Every collector has a moment that first connected them with their chosen area of interest. My passion for stamp collecting and philately is connected to a 20-minute geography lesson at school using worldwide postage stamps in the autumn of 1993. Holding so many different tiny, seemingly weightless pieces
of other countries in the palm of my hand captivated me completely.
VOICE OF A NEW GENERATION : CROSS-CATEGORY COLLECTING Read Article »
As part of our series looking at what gives some people the “collecting bug” we spoke to Judith Grant, collector of historical documents and ephemera, who is also one very few women professionally involved in the hobby – though we are pleased to see more and more female collectors coming through our doors (please see Voice of a New Generation for young philatelist Katrin Raynor’s fascinating article on astronomy celebrated via philately).
AN INTERVIEW WITH JUDITH GRANT Read Article »
The Roman poet Virgil wrote a mystical poem, which we know as the Fourth Eclogue, in around 42 BC. It is oracular in nature and describes a vision of a returning Golden Age through cyclical time.
THE ENDURING WISH FOR A GOLDEN AGE AT CHRISTMAS TIME Read Article »
In the 16th Century, imitations of Roman coins were created by the artist Giovanni da Cavino of Padua, after whom some imitations are called ‘Paduans’. At the time da Cavino was living in Padua, working as a sculptor and jeweller, and making medallions of various kinds.
GIOVANNI DA CAVINO OF PADUA: MASTER OF THE HONOURABLE FORGERY JOHN-MELVILLE-JONES Read Article »
Since I last wrote, and as I write, the UK and much of the rest of the world has gone back into versions of lockdown, meaning Spink is once again operating behind closed doors in some locations. But the lockdown will end soon, and I am sitting in our totally renovated offices in our historic location of Southampton Row. Therefore I am looking at the world from a different vantage point.
A WORD FROM OUR CHAIRMAN Read Article »
The romantic garden of Ninfa, just 65 miles south of Rome, was created by the Caetani family almost one hundred years ago, and lies among the eloquent ruins of a small but affluent medieval town, which in turn grew out of Roman and papal settlements, and passed to the Caetani in the early fourteenth century.
Ninfa, Caetani and Coins Read Article »
Stephen Sack is an American artist living and working in Brussels since 1977. He has exhibited widely in America and Europe. The Insider caught up with him recently to find out a little more about his past and future projects.
ANOTHER WAY OF LOOKING AT COINS – STEPHEN SACK Read Article »
Philately is a new interest of mine, for no real reason than that I had not given it much attention before. My ignorance on the subject changed around five years ago when I was admiring a few first day covers that my father had: a keen stamp collector, he has amassed thousands of stamps over the years. I had just completed a GCSE in astronomy via evening classes; with my curiosity piqued, I started to wonder what astronomy- and space-themed stamps were out there.
THE VOICE OF A NEW GENERATION – KATRIN RAYNOR-EVANS Read Article »
This is the tale of the making of a groat in Cork. It is one of three Irish coins known from the second reign of Henry VI, all of which are Cork groats.
THE SEVENTH EARL OF DESMOND, THE ENGLISH JUSTICIARY AND A CORK GROAT Read Article »
“If I do nothing else with my life I will make it solo, with no re-supplies, to the North Pole.” These are the last words my father heard as he died in my arms. The words had just welled up unexpectedly from a place deep inside, but my father and I both knew this is was the sort of thing he had been working towards. I needed him to know he had successfully handed me the baton, and that I was not going to stop until it was done, whatever the cost. If ever there was an unbreakable commitment, a vow even, it seemed to me that this was one.
DEFYING THE ODDS: PEN HADOW’S SOLO NORTH POLE EXPEDITION Read Article »
