Quiet?

[Sylvester 52]

Where is everyone? This forum used to be a real hive of activity. I used to struggle to keep up.

It seems eerily still these days.

[Rob 3,217]

I guess people use social media, which is ok for a single response, but a chocolate teapot as a source of coherently assembled opinions that are organised along the thread topic. I presume the internet has so much info available that many people feel they have all the info they need.

What is obvious is the lack of visitors asking questions, which seems counterintuitive given the significant increase in collectors  of modern coins. At any coin fair you will see a reasonable number of kids going round the tables. I presume they get all their info from social media. Whilst you can reasonably expect the majority of collectors to be middle aged and up, the vast majority of collectors do have access to the internet, so why they don't interact with others is beyond me.

A parallel problem to that of forums is happening to many numismatic societies. The South Manchester decided last meeting to only have one meeting a month compared to 2 a month in autumn and spring. The reason - numbers have dropped off such that there is no longer a critical mass of members to fill the schedule with talks. There is a near total absence of younger people coming through. At the last meeting, I was the spring chicken, and I get a state pension.

 

[Sylvester 52]

A symptom of the drive to a cashless society? I don't think many young people use cash in everyday transactions, if at all. I guess with no exposure to coinage, there'd be no reason to have their interest sparked by it? I can only think of it as that. Believe it or not, but twenty years ago this forum had a core group of teenage members leading a lot of the discussions! So there was interest from the younger groups once upon a time. In fact, there were quite a few robustly attended forums in the 2000s, very few seem to be left.

 

[Coinery 1,244]

Rather than an exposure to cash, it was the affordable access to a tangible history for me, that’s how I came to coins.

I agree though, it is disappointingly quiet on here nowadays.

[Citizen H 75]

ahahahah..An there I was thinking I was overloading forum with all the newbie input... I have slowed down as I'm trying to rationalise what relevant and what isn't. oh and thank you everyone who have assisted during the first few weeks, its been great help. all the best "H"   

[TomGoodheart 434]

Afraid I'm guilty of the 'social media' thing and so here less often.

There are a number of specialised Facebook groups which, while many are set up as a selling platform by the administrator, do get a reasonable amount of traffic. I frequent a specialist group for Charles I coinage and several for hammered and early milled because that's where my interests lie. Probably of little interest to the many(?) penny enthusiasts here, but I've certainly contributed to the Charles I group quite frequently and it's where quite a few of my Charles I contacts congregate..

There are also groups for numismatic literature and historical medals, which again though specialised fall within my interests and a few detectorist groups where I try to identify items. I also admit that I frequent many of these groups to spot potential purchases since there are a number of well known dealers who are also members there. Some, like Tim Medhurst rely heavily on social media (he's primarily on Instagram I believe) and it's not uncommon for  things to never reach a dealer's website, having found a buyer on a Facebook group.

I'm not saying that's an ideal situation, it's all too easy to miss something because you don't happen to be a member of a particular group, but I accept that's the way of it (even Spink sell stuff on Facebook now).  Plus I'm chronically online anyway, so it's just a few more pages to visit in a day. And if it results in a bit more knowledge, whether a collector ticket identified or a potential contact spotted, a possible new source of material or an item added to the collection, all to the good.

[Sylvester 52]

Wow such a shift. I don't touch Facebook with a barge pole, or any social media to be fair.

I for myself have not been a frequent visitor here for many a years, one reason being it became a bit of a copper coin collectors specialist forum, whereas I've mostly been a silver collector, so there was little for me to post constructively on. That been said, work takes up the bulk of my time anyway to be fair.

It seems times have changed!

[Paddy 1,861]

I am also a social media refusenik, so forums like this are my natural habitat. Although I do collect GB bronze and copper, I also like all the GB silver and some older foreign pieces too. Like @Sylvester I found the bias towards bronze and copper pennies a little disappointing. There are some great experts in all areas on here, but we need to encourage them to continue showing up occasionally or the forum will die.

I think also, some posters here are a bit aggressive with their criticism if they disagree with a poster's viewpoint, which simply drives them away. Of course we can disagree, but it needs to be kept non-personal.

[Nonmortuus 927]

I am lurking! Already blown most of my budget for the year!

[HistoricCoinage 154]

Still lurking in the hammered section, admiring people's new additions every couple of weeks 🙂

Spending more time on my own website and at auction houses & museums these days. Also tried my hand at mudlarking, so not all bad!

Get to take photos like these:

[Zo Arms 312]

I'm still here. Check in at least once a day.

Mike once asked me why I didn't contribute more. Told him I didn't have much of interest to say. 😐

[blakeyboy 1,809]

9 hours ago, Zo Arms said:

I'm still here. Check in at least once a day.

