+ DAVE'S : RARE : COINS

VI.IX York Coin Fair & the Minster .............

I thought it was about time I visited another coin fair after my very positive experiences at Coinex last year. I initially planned to visit the Midland Coin Fair in Birmingham, but train times would not permit, and so I ended up attending the York Stamp and Coin Fair, held at York Racecourse in the Grandstand. I took my son Daniel with me, who proved to find the whole coin fair business thoroughly boring - but did wait very patiently whilst I searched through tray after tray of hammered silver !!

I had always wanted to visit York, especially the Minster, as I have been to most of the ancient Cathedrals in England [please see the documents  section of this site for pics of visits to Canterbury and Peterborough Cathedrals], so after leaving the train it being around lunch time too, we headed off in search of some dinner but towards the Cathedral. We reached the Minster before we ate, and I spent almost an hour walking round the outside of it taking pictures from various angles and generally admiring the beauty of the huge Gothic edifice. A pity that much original stonework is now dangerous and having to be replaced with modern cut stone in the original styles. One whole face was covered in scaffolding when we visited. The stained glass windows are awe-inspiring, in particular the Great Rose Window and The Great East Window. I did not venture inside the building on this visit for two reasons, the first simply because time was against us and I wanted to go to the Coin Fair. The second because of cost - and regular visitors to this site will know my feelings on this subject - an extortionate entrance FEE of FIVE POUNDS FIFTY PENCE  per adult. I have no problem with a charitable donation towards the upkeep of this and other venerable buildings, but I am very much against having to pay money to go inside what is predominantly The House of God !! Shame on this un-Christian act.

Once fed and finished with the Minster we headed off in a taxi for the Coin Fair. My father, a horse racing fan, would have appreciated seeing the racecourse itself, but we headed for the grandstand. Unusually there was no entrance fee to this fair. After a leisurely look around we found that all of the stamp dealers tables were on the ground floor, so we headed for the first floor and some coin dealers. Perhaps half the dealers in attendance handled hammered coins, and strolling around chatting on and off to them was quite interesting, especially the one or two who spoke with authority on my new-found passion of later Medieval ecclesiastical coinage. I managed to pick up a couple of bargains whilst here including an Edward II penny of Bishop Kellaw and a Sede Vacant penny of Archbishop Neville under Edward IV. Dan yawned his way through this period only showing an interest in trying to see how much money I was paying for certain coins !!

The smaller second floor had more coin dealers including a couple I had met before, so I headed up to say hello but both were off somewhere else ..... But whilst there I found some absolute bargains with a dealer who was totally new to me, and upon enquiry had no website or even a printed stock list. He stated that he simply attends coin fairs. Seems such a shame as his many trays of reasonably priced silver would reach only a limited amount of prospective buyers, although to be fair he came across as though he actually prefered it this way. I will not mention his name here, but he was very pleasant and very knowledgeable, and it was a pleasure to talk and transact with him.

One subject I did hear heated discussions on, on my way around was that someone was apparently trading coins in the building without booking a table. To hear some of the colourful language and threats of violence in absentia that came from the lips of certain dealers with tables you would have not have believed that this would actually happen selling coins !! Not a venue you would associate with violence, but obviously a touchy subject for some, and evidently from what I heard not the first time the chap had done the dirty on the other dealers .....

In all we spent perhaps two hours looking around the Coin Fair until time caught up with us. We then wondered back into town for some tea and a last look around before a long journey home. Longer than originally planned as our original connecting trains had been cancelled ...............

Coin dealers at York Stamp and Coin Fair Friday July 18th 2008.

ATS Bullion
Alex Anderson
A.H.Baldwin & Sons Ltd.
Michael Beaumont
Lloyd Bennett
Bonhams
British Cheque Society
Ernie Brooks
Cambridge Coins
David Cradock
Ian Davidson
DRG Coins & Antiquities
Paul Davies Ltd
Dixons
B. Frank & Son
D. Gill
Richard Gladdle
GM Coins
Ian Graydon
Tony Hall
Antony Halse
John Harvey
Martin Hewitt
KB Coins
Knightsbridge Coins
Lockdale Coins
London Coins
Tim Millett
Nigel Mills
Simon Monks
Moore Antiquities
Peter Morris
James Murphy
Roger Outing
J. Phillpots
Mark Rassmussen
Paul Revell
Roderick Richardson
Charles Riley
Fred Rist
Colin Rumney
Salford Coins
David Seaman
Dr W Seese
Simon Shipp
E. Smith
Spink & Son Ltd
Studio Coins
Token Publishing
Lee Toone
David Turner
Valelink
Mike Vosper
Weighton Coin Wonders
Pam West
West Essex Coin Investments
Yorkshire Numismatic Society

• Posted by dragonbloodaxe on 22/07/2008.
• dragonbloodaxe's site