NEW MINT EXHIBITION COMING TO THE TOWER OF LONDON

The famous surroundings of the Tower of London will be home to a new exhibition concentrating on the half century when the Tower was the nation’s minting powerhouse.

When I first started working on a project to develop a new exhibition at the Tower of London I knew it would be fun. I had an idea about some of the (in)famous characters who had lived and worked at the Mint during its years in the Tower, but little did I know how interesting and entertaining some of them would turn out to be. It was decided that the exhibition would be located on Mint Street, site of the Mint between 1279 and 1812. This would ensure that visitors could experience history where it actually happened. To create this space, a Yeoman Warder and his family were moved out of the building to a new home elsewhere in the Tower. Luckily he was excited to hear that his old abode, an 18th century building which contained part of Edward I’s outer curtain wall, had been the Mint Office during the years in which Isaac Newton was Master of the Mint.

After developing several ideas, we opted to tell the story of the Mint through five important moments in history represented by ‘key’ coins which would tell the headline story of each section. Sadly Historic Royal Palaces, the organisation which runs the Tower of London, doesn’t have much in the way of a numismatic collection. However this was the perfect opportunity for the Royal Mint Museum, our partners in the project, to display some of the jewels in their collection, and a chance to borrow some fantastic objects from the British Museum and Bank of England Museum. Highlights include a Petition Crown of Charles II, several gold and silver plates from the Trial of the Pyx, part of the Colchester Hoard, and two rare countermarked Liberty Dollars.

We also wanted to incorporate some of the archaeological evidence for the Mint at the Tower, by showing objects excavated on Mint Street. Many rare unused cupels were found during archaeological excavations; these are small dishes made of bone ash which were used to assay, or test, the fineness of precious metals.

With a history that can be traced back over 1000 years, the Royal Mint is one of the oldest organisations in Britain. It evolved from a network of mints scattered across the country to become the single most important source of coinage securely located within the Tower of London.

To read the complete issue, see: The Money and Medals Newsletter (www.moneyandmedals.org.uk/#/newsletter/4547094513)

Wayne Homren, Editor

	NBS (coinbooks.org) Web