitehouse and the Police LS&GC named DC 3189 Whitehouse. Police Ref:...

Ripped off? IN late September the BBC One Programme “Rip Off Britain” included a segment on coins and coin collecting. In the piece a gentleman named Paul was told by an “expert auctioneer” (not I hasten to add from a specialist numismatic house but rather one from a general auctioneer that...

The last Stratford Medal show of the year is coming next weekend! (Sunday October 30) and we'll be there with all your favourite titles including the BRAND NEW MEDAL YEARBOOK! Doors open at 9.30am (for preview - 10.30am for regular visitors - all that means is it's a bit cheaper later on) and...

On Display...For Now It is with sadness but little surprise that we heard that the Ministry of Defence (MoD) is to sell off no fewer than 13 of its properties to make way for yet more private (civilian) housing. Earmarked for sell-off are sites that include RAF Henlow in Bedfordshire, two World...

Symbolic of something One of the big stories in the numismatic world at the end of the Summer Silly Season was the decision by an on-line auction house to ban the listing of a coin on its German site because it was deemed “hateful or discriminatory”. The reason? Said coin clearly depicted a...

STOP THIEF! Stolen in Cardiff in Feb 2012: 1. Q.G.M./B.E.M./3 Clasp C.S.M./U.N./L.S.G.C. group to 23732227 W/O.1. W.R. Caithness, PARA 2. A.F.M./B.E.M./C.S.M. Dhofar/M.S.M./L.S.G.C. & clasp group to B3521881 Flt. Sgt. D.J. Jones, R.A.F. (includes Sir James Martin Flight Safety Gold Meda)l All...

It’s an honour IT SEEMS that the “shock” of Brexit has worn off a little, at least as far as the press is concerned, and they are now turning their attention to the political aftermath, indeed bloodbath, that has followed the referendum vote. First there was Cameron’s resignation, then Gove’s...

It's the London Coin Fair on Saturday (September 3- how is it September already?) and the Token Team (well Phil anyway) will be there with the BRAND NEW Krause 1901-2000 & 2001 - date as well as a chance to order the BRAND NEW COIN YEARBOOK POST FREE. As always the show starts at 9.30am and takes...

COIN NEWS is on a winning streak - the April 2016 issue was voted Best Issue in World Numismatic Magazines by the Numismatic Literary Guild at the ANA in Anaheim in early August - that's the third year running!

Seek and ye shall find HERE’S a quick question for you all: why do you collect? Not why do you collect ancients, hammered, milled or whatever, nor why do you collect coins, but why do you collect? My bet is that as well as coins you also probably collect something else too—postcards maybe?...

It's nearly time for the launch of the MEDAL YEARBOOK 2017 - THE price guide and collectors' handbook for the fascinating hobby of medal collecting. Covering British Isles and "Empire" medals, the 2017 edition of the acclaimed YEARBOOK also features the CUMULATIVE INDEX to MEDAL NEWS magazine -...

I’m done! So what’s next…? JUST about everybody reading this Editorial will, by the very fact they buy this magazine, be a collector. Yes, one or two of you are researchers pure and simple, still others may be museum curators and the like, but most of you are collectors and thus, by definition,...

We have been asked by New View Market Services to help with their survey of the coin hobby - we are happy to do so! Press and keep a Silver Round Pound The opportunity to press and keep your own Silver Round Pound during a VIP Tour of the Royal Mint for the winner in a new Online Survey Those...

What with holidays and OMSA the Token Team won't be able to make the next Yate (Bristol) show - but that doesn't mean you shouldn't go along. It's on Sunday August 7 and starts at 9.30am- with, as always, a good selection of medals on offer from a host of dealers! Our next "Mark Carter" show won't...

Looking on the bright side SO we voted “out” . . . as we go to press with this issue of COIN NEWS we are experiencing a few of the promised (threatened?) effects of the “leave” vote in the Brexit referendum with the Stock Exchange fluctuating wildly (some companies making a killing, others dying...

One of the highlights of the DNW Auction on July 22nd had to be the Antarctic Polar Medal awarded to Able Seaman Timothy McCarthy, Royal Naval Reserve, one of five men chosen by Shackleton to accompany him in the James Caird during his epic 800 mile open-boat voyage from Elephant Island to South...

