Spookdaddy
Cuckoo
- Joined
- May 24, 2006
- Messages
- 7,963
- Location
- Midwich
This is an edited version of a couple of posts I made some years back on another thread. Kind of outwith the general thrust of this thread: it's not so much a mystery how they got where they got - but why they've been treated the way they have is still a bit of a headscratcher:
These were part of a load of old and very worn coins that had been used to create ballast in the replacement of a broken grandfather clock counterweight (inside the case there was also a set of harness bells; a perfectly preserved but very old leather double headed dog leash with an internal release - for coursing, I assume; a very old pistol - the mechanism of which still works; leather saddle panniers - from the Boer War, I think; and what looks like an ancient pepperpot: a veritable treasure chest, no less). No-one can remember how long the clock had been in the family. (It's since been repaired and sold.)
The type looks pretty old (18th century? but I'm no expert) and the edges of the letters are very worn. The scar above the lettering on the larger coin looks deliberate. (I'm now pretty sure that the larger one of these two is a Georgian 'cartwheel' twopence coin - there is a less worn example of this in the same pile that came from the counterweight - and the smaller, possibly the cartwheel penny.)
Of course, someone could have just been messing around with a set of letter punches, but STOLEN and SPACE (or S·PACE) seem odd words to choose for someone who was just mucking about.
These are the unmarked sides:
There is a possible relevance to these in the locality (and maybe even family history). My dad's ancestors can be traced back in the Peak District to the mid 1700's (and before that, the Hebrides). The area on the western edge of their stamping ground was once notorious for coining*, as well as other more general skullduggery, apparently because it lies on the border of three counties, which meant that if the authorities of one were after you all you had to do was pop over the back wall and you were in another jurisdiction. Wouldn't surprise me if some of my lot - who seem to have been comfortable operating at both extremes of the legal spectrum - might not have had something to do with the reasons these coins have been defaced.
The STOLEN one seems the more easily explained, until you wonder why on earth anyone would actually mark a stolen coin in that way.
Any ideas?
*Edit: I just checked this. Apparently one of the theories that the village of Flash - which claims to be the highest in the UK - is so named is that counterfeit coins were once known as 'flash money'. I'm not entirely sure about that: why the locals would advertise their illegal sideline is not explained - but Flash is very isolated, would have been tough to approach without being noticed, and is close to the point where three counties meet (imaginatively named Three Shires Head) - so, who knows?
Edit II: Actually, the E in SPACE could be an F - but that doesn't exactly help matters.
These were part of a load of old and very worn coins that had been used to create ballast in the replacement of a broken grandfather clock counterweight (inside the case there was also a set of harness bells; a perfectly preserved but very old leather double headed dog leash with an internal release - for coursing, I assume; a very old pistol - the mechanism of which still works; leather saddle panniers - from the Boer War, I think; and what looks like an ancient pepperpot: a veritable treasure chest, no less). No-one can remember how long the clock had been in the family. (It's since been repaired and sold.)
The type looks pretty old (18th century? but I'm no expert) and the edges of the letters are very worn. The scar above the lettering on the larger coin looks deliberate. (I'm now pretty sure that the larger one of these two is a Georgian 'cartwheel' twopence coin - there is a less worn example of this in the same pile that came from the counterweight - and the smaller, possibly the cartwheel penny.)
Of course, someone could have just been messing around with a set of letter punches, but STOLEN and SPACE (or S·PACE) seem odd words to choose for someone who was just mucking about.
These are the unmarked sides:
There is a possible relevance to these in the locality (and maybe even family history). My dad's ancestors can be traced back in the Peak District to the mid 1700's (and before that, the Hebrides). The area on the western edge of their stamping ground was once notorious for coining*, as well as other more general skullduggery, apparently because it lies on the border of three counties, which meant that if the authorities of one were after you all you had to do was pop over the back wall and you were in another jurisdiction. Wouldn't surprise me if some of my lot - who seem to have been comfortable operating at both extremes of the legal spectrum - might not have had something to do with the reasons these coins have been defaced.
The STOLEN one seems the more easily explained, until you wonder why on earth anyone would actually mark a stolen coin in that way.
Any ideas?
*Edit: I just checked this. Apparently one of the theories that the village of Flash - which claims to be the highest in the UK - is so named is that counterfeit coins were once known as 'flash money'. I'm not entirely sure about that: why the locals would advertise their illegal sideline is not explained - but Flash is very isolated, would have been tough to approach without being noticed, and is close to the point where three counties meet (imaginatively named Three Shires Head) - so, who knows?
Edit II: Actually, the E in SPACE could be an F - but that doesn't exactly help matters.