My Coin Collection
Around twenty years ago, I bought this coin from a street trader at the time of the excavation of the Roman cemetery in Spitalfields. In 1576, John Stow wrote about the Roman coins that were dug up here in Spitalfields and I suspect mine came from the same source. A visit to the British Museum confirmed that the coin had been minted in London and the piercing was done in the Roman era when it was the custom to wear coins as amulets. So somebody wore this coin in London all those centuries ago and today I wear it on a string around my neck to give me a sense of perspective.
As you can see, my collection has grown as I have discovered that coin collectors are eager to dispose of pierced coins at low prices and I have taken on the responsibility of wearing them on behalf of their previous owners. It was only when the string broke in Princelet St one dark night in the rain and I found myself scrabbling in the gutter to retrieve them all that I realised how much they meant to me.
Coin of the Emperor Arcadius minted in London
Figure of Minerva upon the reverse
Silver sixpence minted at the Tower of London, 1569
Head of Queen Elizabeth and Tudor rose
Silver sixpence minted at the Tower of London, 1602
Head of Elizabeth
Silver sixpence, 1676
Head of Charles II
Farthing, 1749
Head of George II
Silver sixpence, 1758
Head of George II
Young Queen Victoria
Half Farthing, 1844
Head of Queen Victoria
Silver sixpence, 1896
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It’s fascinating how your collection tells stories of the past through these coins with personal histories. The incident in Princelet St must have been quite a moment of realization for you. Have you considered delving deeper into the historical contexts of each coin?
That’s a lovely collection too think of who’s hands they may have passed through and on what they where spent on
1896 was my father’s birth-year, in Stepney, a Jewish cockney.
I love your coins.
As a ten year old I found a Roman coin in the dirt dug up in the meadow in front of my home. We were getting mains drainage. I went on the bus to my local museum and I still have the report. It has Septimus Severus on it. They asked me to look for pottery and when I did find some off I went to the museum again. Yes they were Roman and some showed signs of having been used as cooking pots. I still live close to the field and I often think about Romans living there. My ten year old self was thrilled to think a Roman had touched it before me.
It has meant a life of looking down but I have never been so lucky again.
Yours are wonderful treasures.