We're looking forward to seeing all of our old friends "Stateside" at the Orders and Medals Society of America (OMSA) convention on August 11-14 at the Wyndham Grand Pittsburgh Downtown in, well, downtown Pittsburgh PA. We always enjoy OMSA and have only missed one in 20 years - this year its being...

It's nearly July and that means it's almost York time! The York Coin and Medal fair is nearly upon us, taking place on Friday July 15th and Saturday July 16th once again at the Knavesmire Stand at York Racecourse. The show one of the most popular events around amongst dealers and collectors alike...

It’s an Experience… EVERY reader of COIN NEWS will have heard of the Royal Mint, indeed I’m fairly sure you’d be hard pressed to find anyone in the country, collector or not, who hasn’t heard of the august organisation—even if they do get them confused with the Bank of England sometimes and...

This just in from the Manufacturers of the new General Service Medal 2008 "The new General Service Medal 2008 has gone into production with the initial supply of the medals being undertaken by Worcestershire Medal Service Ltd following a MoD tender process. The medal features on the obverse the...

After a little bit of to-ing and fro-ing it's now official - Oliver Pepys and John Hayward, formerly of Spink medal department, have joined the DNW medal department and as of today (June 14) we have received the following statement: "Dix Noonan Webb Limited (DNW) and Spink & Son Limited (Spink)...

ASK ANYONE, in or out of our hobby, to name a famous battle or action and the usual suspects will come up: Waterloo, the Charge of the Light Brigade, Islandhlwana, Rorke’s Drift, Gallipoli, the First Day of the Somme, Dunkirk, El Alamein, the Normandy Landings—all very familiar but, you will note,...

Worthy of note BANKNOTES have been in the news recently–—on both sides of the Atlantic. Not only have there been some excellent sales with some simply stunning prices paid (a unique Palestinian £100 trial piece hammered at £85,000, a Straits Settlement $1,000 hammered at £70,000 and a St Lucia 5...

One of only four pattern versions of the iconic 1933 Penny has sold at Baldwins for a staggering £72,000. Created by moneyer Andre Lavrillier the coin never went into full scale production with only seven 1933 pennies ever being officially struck - to be used in time capsules in the cornerstones of...

From Lockdales auction: Lot 789 WW2 Casualty group to 5127225 Pte John Ronald Hayward (Haywood) 1/7th Bn R. Warwickshire Regt. Killed 18/7/1944. Buried Fontenay-Le-Pesnel War Cemetery, Tessel. Lived Bedworth Nr Nuneaton. Lot includes named Casualty medal slip, named box of issue, 1939-45 Star,...

Whilst the choice of Turner on the new Bank of England £20 note inevitably has the critics crying foul about how few women their are on English notes they can have no such argument in Scotland where, for the first time in the Royal Bank of Scotland's history women will make an appearance and will...

News from the US - and apparently Andrew Jackson is to be replaced as the face of the $20 by an African American woman - Harriet Tubman the renowned abolitionist who died in 1913. In one fell swoop the traditional "white man" image on US notes is set aside (the $20 is the most popularly used note)...

The "new face" of the £20 note is to be painter Joseph Mallard William Turner, depicted in front of one of his most famous pieces "The Fighting Temeraire". The note, pictured here, will go into circulation in 2020 and will be the first £20 made from polymer. Needless to say certain quarters have...

Broadening our horizons SOMETIMES, as a medal collector, it is easy to forget that military history holds an interest for many outside our relatively narrow hobby. Many of us have, I am sure, been to militaria fairs and so are familiar with the concept that other things “military” attract...

It's the Yate (Bristol) Medal Fair on Sunday (May 1st) and, as ever, we'll be there! It's our local show and one we don't like to miss if we can help it. The show starts at 9.30am for "preview" (that just means it's an extra £1 to get in) and 10.30am for general admission. We'll be there with...

Investing in the future WELL, OK, it’s time to bite the bullet and talk about something we rarely cover in COIN NEWS: the dreaded “I” word, Investment. . . . Already I hear dedicated numismatists across the country, indeed the world, tut-tutting and preparing to close their magazine in disgust at...

