Coins and medals


		British Campaign Medals 1815-1914 £4.50 Peter Duckers 978 0 7478 0465 9, (Album 384) 40 pp, 58 colour and 18 b/w ills. This book outlines the medals issued to British soldiers and sailors for military service across the globe. Their campaign medals have become a popular field for collectors since, apart from the artistic merit of some awards, most British medals were officially named, making it possible to research the military career of an individual. Collectors feel that they can hold in their hand, a real link with the people and events of the past and with famous incidents in Britain’s military history. Peter Duckers has been a collector of British campaign and gallantry medals for thirty-five years and now specialises in awards to the Indian Army. He is a member of the Orders and Medals Research Society, the Military Historical Society and the Indian Military Historical Society. He is the Curator of the Shropshire Regimental Museum in Shrewsbury Castle. Other titles for Shire by this author: British Campaign Medals 1914-2005 (see below) British Gallantry Awards 1855-2000 (see belo) The British-Indian Army 1860-1914 British Military Rifles British Orders and Decorations (see below) The Victoria Cross
	British Campaign Medals 1914-2005 £4.99 New extended edition - now available Peter Duckers 978 0 7478 0515 3, (Album 393) 40 pp, 69 colour and 3 b/w ills. This book surveys the medals awarded to British personnel for military service around the world and in two world wars. During the course of the twentieth century the role of Britain’s forces changed considerably – from imperial conquest and peace-keeping to full-scale participation in two world wars, campaigns for the withdrawal from Empire and finally service as a prominent member of the United Nations and NATO. The campaign medals awarded for these military actions have become a popular field for collectors, since the majority of British awards were officially named, thus making it possible to research the military career of an individual or regiment. Collectors feel that the objects in their collection give them a vivid and personal link with the people and events of the past and with major incidents in Britain’s military history. Peter Duckers has been a collector of British campaign and gallantry medals for many years and now specialises in awards to the Indian Army. He has written numerous magazine and journal articles about medals and is a Fellow of the Royal Numismatic Society, a member of the Orders and Medals Research Society, the Military Historical Society and the Indian Military Historical Society. He is Curator of the Shropshire Regimental Museum in Shrewsbury Castle. Other titles for Shire by this author: British Campaign Medals 1815-1914 (see above) British Gallantry Awards 1855-2000 (see below) The British-Indian Army 1860-1914 British Military Rifles British Orders and Decorations (see below) The Victoria Cross
	British Gallantry Awards 1855-2000 £5.99 Peter Duckers 978 0 7478 0516 8, (Album 394) 64 pp, 80 colour and 16 b/w ills. Since ancient times soldiers have been honoured for gallantry in battle. Over the years and in different societies such honours have taken many forms but since the 1850s specific acts of bravery ‘in the face of the enemy’ by British and Imperial forces have been recognised by the award of a range of wearable decorations. These provide a visible indication both of the bravery of the recipient and of its recognition by the government and nation. Collecting awards for gallantry and researching them and their recipients have become a significant hobby within the world of militaria and numismatics; it provides enthusiasts with a feeling of real contact with those who experienced the dangers and excitement of the great events of military history and it helps to keep alive the memory of brave men and women who served their country around the world. This book surveys these British decorations and medals from their origins in the Crimean War of 1854–6 up to the end of the twentieth century. Peter Duckers has been a collector of British campaign and gallantry medals for thirty-five years and now specialises in awards to the Indian Army. He has written numerous magazine and journal articles about medals and is a Fellow of the Royal Numismatic Society, a member of the Orders and Medals Research Society, the Military Historical Society and the Indian Military Historical Society. He is Curator of the Shropshire Regimental Museum in Shrewsbury Castle. Other titles for Shire by this author: British Campaign Medals 1815-1914 (see above) British Campaign Medals 1914-2005 (see above) The British-Indian Army 1860-1914 British Military Rifles British Orders and Decorations (see below) The Victoria Cross
Discovering British Military Badges and Buttons £4.99 R. J. Wilkinson-Latham 978 0 7478 0484 0, (Db 148), 96 pages, many b/w pics This book examines the development of the various styles of military head-dress badge from 1751, when the use of private crests and badges was forbidden, to the first use of cap badges in 1894. From that date, every style of badge for each regiment of the regular army is described or illustrated. Buttons are dealt with from the first order to number buttons in 1767, through the era of numbered buttons, to the newly designed buttons adopted in 1881, bearing a regimental badge. The continuing story reflects reorganisations of the Army up to the Second World War. The story of the development of badges and buttons is brought up the present day with the new badges designed for the brigade system of 1958, the large regiments of the 1970s and the radical Army reorganisations and amalgamations since 1990. Robert Wilkinson-Latham was the fifth generation of his family to be connected with Wilkinson Sword Ltd. He always has had a deep interest in all things military, collecting, researching and since the 1970s writing about militaria, from badges and buttons to uniforms, edged weapons and documents. CLICK HERE FOR OTHER MILITARY TITLES
British Orders and Decorations £5.99 Peter Duckers 978 0 7478 0580 9, (Album 424) 56 pp, 114 colour and 10 b/w ills. This book introduces the insignia worn by members of British Orders of Knighthood and Chivalry. These Orders have existed since the early Middle Ages and were initially intended to unite important noblemen in bonds of loyalty to their monarch or to act as impressive rewards for their services. Over the course of time, appointments to Orders were made to distinguished persons for services rendered to the sovereign or to the state and they have survived into modern times as another means of rewarding people of all classes and occupations for their contribution at international, national or local levels. The insignia worn by the various ranks within the Orders are often of the highest quality and exquisite workmanship and, like campaign medals and decorations, have become a popular field for collecting and research. Peter Duckers has been a collector of British campaign and gallantry medals for thirty-five years. He is Curator of the Shropshire Regimental Museum. Other titles for Shire by this author: British Campaign Medals 1815-1914 (see above) British Campaign Medals 1914-2005 (see above) British Gallantry Awards 1855-2000 (see above) The British-Indian Army 1860-1914 British Military Rifles The Victoria Cross
Celtic Coinage in Britain £4.99 Philip de Jersey 978 0 7478 0325 6 (Shire Archaeology 72) 56 pp, 88 ills. In the space of little more than a hundred years, from the Roman conquest of Gaul in the mid first century BC to the defeat of Boudicca in AD61, Britain saw the final and arguably the most impressive phase in the development of Celtic coinage. This book analyses how and why the coins were made and explains how the images they carry can reveal information on the political, economic and social life of the Celts. It is fully illustrated with some of the best examples of Celtic coinage. Since 1992 Philip de Jersey has been employed at the Institute of Archaeology in Oxford to maintain and computerise the Celtic coin index, a detailed record of more than 20,000 British Celtic coins.
