10 Drachmai Issued 6 April 1940 and Signed by Members of 2/8 Battalion 6Th Division AIF During Their Ill-Fated Greek Campaign
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THE NUMISMATIC ASSOCIATION OF VICTORIA Spring 2013 ISSUE 130 AUSTRALIAN NUMISMATIST NEWSLETTER Good King Wenceslas Looks Out:1929 Czech medal commemorating the completion of St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague. AUSTRALIAN NUMISMATIST NEWSLETTER IN THIS ISSUE Syllabus 2014 ................................................................................................................. 2 NAVigator ....................................................................................................................... 3 Adelaide Treasure Hunter finds $18,000 in City’s Parks ............................................... 4 Why is the Charlotte Medal it of such immense significance to Australia? ................. 5 Minutes of General Meeting No. 1,004 ......................................................................... 7 Obituary – John Hope .................................................................................................. 10 Minutes of General Meeting No. 1,005 ....................................................................... 11 The Pre-History of the US Dollar .................................................................................. 16 Numismatic Diary ......................................................................................................... 17 Obituary – John O’Riley ............................................................................................... 18 Minutes of General Meeting No. 1,006 ....................................................................... 19 The Inaugural ANDA International Coin & Banknote Fair ........................................... 22 Morwell Christmas Meeting ........................................................................................ 23 ANDA International Coin & Banknote Fair .................................................................. 24 The Australian Numismatist Newsletter is an official publication of the Numismatic Association of Victoria. All correspondence should be addressed to: The Secretary, PO Box 5016, Laburnum, VIC 3130. Meetings are held at the Celtic Club, 320 Queen Street, Melbourne on the third Friday each month (except January). Email: [email protected] Website: www.navic.org.au www.facebook.com/numisvic Syllabus 2014 No. Date Topic Speaker 1,009 21st February Annual General Meeting & Tender Sale 1,010 21st March The Work of James Berry, Designer Len Henderson ANZAC Orations: Sir John Monash & 1,011 11th April* Alan Flint Tender Sale Royal Photographic Society Medal 1863- 1,012 16th May David Likar 1963 1,013 20th June To Be Announced & Tender Sale * Meeting moved to 2nd Friday of the month to avoid clashing with Good Friday. Summer 2013 -2- Issue 131 AUSTRALIAN NUMISMATIST NEWSLETTER NAVigator 2013 was a pretty big year numismatically, with many anniversaries including the bicentenary of the striking of Australian’s first coinage, the New South Wales holey dollar and dump; the centenary of the printing of the Commonwealth’s first banknote as well as our own 1,000th meeting. There were not one but two major coin fairs that the NAV attended this year, giving members an opportunity to display their collections to the public. We also saw the passing of some notable members and some of them are remembered in this newsletter. I recently attended the Numismatic Association of Australia’s biennial conference, this year held in Brisbane. I have to say I was most impressed with the whole event. There were papers presented on a broad variety of topics from ancients to the works of a Brisbane silversmith from an art historian’s perspective. The tokens of E.W. Cole hold a special place in Victorian numismatics and were covered in depth and then there was also an analysis of the metal content of ancient roman coins to see if there was a link between the alloy and the location it was minted in. There was something for everyone and it was also a great opportunity to meet fellow numismatists from around the country and put faces to names. Next year the NAA are holding a joint conference with the Royal Numismatic Society of New Zealand (RNSNZ) in Wellington and I for one will certainly be going. I can also report that the Morwell Numismatic Society did themselves proud again this year with their annual Christmas meeting, a highlight of my numismatic calendar. I was fortunate enough to be invited to present a talk and the hospitality was first class as always. So what will 2014 bring? Well from an historic perspective next year sees the 100th anniversary of WWI, as well as the birth of organised numismatics in Victoria with the foundation of the Numismatic Society of Victoria in February 1914. But for now we