The Standard Catalogue of British Coins, also known as Coins of England and the United Kingdom and after its founder as the Seaby Catalogue or S. for short, is an English-language coin catalog published annually.
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Scope and relevance
editThe catalogue covers all coins that have circulated in the British Isles, from the earliest times when coins were introduced from northern Gaul around 150 BC to the most recent new issues of the Royal Mint. It is considered the industry-standard reference book for British coins[1] and an essential guide for beginners, serious numismatists and anyone interested in British Coinage.[2] Its catalogue numbers are applied internationally and are quoted by auction houses and dealers.[2]
History
editCoins of England and the United Kingdom was first published in 1929 by the London coin dealer B.A. Seaby Ltd. as a brochure under the title Catalogue of Coins of Great Britain and Ireland, then biennially until the outbreak of war in 1939. On this basis Herbert A. Seaby (1898–1979) wrote the Standard Catalogue of the Coins of Great Britain and Ireland, during the war, which was again published biennially from 1945 onwards and illustrated with line drawings of the coins.
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Edited by Peter Seaby, the Standard Catalogue of British Coins was published from 1962 onwards in two parts, I. England and United Kingdom and II. Coins of Scotland, Ireland and the Islands, in annual editions and with black and white photos of the coins.
After a one-year break, Volume I (16th edition) was published from 1978 and Volume II in 1979 in an enlarged format, edited by Peter Seaby and P. Frank Purvey, until the company Spink & Son took over the entire publishing division of B.A. Seaby Ltd. and published the Standard Catalogue in its own name from the 33rd edition in 1997. With the 42nd edition, it was converted to colour printing in 2007, and every coin in the catalogue was re-photographed for this purpose.[3]
In 2015, Volume I was split into Coins of England & the United Kingdom, Pre-Decimal Issues, and Coins of England & the United Kingdom, Decimal Issues. It remains the only catalogue to feature every major coin type from Celtic to the Decimal coinage of Queen Elizabeth II, arranged in chronological order and divided into metals under each reign, then into coinages, denominations and varieties (57th edition, 2022).[1] As of 2024, the individual volumes are available in the 59th,[4] 10th[5] and 4th editions[6] respectively.
References
edit- ^ a b "Standard Catalog of British Coins: Pre-Decimal Issues (Spink)". Greysheet – The trusted source for numismatic information since 1963. Virginia Beach, VA, USA: CDN Publishing. Archived from the original on 2023-03-14. Retrieved 2023-03-14.
- ^ a b "Spink Coins of England & the United Kingdom 2023 (Pre-Decimal)". Ipswich: Greenlight Publishing. Archived from the original on 2023-03-14. Retrieved 2023-03-14.
- ^ "Coins of England & the United Kingdom". London: Spink & Son. Archived from the original on 2023-03-04. Retrieved 2023-03-03.
- ^ Howard, Emma, ed. (2024). Coins of England & the United Kingdom, Pre-Decimal Issues (59 ed.). London: Spink & Son Ltd. ISBN 978-1-912667-95-6.
- ^ Fletcher, David, ed. (2024). Coins of England & the United Kingdom, Decimal Issues (10 ed.). London: Spink & Son Ltd. ISBN 978-1-912667-96-3.
- ^ Coins of Scotland, Ireland and the Islands (Jersey, Guernsey, Man & Lundy) and Anglo-Gallic coins, Pre-Decimal Issues (4 ed.). London: Spink & Son Ltd. 2020. ISBN 978-1-912667-48-2.