MORE ON THE MUSEUM OF LONDON NUMISMATIC COLLECTION

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V15 2012 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 15, Number 7, February 12, 2012, Article 14

Numismatourist Howard Berlin also has this information on the numismatic collection at the Museum of London. -Editor

In Volume 15, Number 03, January 15, 2012 of The E-Sylum, Wayne indicated that he was "stymied trying to locate the numismatic collections" of the Museum of London. I admit that I had not heard of their collection before either, traveling through London some 10 or so times a year.

I contacted the MOL and heard back from a Roz Sherris on behalf of Ed Johnson, who was mentioned in the original CoinsWeekly article. She said that the Museum of London tells the story of London, from prehistory to the present day, so they use highlights of our numismatic collections to illustrate various themes throughout their galleries, but they do not have a dedicated numismatic display. Currently they have over 650 coins on display, including three hoards (potins from Shepperton; the group of 42 from Plantation House, and a medieval hoard (mostly low denomination) from Beulah Hill) and various individual coins and tokens. There are also 3 Roman coins and a small group of slavery-related tokens on display at the Museum of London Docklands.

The rest of the numismatics collection, mostly found in the Greater London area, are in storage at London Wall or, for the more recent excavated objects, at Mortimer Wheeler House. They are happy to arrange appointments for researchers to see objects from storage, though they may limit the number of items that can be seen at one time. Coins are normally the responsibility of the relevant period curators, and they do not have a numismatic specialist on their staff.

I will be next in London in March and will stop by the MOL to see the 'collection" at the Docklands site. Also, I was told at the August ANA by the people at the British Royal Mint booth, that there is a display of coins on the top floor of the White Tower in the Tower of London complex. The Royal Mint used to be located on Tower Hill. I've been to the Tower of London before but never noticed any coins there, but will make a special effort to stop by this time.

I haven't actually visited the Museum of London, but was trying to find the numismatic collection online so I could provide a link for E-Sylum readers. If there is no dedicated numismatic department, that may explain why I couldn't find a starting point online for their coin images. I have been to the Tower of London, but was very disappointed with the coin display on the top floor of the White Tower. -Editor