HOWARD BERLIN VISITS NUMISMATIC SITES IN SCOTLAND

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V11 2008 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 11, Number 35, August 31, 2008, Article 23

I returned home from Chicago and left again for Scotland (Edinburgh and Glasgow). I will be visiting numismatic collections at the National Museum of Scotland (Edinburgh), The Bank of Scotland Museum on the Mound, and the Hunterian Museum (Glasgow) in between some pubs and distilleries.

This distinguished gentleman is the doorman of the 5-star Balmoral Hotel decked out in full regalia, including the small dagger at the top of the right sock. Contrary to common belief, NORMAL men wearing kilts DO WEAR underpants! (no, he didn't demonstrate his)

This week I'm in Scotland. Right now I am at the Hunterian Museum at the University of Glasgow looking at the some of the coins of Dr. William Hunter, who collected just about everything in addition to coins. Across the street from the museum is the Hunterian Art Museum where there are a few more coins and next to it is the university library. I was told by the museum's senior curator, Dr. J D Bateson, that it holds approximately 100 of Hunter's numismatic books that go back to the 16th or 17th century. Apparently you do not need to make advance arrangements to see these, just sign in.

I recall Donal Bateson's talk on Hunter and his collections from one of my visits to the British Numismatic Society in London last year. I envy Howard - I never got the chance to travel to Glasgow to see the Hunterian.

Arriving right at the start of the meeting we signed in and quickly grabbed chairs in the crowded and hot lecture room. The speaker was Donal Bateson on the topic of "William Hunter and Eighteenth-Century Coin Collecting." Dr. Hunter (1718-1783) was a wealthy London collector who assembled a grand numismatic cabinet which he donated to the University of Glasgow in Scotland.

Coincidentally, yesterday my kids Tyler, Hannah and I played taxi. They wanted to pretend we were driving in London. We rode the London Eye, took a boat down the Thames, and had fish and chips for lunch at the Rock and Sole Place. What fun! -Editor