Hi, I might hit London in a day or two and was wondering if someone could drop me names of any places I could buy old English coins. And also if I could get a few pounds of new coins from the Bank? Any suggestions to help me amass a large stash of English coins for a reasonable price would help
There's always Spink if you want to buy/see higher end stuff. They're near the British Museum Spink London 69 Southampton Row Bloomsbury London WC1B 4ET Tel: +44 (0)20 7563 4000 9.30am and 5.30pm, Monday to Friday
Any High Street bank will convert notes into coin for you at no charge. This is purely a change service, not a numismatic service, so the bags will contain a random mix of recent dated coins. This is primarily aimed, I believe, at shopkeepers who need change for their shop tills. They will probably like you better if you ask for a selection of full bags--which they will have ready at the bank till--rather than asking for an amount they will have to count out. The standard bag quantities are £2 coins in bags of 10 £1 coins in bags of 20 50p coins in bags of 20 20p coins in bags of 50 10p coins in bags of 50 5p coins in bags of 100 2p coins in bags of 50 1p coins in bags of 100 Even though central London is only a few tens of miles from the country of the Jutes, I have never bought coins there, so I cannot provide you with recommendations. What I can do is point you towards the British Numismatic Trade Association's website: http://www.bnta.net/members.php A search on "London" provides a list of 28 weblinks. Some of these, I am sure, will be mail order only and have no retail outlet; some will be primarily auction houses; some will be primarily bullion coin dealers; some will specialize in hammered coins, or Celtic coins, or ancients, or early milled, or what have you. I fear that, in the absence of guidance from a Londoner, you may have to spend a couple of hours surfing the options. Later, John