Stolen in a burglary in early March WWII DFC engraved to the recipient Fl Lt R F Owen. Registered as stolen with Greater Manchester Police – Crime Reference Number 044040V/16. Contact: PC Chris Boardman 12435@gmp.police.uk Tel: 0161 8568181

Yes, we are heading to Dublin again this weekend to attend the inaugural April show on Sunday April 10 - held at the Royal Dublin Society (Anglesea Road). We enjoyed our time in the fair city in February so much we couldn't resist coming back - see you there from 11.00am!!

Are you in the Mid-West of The USA? Do you fancy a trip to the City of Big Shoulders? This year's Chicago International Coin Fair (CICF) takes place on April 14-17 in a new venue - the Donald E. Stephen's Convention Centre, Rosemont Illinois (a suburb of Chicago near O'Hare Airport) familiar to...

The OMRS North is coming! Held once again at the Holiday Inn, Runcorn, Cheshire this time it's a bit earlier - on the weekend of April 16-17. This will be the seventh show held by the Northern Branch of the OMRS and whilst the Token team wont be going this year (prior commitments I'm afraid) it...

Inspirational thinking THE recent decision by Ashby School in Leicestershire to look at selling the Victoria Cross of Lieutenant-Colonel Philip Bent of the 9th Battalion Leicestershire Regiment, bequeathed to the then Ashby Boy’s Grammar School by the late Colonel’s mother (see “News & views”)...

Making new friends OVER the years of writing this “Comment” some subjects have cropped up time and again and, I confess, that there are times when I am concerned that regular readers will get as much of a sense of déjà vu reading this column as I sometimes get writing it. Over the past 30...

Auctioneers Bonhams have secured the exceptionally rare Naval Gold Medal of Admiral Lord Graves, Captain of the HMS The Royal Sovereign, struck to commemorate the Victory of the Glorious First of June. The battle, the culmination of months of indecisive skirmishing between the British Navy and the...

It's the Britannia Medal Fair this Sunday (March 20)! Held, as ever at the Victory Services Club off Edgware Road, near Marble Arch, London this event has gone from strength to strength in recent years and even though MEDAL NEWS isn't organising it these days we love attending and are looking...

The Harrogate Spring Coin Fair takes place this Friday (March 18) and Saturday at The Old Swan Hotel. There will be over 40 dealers in attendance and whilst the Token Team can't make it there will be plenty of other people to see! Opening times are 11 am Friday and 9.30 am Saturday so there's...

Medals will be worn — the law says it’s OK A DECADE ago the medal hobby in America was somewhat concerned about the Stolen Valor Act which, on the surface, seemed to prevent any collector holding medals which they didn’t legitimately earn as part of their service. Those fears were soon proved...

Lost treasures? THIS MONTH Jeremy Cheek’s fascinating article on Treasures from the Royal Collection focuses on some pattern coins that few knew existed. I won’t spoil the surprise here (you can read the article on pages 35–36) but suffice to say the sets of these patterns housed in the Royal...

Fair assessment A FEW years ago, as I am sure some of you remember, there was a Party Political Broadcast for the Liberal Democrat party that had John Cleese quoting a recent poll that had shown that more people (indeed 50 per cent of those questioned) would vote Lib Dem if they thought they had a...

The first London Coin Fair of 2016 takes place on Saturday February 6, and as ever the Token Team will be there! The show, which is held, as always at the Holiday Inn Bloomsbury (in Coram Street, just off Russell Square) opens at 9.30am and shuts at 5.00pm but get there in the morning if you...

OVER THE MOON FOR as long as I can remember, COIN NEWS (and its predecessor COIN & MEDAL NEWS) has, round about the February issue, featured an animal of some kind: a fluffy rabbit, a bemused sheep, a playful dog, a slithering snake, etc., overlaid with pictures of coins from mints across the...

Don't forget the first Yate medal fair of 2016 taking place this Sunday (January 24) at the Leisure centre in Yate (Bristol). As always we'll be there ready for the 9.30am preview (10.30am main doors) with our usual selection of goodies - it's always worth a trip so we look forward to seeing you...