BANS Numismatic Congress 2008

The 2008 National Numismatic Congress of BANS, the British Association of Numismatic Societies, was staged at the Chatsworth Hotel, adjacent to the sea front at Worthing, over the weekend of 4-6 April.

No less than 83 delegates from all over the British Isles, including several from Ireland, enjoyed a warm welcome from the organising team, led by Ron Kerridge, Alan Blake, Rob de Ruiter and other officers and members of the hosting Worthing & District Numismatic Society in this, their 40th anniversary year. With the weather varying from warm sunshine at the start to a goodly covering of snow on the final morning, an extra dimension was added to a convivial and extremely well-run event for which those responsible should take full credit.

Matters began with a civic reception addressed by the Mayor, Cllr Heather Mercer, and her consort, Keith Mercer, both of whom were as keen to talk to as many delegates as possible. As befits a Congress held in the ancient county of Sussex, the first three lecturers were local - Michael Sharp, a former president of the host Society and now a consultant for Dix Noonan Webb, spoke about legends on British coins and medals; Derek Aldred, the Society's chairman, exposed his favourite topic, the hoards of Roman coins unearthed near Beachy Head since Victorian times, one of which he found himself; and current Society president, Ron Kerridge, gave us an informative expose of the use of money in the Arun district of West Sussex, covering everything from flint rocks through Anglo-Saxon coins of the local mints, to local trade tokens and paper money.

The balance of the programme was extremely diverse. Graham Dyer, who had obligingly brought along two sets of Britain's brand-new coins, with reverses designed by Matthew Dent, for their debut at a collector gathering, gave this year's UK Numismatic Trust lecture, entitled ‘Double Florin - Myth or Reality'. The entertaining Master Robert Turner, the former Queen's Remembrancer and himself no stranger to the BANS podium, presented the Howard Linecar Memorial Trust lecture on the meaning and ceremonial surrounding the Trial of the Pyx, while Joe Bispham took a fresh look at the last and posthumous coinages of Henry VIII. Looking beyond our shores, Tony Holmes addressed the gathering on the allencompassing topic ‘It's all Greek to me!', Peter Clayton took us to Egypt and showed us some of that country's most famous images on medallions and Peter Preston-Morley spoke about some aspects of 19th century territorial gold coins from the USA.

On Saturday afternoon delegates divided into two groups: some journeyed to Arundel to visit the picturesque town and castle, while others joined Derek Aldred and Ron Kerridge at the Worthing Museum to view some of the numismatic material housed there but not normally on view to the public. Dinner in the evening was followed by a large raffle with prizes donated from a variety of trade sources; indeed it was pleasing to note that many more members of the UK coin trade were in evidence than has been the case at recent BANS Congresses.