wish you and your families all the best for the festive season. Darren Burgess –President Summer 2013 -3- Issue 131 AUSTRALIAN NUMISMATIST NEWSLETTER Adelaide Treasure Hunter finds $18,000 in City’s Parks It's the hobby with a magnetic pull that is lucrative, historically fascinating and when done right, even a form of public service. And according to metal detecting enthusiast Mark Williams, the stigma of being "scavengers" is slowly fading as appreciation for historical finds grows in the online world. Mr Williams is among the detectors often found "hunting" in the Adelaide parklands and along the Torrens. He has uncovered $18,000 worth of current and historic coins and other artefacts in the past year alone, including $1800 in just a few days after a major music festival in Bonython Park. The Mad March festival season and other major events are the best times, he says. "You'll find the morning after the Clipsal 500 there are detectors everywhere," he says. But Mr Williams, who tests new detectors for producer Minelab, insists it's not about the money, but the hunt, the history and the good that's done along the way. That includes clearing parks of rubbish, syringes, knives, and even the odd bullet, he says. Detectors are often called upon to help people find lost jewellery and phones in parks and on beaches, and Mr Williams says he always takes his own jewellery finds to the police unless they are buried deep and clearly historical pieces from decades or centuries past. "I've also been asked to find where pipes run under schools and things like that." The 49 year old, who runs a security door and blinds business, says he gets the biggest rush from the historical treasures he digs up, researches, and posts about on his blogs. Around the city he has found 19th century traders' tokens from early Adelaide, Victorian and Tasmanian businesses - leather and ointment Summer 2013 -4- Issue 131 AUSTRALIAN NUMISMATIST NEWSLETTER makers and ironmongers - that were both advertisements and legal tender worth a penny. "We find a lot of cricket buckles with bats and balls and players' faces on them," he says. "The one thing I love most about detecting is history and I've learnt so much about South Australian history." Other finds were a crossbelt plate from a Napoleonic-era uniform, an infantry button from the early Royal South Australian Volunteer Militia, an 1811 half-crown, pennies dated as early as 1803 and an 1856 gold sovereign. None of that would have happened if a mate hadn't won a metal detector in a raffle when they were in their 20s. "He didn't want it so I bought it from him for $25," Mr Williams says. "I had a bad back and getting out and walking helped." Now his father George, 84, has become an enthusiast too and they go hunting together. They even record "live digs" on YouTube. - City Messenger – Adelaide, 28th November 2013 Why is the Charlotte Medal of such immense significance to Australia? The Charlotte medal in copper was recently up for Auction, but why is it considered so important? The Charlotte medal in silver is believed to have been engraved on board the First Fleet transport Charlotte as she lay at anchor in Botany Bay before sailing into Port Jackson and unloading her cargo of convicts at Sydney Cove on 26 January 1788. Inscribed with an account of the voyage from England and an image of the Charlotte, it is acclaimed as Australia’s first colonial work of art, and furthermore, as a unique record of the arrival of the settlers who founded modern Australia. Summer 2013 -5- Issue 131 AUSTRALIAN NUMISMATIST NEWSLETTER The 74mm wide medal is believed to have been made from a surgical dish by convicted thief Thomas Barrett at the behest of John White, the ship’s surgeon. White wanted a memento of the historic landing and chose Barrett for the task after he’d displayed remarkable skill at forging coins during the arduous sea voyage. Images Courtesy of Noble Numismatics Pty Ltd Alas, Barrett lasted little more than a month in the convict colony, meeting his fate at the end of a hangman’s rope for stealing beef and peas. Not only was he responsible for the historic silver medal, but also a smaller copper version, thought to have been commissioned by White’s personal servant, William Broughton. Material for the second medal could have come from copper sheathing used to protect the ship’s hull. The finished piece measured 47mm in diameter and featured an abridged form of the inscription on the silver medal, but no ship. Sailed the Charlotte of London from spit head the 13 of May 1787. Bound for Botany Bay in the Island of new hollandArriv’d at Teneriff the 4th June in Lat 28.13N Long 16.23 W depart’d it 10 Dec arriv’d at riojaneiro 6 of Aug in Lat 22.54 S Long 42.38 W depart’d it the 5 of Sept arriv’d at the Cape of good hope the 14 Octr in Lat 34.29 S Lon S 18.29 E depart’d it th 13 of Nov and made the South