Mike once asked me why I didn't contribute more. Told him I didn't have much of interest to say. 😐

Honest posts like that are always required!

I haven't bought anything interesting for ages- just been too busy trying to sell so much crap that's built up over the years, and get a website up to help with this. However, I read all that's posted. The one good thing I get from this site is getting an insight into other people's passions, and trying to understand what they see in coins I know nothing about....

[TomGoodheart 434]

On 3/21/2025 at 9:41 PM, Zo Arms said:

I'm still here. Check in at least once a day.

Mike once asked me why I didn't contribute more. Told him I didn't have much of interest to say. 😐

I've been buying far more medals than coins of late, which I suspect are not of much interest to members here. And the coins I have are all Tower shillings of Charles I, so again, outside most people's scope. Don't want to be the cause of people's eyes glazing over! 😄

[Bruce 194]

1 hour ago, TomGoodheart said:

I've been buying far more medals than coins of late, which I suspect are not of much interest to members here. And the coins I have are all Tower shillings of Charles I, so again, outside most people's scope. Don't want to be the cause of people's eyes glazing over! 😄

Similar situation to me also in last 2 years, more medals than coins, but not many purchases were made in view of strong coin and also medal prices.

[Sylvester 52]

Coin prices have gone bananas somewhat. Very strong indeed. Probably more a reflection of the falling purchasing power of out fiat currency.

[Paddy 1,861]

10 hours ago, TomGoodheart said:

I've been buying far more medals than coins of late, which I suspect are not of much interest to members here. And the coins I have are all Tower shillings of Charles I, so again, outside most people's scope. Don't want to be the cause of people's eyes glazing over! 😄

I don't know if I speak for others, but I would love to see your medals! Like many others here, I pick them up occasionally when there are no affordable coins I need available and I find their designs and history very interesting,

[Sylvester 52]

I'm quite partial to a Charles I shilling, feel free to share!

[Bruce 194]

8 hours ago, Paddy said:

I don't know if I speak for others, but I would love to see your medals! Like many others here, I pick them up occasionally when there are no affordable coins I need available and I find their designs and history very interesting,

X2

[Zo Arms 312]

20 hours ago, TomGoodheart said:

I've been buying far more medals than coins of late, which I suspect are not of much interest to members here. And the coins I have are all Tower shillings of Charles I, so again, outside most people's scope. Don't want to be the cause of people's eyes glazing over! 😄

I'll agree with Paddy. Let's have a gander at a few of your medals. And some Tower shillings please.

Every day is a school day and I'm willing to learn.

And if it awakens some latent desire amongst the masses, all the better.

[Coinery 1,244]

Ironic that a post titled ‘quiet’ has become the busiest post on the forum right now! 🤷‍♂️

[TomGoodheart 434]

20 hours ago, Zo Arms said:

I'll agree with Paddy. Let's have a gander at a few of your medals. And some Tower shillings please.

Every day is a school day and I'm willing to learn.

And if it awakens some latent desire amongst the masses, all the better.

Badges. 

[TomGoodheart 434]

Medals 

[TomGoodheart 434]

And some shillings ..an early Easter egg. 😄

[Paddy 1,861]

Wow, some lovely pieces there!

I would love to know more about the badges and medals, particularly the 3 medals, top row, all looking fairly similar and one with the purple ribbon?

 

[TomGoodheart 434]

3 minutes ago, Paddy said:

Wow, some lovely pieces there!

I would love to know more about the badges and medals, particularly the 3 medals, top row, all looking fairly similar and one with the purple ribbon?

 

The first two are jetons (small medallions, assumed to have been thrown into the crowds) in celebration of Charles and Henrietta Maria's wedding.
They had two wedding ceremonies, due to religious differences. The first was in France (Henrietta Maria was the daughter of Henry IV of France and Marie de' Medici) and Duke Claude of Chevreuse stood as proxy for Charles. A second was held in Canterbury. The jetons were designed by Pierre Regnier.

The one with the ribbon is also by Regnier and was assumed to be a variant of the marriage medallion. However I am certain that, though similar, the crown on the obverse represents their coronation rather than marriage. This is supported by the date on the first two being 1625 (the marriage was in May of that year) but the coronation was in February 1626 and this is the year given on the 'crown' version. This type is considerably rarer than the first two and I was very pleased to pick that one up!

In case it helps, trays sizes are 45mm (larger) and 35mm (smaller). Medals were produced throughout Charles' reign (including posthumously).
Badges (the oval ones) are generally thought to date from the middle of the reign.  

As with the shillings, Charles starts the reign wearing a ruff. This gives way to a lace collar, with increasing amounts of armour added to his bust as the years go by!