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ROBERT READY’S BRITISH MUSEUM REPLICAS
Dick Johnson submitted these notes about the coin replicas of Robert Ready. Thank you!
-Editor
This statement was in a recent E-Sylum [Italics added]: “In the past, the British Museum shared numismatic knowledge with other museums, in what could be seen as an early numismatic network, by making and distributing replicas of coins from its own collection. The examples chosen were considered by the Museum to be particularly fine examples of coins from different periods, and their distribution enabled other institutions to share the Museum’s collection. The British Museum shares numismatic knowledge in different ways today, through projects like the Money and Medals Network.” These replicas were electrotypes created by a museum employee. Hired in 1859, Robert Cooper Ready (1811-1901), replicated objects – including coins – in the Museum's collections. After first casting these Ready turned to electroforming the coins, because of the sharper detail he could obtain by this process. In his lifetime Ready made over 22,000 of these coins; his sons, Augustus P. and Charles Joseph Ready carried on after him. Each signed their electrotypes, RR by the father R and MB (reversing British Museum initials) by the sons. Ready’s replicas were so exquisite it was hardly possible to distinguish from the originals. (It is rumored that collectors occasionally paid more for his replicas than the originals.) The practice of electrotyping coins was halted and replaced by plaster casting in the 19th century. Using plaster casts was satisfactory for studying the image, but of course, unsatisfactory for studying the metal surface, toning and patina. Many books, however, were illustrated with photographic plates, composed entirely of plaster casts. Perhaps this should be discussed in a future E-Sylum. But for now we should recognize the Ready family for their outstanding lifetime achievement. Their replicas rest in museums for generations to view, to study, and advance numismatic science.
To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
I reached out to some E-Sylum readers for assistance on this topic. Author Joe Cribb agreed that Dick's description is correct.
-Editor
Joe Cribb adds: MB represent the Latin name for the museum, rather simply a reversal of its initials. I attach images from Forrer’s Biographical Dictionary of Medallists which has a little more information on the Readys.
I also reached out to Helen Wang at the British Museum, and her colleague Ben Alsop kindly produced an image for us.
-Editor
Benjamin Alsop writes: Attached is an image of a Roman Provincial electrotype coin of Hadrian from Elis which was made by Robert Ready. I’ve managed to get an image of the edge with his initials as well.
Thank you, everyone! Great numismatic history here. Would any of our readers have a collection of Ready replicas? Have any other museums forgotten the origin of their replicas and catalogue them as genuine?
-Editor
Wayne Homren, Editor The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org. To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor at this address: whomren@gmail.com To subscribe go to: https://my.binhost.com/lists/listinfo/esylum All Rights Reserved. NBS Home Page Contact the NBS webmaster 
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