e Royal Mint Museum Review 2019−20 Dr Kevin Clancy Graham Dyer OBE Chris Barker Bethan Clark Abigail Kenvyn Museum Director Senior Research Curator Information and Research Manager Public Engagement and Information Exhibitions Manager Officer Virginia Porter Susan Sandford Sarah Tyley Amy Williams Museum Office Manager Digital Engagement and Collections Collections Manager Education and Learning Manager Access Officer 2 THE ROYAL MINT MUSEUM REVIEW ( 2019'20 Introduction e Covid-19 pandemic began towards the end of the e RMM has contributed to other notable exhibitions, including financial year 2019-20 and raised many difficulties for the loan of eight objects relating to Isaac Newton to the Science the Royal Mint Museum (RMM), not least of which Museum as part of a new exhibition Science City 1550-1800: was the temporary closure of the Royal Mint Experience e Linbury Gallery. Displayed alongside items from the Science (RME) and the withdrawal of the National Heritage Museum and the collection of the Royal Society it is expected to Lottery Fund application for a programme to celebrate be a long-term loan with the formal agreement renewed every three years. the 50th anniversary of decimalisation in February 2021. Interesting and important acquisitions have been made, such ese events should not, however, overshadow the year as a as a portrait miniature of Joseph Sage (c.1748-1821) a significant whole or the efforts of staff in continuing to raise the profile of figure in the history of the Royal Mint and a very special donation the Royal Mint Museum and awareness of its collection. of a plaster model for the obverse of Edward VIII’s 1911 Investiture Looking forward to the following year and the pandemic, Medal designed by Welsh artist Sir William Goscombe John. much of the Museum’s efforts would revolve around re-framing its decimalisation programme to seek new and innovative ways to Away from the Mint, staff have demonstrated their team spirit reach audiences at a time when gatherings and public interaction completing the Welsh ree Peaks Challenge. Scaling Snowdon, would become more difficult. In many ways, this has made the Cadair Idris and Pen y Fan in 24 hours. ey raised over £1,000 50th anniversary project even more meaningful and, with the for the Royal Mint’s chosen charity for the year, 2 Wish Upon support of the Trustees, I look forward to seeing the results of a Star, which provides bereavement support for families and the team’s determination to tell the story of this extraordinary individuals affected by the sudden and traumatic death of a moment in the history of the British coinage. child or young adult. Before the pandemic, most of the twelve months of 2019-20 were Since the pandemic began, the staff of the Museum have, like Above: Together with over 100 Royal Mint staff the Museum team completed a productive and eventful period. e new temporary exhibition many others, found life to be difficult and challenging. ey have, the Welsh ree Peaks Challenge raising over £1,000 for 2 Wish Upon a Star, installed at the (RME) was Currency Undercover, the secret life of a charity which provides bereavement support for those affected by the sudden however, conducted themselves with a professionalism that has loss of a child or young adult. money. It explored the role that money has played in espionage come as no surprise to the Trustees. We look forward to happier and war. Real-life stories were told of secret wartime escapades times, and being able next year to look back on the achievements Cover: Fort Knox scene from Goldfinger, 1964. Ken Adam’s distinctive and covert operations, while hands-on interactives encouraged of the RMM during the terrible circumstances that have affected artwork for the gold vault in the James Bond film Goldfinger was used visitors to crack codes and decipher hidden messages. as a backdrop to the lift a gold bar interactive in the temporary exhibition the whole country. Currency Undercover in the Royal Mint Experience. Many visitors have, as previously, enjoyed the displays in the © Deutsche Kinemathek ‒ Ken Adam Archiv RME, and an increasing number of sessions have taken place for Dr Andrew Burnett CBE . schoolchildren with a new workshop added to the school Chairman, Royal Mint Museum Trustees programme. Public engagement has increased with Museum staff delivering object handling sessions for visitors, and family focused workshops during the school holidays. 