Discovering Friendly and Fraternal Societies: their Badges and Regalia £10.99 Victoria Solt Dennis 978 0 7478 0628 8, (Handbook 295) approx 200 pp, many colour and b/w ills. Curious items of personal adornment such as sashes and collars made of silk or velvet, aprons and medals sometimes turn up in car-boot sales or are found in an attic or a shop selling bygones. Many of these objects are decorated with arcane symbols and bear inscriptions such as ‘Guardian’, ‘Past Arch’ or, even more cryptically, ‘PCR’ or ‘KOM’. Although often grouped under the misleading umbrella title of ‘Masonic’, these objects represent a vast range of friendly and fraternal orders that provided sociability, financial security and moral leadership for their members. Ranging from nationally organised orders to tiny village savings clubs, these societies were an essential part of life for the majority of people in Britain but, with a few exceptions, they have now disappeared. In this ground-breaking and richly illustrated book Victoria Solt Dennis describes the history of these orders and enables the reader to unlock this forgotten history by identifying many of these objects. This book will be of value to family historians, curators and dealers as well as to anyone who values the rich history of the ordinary people of Britain. Victoria Solt Dennis’ main research is in the construction and evolution of dress and the ways that people create identities and meaning from it. Since 2000 she has concentrated on researching the material culture of fraternity, using the collections of the Library and Museum of Freemasonry as the core of this project.
Romano-British Coin Hoards £5.99 Richard Abdy 978 0 7478 0532 8 (Shire Archaeology 82) approx 64 pp, many b/w ills. Britain’s visible Roman remains are lacking in impressive monuments such as the temples, arches and amphitheatres found in France and Italy. Yet the best testament to Britain’s participation in Graeco-Roman civilisation is its ‘hidden’ monuments: spectacular hoards of household valuables such as jewellery, precious-metal table utensils or decorations and also – the concern of this book – rich hoards of gold, silver and bronze coins. Many such hoards are hidden no longer, as visits to numerous museums will quickly show. This book provides an introduction to Romano-British coin hoards and places major discoveries, new and old, in the story of the Roman monetary system in Britannia. Richard Abdy graduated from the University of Glasgow and now curates the later Roman and early Byzantine coins at the British Museum. His duties include participating in the recording and publishing of Romano-British coin hoards as part of the treasure process. This enables museums to judge whether they are worth acquiring or at least saves the information for posterity before their dispersal. Click here for other archaeology titles
The Victoria Cross £5.99 Peter Duckers 978 0 7478 0635 6, (Album 447) 72 pp, 99 colour and 7 b/w ills. The Victoria Cross, established in 1856 during the Crimean War, has remained to this day the highest British award ‘for valour’ and is perhaps the most prestigious gallantry medal in the world. Though the VC confers no special title and the medal itself is plain and simple in design, it is nevertheless the hardest-won and most coveted of gallantry awards. In every theatre of war where British and Commonwealth soldiers have served over the past one hundred and fifty years, VCs have been won by men aged from sixteen to sixty-one, soldiers, sailors, airmen and civilians. Since its inception in 1856, well over thirteen hundred VCs have been awarded, reflecting the gallantry of British and Commonwealth forces in action around the world from the Crimea to Iraq. To read the award citations is to be brought face to face with examples of selfless courage and devotion to duty and to encounter deeds that are always remarkable and sometimes astounding. Peter Duckers is Curator of the Shropshire Regimental Museum. Other titles for Shire by this author: British Campaign Medals 1815-1914 (see above) British Campaign Medals 1914-2005 (see above) British Gallantry Awards 1855-2000 (see above) British Orders and Decorations (see above) The British-Indian Army 1860-1914 British Military Rifles