To coincide with the 50th anniversary of decimalisation on 15th February 2021, Spink Books are delighted to announce the release of Tom Hockenhull’s Making Change in collaboration with The British Museum.
Towards the end of 1647 and the first English civil war, Oliver Cromwell moved his family to King Street in Westminster o ‘an old wooden house lying between the Blue Boar’s Head Yard and Ram’s Mews’.
Since the creation of the first wristwatch in 1868 for Countess Koscowicz of Hungary, Swiss watch manufacturers like Patek Philippe, Omega and Vacheron Constantin have been creating unique watches to meet demand from the ever-growing market.
Insider readers may remember that we promised to let you know more about the incredible Second World War escape stories of John Humphreys OBE DL, who featured in our Chelsea Pensioners article in Issue 37.
Waterloo Uncovered founders Mark Evans and Charlie Foinette have a shared history, as well as a deep friendship. They studied archaeology together at University College London before joining the army. Both chose the Coldstream Guards, the British regiment that played a vital role in the allied victory at Waterloo and continues to see
active service across the world today.
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.
As part of our series looking at what gives some people the “collecting bug” we spoke to Judith Grant, collector of historical documents and ephemera, who is also one very few women professionally involved in the hobby – though we are pleased to see more and more female collectors coming through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).
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.
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.
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.