3 Collections and Conservation In additional to the regular samples of coins and of what is now the Museum collection, a number of years medals produced by the Royal Mint over the course before the foundation of the Museum in 1816. of the year, the Museum has acquired a number of important objects for the collection from a variety In the autumn the Museum was contacted by Yvette Develey of external sources. who wished to donate a plaster model for the obverse of Edward VIII’s 1911 Investiture medal. e medal was designed At a Christie’s auction, the Museum acquired a portrait by Welsh artist Sir William Goscombe John, a family friend of miniature of Joseph Sage (c.1748-1821) by John Smart. Sage Ms Develey’s grandmother. e Museum holds models for the is a significant figure in the history of the Royal Mint, having reverse of the medal but had nothing for the obverse. A full-size been Provost of the Company of Moneyers from 1797 until model of the obverse is held by National Museum Wales, his death in 1821. e earliest reference to him comes in June making this much smaller plaster model something of an 1763, when he took the oath of secrecy not to divulge the oddity. More research will be carried out to try and establish edging process, and thereafter he rose by order of seniority why a plaster model of the medal was created at this size. to become Provost for more than 20 years. As well as a wonderful addition to the Museum’s existing ere was more to him than this, however. In 1788 he collection of numismatic material relating to the reign of succeeded John Whitehurst as Stamper of Money Weights, Edward VIII, Sir William Goscombe John is of interest to the a post he held until his death, and between 1797 and 1799 Museum because of his long association with the Royal Mint, he held the appointment of King’s Clerk for Copper Coinage, both as an artist and as a member of the Royal Mint Advisory which required him to supervise the coining of the cartwheel Committee. coppers at Soho, Birmingham. In December the Museum purchased a silver medal from e Museum also purchased two bound volumes of auction Spink by the well-known Royal Mint engraver William Wyon. catalogues from numismatic book dealer Douglas Saville for e medal marked Prince George, Duke of Cumberland’s, visit the Library. e first belonged to L.A. Lawrence, a benefactor Above: A portrait miniature of Joseph Sage (c.1748-1821) by John Smart to the Royal Mint on 17 May 1828. Previously the medal was was purchased for the Museum collection during the year. of the Mint in the 1920s and 1930s. e second volume only represented in the collection by a later impression and this specimen is unusual in that it shows signs of being handled. includes the catalogue for the sale of the collection of Opposite left: During the summer of 2019 the Museum hosted a three-month eighteenth century Royal Mint Assay Master Stainsby volunteer placement for Sarah Morton, a student in her gap year. To further illustrate the work of Wyon, an example of the Alcorne. In addition, the sale catalogue for the Earl of medal commemorating the visit of Queen Victoria to the Opposite right: An unusual plaster model for the obverse of Edward VIII’s Guildhall in 1837, was purchased at auction. Pembroke’s collection is of interest because the Mint Investiture Medal, designed by Welsh artist Sir William Goscombe John, considered purchasing this assemblage to form the basis was donated to the Museum by Yvette Develey in 2019. 4 THE ROYAL MINT MUSEUM REVIEW ( 2019'20 Additionally, the Museum hosted a three-month volunteer placement for a student during her gap year. Sarah Morton was keen to be involved in a wide range of activities including collections management, digitisation and work with visitors to the Royal Mint Experience (RME). Sarah assisted with school sessions and photographed workshops for the new Museum website. She scanned decimalisation artwork and ephemera and assisted with research. During the summer holiday Sarah facilitated object handling with the public in the RME and was involved in an open day on the work of the Museum for Royal Mint staff. 5 6 THE ROYAL MINT MUSEUM REVIEW ( 2019'20 Information and Research Assisting researchers is an important part of the work During the year new information about objects in the collection of the Museum. In aiding them to bring material to has been discovered. e Senior Research Curator was able to publication, the Museum helps to expand numismatic assist with a study of 1918 Indian sovereign specimen pieces knowledge and brings academic attention to the study and work in this area has shown that the coin in the collection of numismatics more generally. Furthermore, research is likely to be one of the original 12 patterns, another being held often helps to shed new light on objects in the by the British Museum. Furthermore, as a result of a visit from an American researcher interested in examining colonial coins collection. roughout the year support and assistance collected by Sarah Sophia Banks, it has been possible to confirm has been provided to several researchers, the topics being the authenticity of a Connecticut copper halfpenny of the as varied as the work of Royal Mint engraver George late eighteenth century which had previously been considered William De Saulles through to colonial coins within a counterfeit.