I may have been incorrect when I said I would post immediately if the talk was good. The spirit was willing but Julia had pasties in the oven with potato wedges and you know how it is . . .
It wasn’t the most sophisticated of meals, but it was filling and warm on a cool night.
The talk was excellent, talking about 24 different coins and the personalities associated with them. They were rather too old for me as I know very little about ancient coins, but it was interesting all the same. As an added benefit, I now have a better idea of the timings for my talk next year and know that I can cover about 25 medallions in reasonable detail.
It covered the famous Greek coin with the owl on, Julius Caesar, Cleopatra, Mark Antony, Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan, Richard the Lionheart, Saladin and the Duke of Wellington. And the widow’s mite, Legionary denarii, the debasement of coins, the death of Archimedes and Hannibal. That’s quite a lot for one evening. I’m not sure how long it lasted but that is a good sign. Usually, by the forty minute mark I am yawning and clinging desperately to the last vestiges of my sanity.
It was, to be honest, a night of mixed emotions. It was fun and interesting, and has taken the hard work out of planning mine, which is good. However, it has also set the bar rather high in terms of quality. Content is not a problem, but quality of design is another matter. I had enough problem with simple slides and plain backgrounds last time. Now it looks like I will have to do a lot better than that.
The pictures are from my collection. The medallion is from the Butlins Veleta Competition in 1954, which was the the biggest dancing competition in Britain between the wars, and probably up to the 1960s.
The other two show an item from my collection of plastic transport tokens. When I was asked to talk at the Numismatic Society it was on condition I didn’t talk about my transport token collection. There is no accounting for taste.
They were provided for a number of reasons – pre-payment, employees, postmen, school children and, in this case, Air Raid Wardens, allowing cheap travel for various categories of people who needed it.
Nottingham City Transport 1d ARP token – size comparison
Nottingham City Transport 1d ARP token
You will do fine next year when you give your talk.
I’m starting now – only eight months to go!
I can remember dancing the veleta at dance classes when I was very young. I couldn’t dance then and I can’t dance now.
Tweaking the backgrounds for your slides should keep you pleasantly occupied for many months.
Yes, my only brush with the veleta was when I was 16 and they tried to teach me some proper dancing at school so that I would be socially acceptable. It didn’t work.
It’s brilliant to see what’s being put out there so you can plan your talk accordingly. I bet if you spend a bit of time with whatever slide show software you use, you will be more comfortable with it and maybe able to add a few flourishes or whatever seems to be required.
That dance competition medallion is gorgeous! Love the swirl of her skirt. And I can totally tell those others are plastic. They are very cool.
That’s what caught my eye about the medallion. They made several styles and use several metals over the years – this is the nicest one sculpturally, despite just being silver plate.
I’m pleased you were inspired. It seems to me that the quality of your talk is more important than the quality of the coins/medals
🙂
That’s good, because my ollection is formed mainly from junk boxes and ebay. 🙂