Secretary’s report 2008-2009

All of our events this season have been overshadowed by the death of Ray Pearson on 16 December 2008. Although Ray was in his late 80s and had not enjoyed good health for some time, his death was still felt as a sad loss by the Society and by those who knew him in the wider world of numismatics. Those of us who attended his funeral will want to echo the words which were spoken on that occasion, which touched on his friendliness to all with whom he came into contact, his quick wit, his generosity and his sheer enthusiasm for his passion, Scottish communion tokens. Ray was one of those people who lived life to the full right to the end and we shall miss him.

Our membership has otherwise stayed fairly constant at around a dozen active members. This season we welcomed two new members, Bob Shenton and Rob Pearce. Bob is principally a half-crown man, while Rob, a highly knowledgeable specialist in shillings and halfpennies, is now a regular amateur dealer at the Wakefield coin fair. Because of our small numbers, a decision was taken at the 2008 AGM to lay down a separate committee and to invite all members to take an active part in organising the events of the Society. As a result, we now hold a planning meeting for forthcoming season in the early part of the year, which allows more time to organise a schedule of events.

We have met 17 times in the past season, not including the Christmas meal and the AGM. This year, for a number of reasons we have hosted fewer outside speakers, but in October we were able to welcome David Goodall to talk on “The metals behind the money” and in March we had a fascinating visit from John Ogden of Stockport Metal Detectors who brought along a collection of objets trouvés. We have, though, had the benefit of several of our own members’ expertise in the form of presentations which they have given us. All three officers presented this year: David Holt on “The superlative prodigall” in February, Denis Martin on “Edward I mystieries” in April and Geoff Thomason on “Coins on the web” in May. In addition we have heard presentations on “Tokens of note and notes of tokens” from Peter Crummett and Geoff Sutcliffe and Keith Sugden, as ever an entertaining auctioneer in June, came in March to speak about Byzantine coins.

We congratulate Denis Martin for winning the Colin Cooke Trophy for the exhibition in December and Colin Orson for winning the Challenge Cup Quiz in April. Finally, congratulations to Geoff Thomason and Roger Nixon for their more than respectable showing at the Crewe Inter-counties Quiz in June, coming third in an evening of what by common consent was an evening of particularly challenging questions.

Geoff Thomason – 12 June 2009