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On these pages I hope to share some of my eclectic interests in coinage, from that of our Celtic ancestors to mediaeval Europe, the Levant and Asia, and even to the tokens issued in this country by traders and rogues from the times of Cromwell to those of Napoleon.

I have been a student of coins since my schooldays when I was introduced to the subject of Numismatics by the somewhat eccentric Rev Arnold Mallinson, Vicar of St Frideswide's, Osney, Perpetual Curate of St Margaret's, Binsey, and my predecessor as President of the Oxford Numismatic Society, to whom I owe a great debt.

I realise this passion is shared by few but I hope I can bring alive in these pages the sensations I feel when I handle something that was handled centuries ago by someone in another place and another time.

Edward III, gold quarter noble of Calais, treaty period 1363-9, North 1245*.
Calais was considered part of the realm of England and issued coins to the English standard, not the French. The only mark to distinguish this from coins struck at the Tower of London is the small annulet in the centre of the reverse. During the period of the Treaty of Bretigny Edward dropped the title of King of France from his coinage, only resuming it when the French broke the treaty.

Obverse: EDWARD DEI GRA REX ANGL
(Edward by the Grace of God King of England)
Reverse: EXALTABITVR IN GLORIA
(He shall be exalted in glory (comp. Psalm cxii, 9))
Actual diameter 19.7 mm
Weight 1.86 grms