Coins and the Sea

In this bonus episode of The Secret Life of Coins, join Abigail and Chris to hear more from Dr Janette Bright, historian of the Foundling Museum. Learn more about how unassuming coins can really tug at the heartstrings.

Who doesn't love a penny arcade at the seaside? Join Chris and David in our latest bonus episode, as they explore Williamson's Old Penny Arcade in Great Yarmouth with its owner, Peter Williamson.

In this bonus episode to Season 2 of The Secret Life of Coins, join Abigail and David in an extended-cut interview with Gordon Summers, Chief Engraver of the Royal Mint. Go behind the scenes and learn about why coins really are the perfect example of tiny art.

Join Susie and Abigail back up the Elizabeth Tower, for an extended-cut interview with Dr Andrew Strangeway, a clockmaker at the UK Parliament and keeper of the Great Clock, better known as Big Ben. Hear more about how coins are used to keep the nation's timekeeper running, as we go behind the scenes once again.

A trip to the seaside has become a staple of our summer. From dodging the showers to sandy ice creams, many of us have nostalgic memories of the beach. No trip to the seaside would be complete without a trip to the amusement arcades, and most of us will remember the joy of making our pocket money disappear into a hungry machine. Whilst it is all too easy to make our coins disappear from our pocket...

Tipping a statue into a river or by chaining themselves to trees are just a few imaginative ways that protesters have come up with to get their messages across. Whilst we might be aware of the official propaganda value of our coins, we often do not associate them with protest. Yet, for those looking to give vent to their frustrations, or to get a message across, they have been an important way to...

In an era of social media and the internet we are constantly bombarded with messaging. Multinational companies and the over hyped claims of governments are all too easy to hear and read. This is not, however, a new phenomenon and one of the earliest forms of mass communication was our coinage. Circulated throughout the nation, and passed from hand-to-hand, coins were as ubiquitous as the daily not...

Throughout time, coins have been a powerful way of conveying wealth and status, granting influence and power to those who have them. They are transformative objects and have become central to many of our ceremonies and traditions. Ranging from the coronation through to centuries old religious ceremonies, like the Royal Maundy, or as part of the wedding ceremony with a silver sixpence in a bride’s...

Coins have been admired for their beauty for centuries and, because of this, for nearly as long as there have been coins people have been drawn to using them to create spectacular ornamentations and jewellery. Draped over the body in a glittering display of wealth and power, or emblazoned in artwork, coins have had an enduring appeal to the artist and jeweller alike  for the sheer glory of the obj...

We all know coins are handy little things, for buying a coffee, paying for parking or saving in money boxes, but what if we told you they also have a more varied and secret life? Welcome to the very first episode of our new podcast series, where we discover the surprising, quirky, and downright fascinating ways in which coins have been used over the centuries. And we’re kicking things off with a b...

Join Susie at sea in this interview with the crew of the Johanna Lucretia. Operated as part of the Island Trust, the Johanna Lucretia is a traditionally rigged topsail schooner, which often hosts young people for residential and day-sailing courses. Hear more about life at sea today!

Hear more from Dr Eric Nordgren, Lecturer in Conservation atCardiff University, all about what goes into conserving finds. From coins to ships, in earth or water, hear all about the interesting processes involved in making archaeology accessible through museums.

In this bonus episode we speak to Dr Toby Jones, nauticalarchaeologist and Curator of the Newport Medieval Ship. Find out more about this fascinating medieval ship, and the unusual way that coins were used in its construction.

Hear more of our interview with Victoria Ingles, Principal Curator for the National Museum of the Royal Navy, all about what life might have been like for those sailing in the Royal Navy. How was payment distributed, and how did families manage with breadwinners away at sea? Find out here.

Join us in exploring an extended interview with Dr Marian Gwyn, a specialist in the Atlantic world and British imperialism, about how gold transported by the Royal Africa Company shaped the nation’s coinage. Learn more about the origins of the guinea, and how the trade in gold brought about the growth of an empire.

Hear more from Dr Richard Blakemore about how the grizzly history of pirates has paved the way for our modern, sanitised version of the myth. What technically constituted piracy in historical terms, and were historical pirates all clear-cut heroes or villains?  

In this bonus episode we speak to Sir Christopher Frayling, award-winning historian and broadcaster, about how our present-day idea of pirates is based in historical fact, and sometimes in fiction! Did pirates really bury their treasure? Listen on to find out.

Hear more from Dr Alex Hildred, Head of Research at the Mary Rose Trust and one of the archaeological supervisors during the excavation and raising of the Mary Rose. Join us as we speak to Alex and learn more about how the Mary Rose was raised in 1982, and what it felt like to dive an archaeological wreck.

Join us as we speak to Hannah Matthews, Curator at the Mary Rose Trust about how life might have looked and felt for those aboard a Tudor naval ship such as the Mary Rose. How would the crew have been paid, and who would have kept track of it all? Join us and find out!

Long John Silver, treasure maps, X marks the spot, peg legs and parrots. These are just some of the images that come to mind when people mention the word ‘pirate’. How close do these images come to reality though? Throughout the episode the Museum team will look to bust some of the myths that have grown up around pirates and explore how popular culture, in the form of books and films, has shaped o...

For centuries people have been tantalised by the allure of shipwrecks. The drama and the tragedy of ships lost at sea has captivated people, as has the possibility that those wrecks might contain vast amounts of valuable cargo. Salvages have been drawn to wrecks throughout time, but what is the reality of these shipwrecks? Are there vast amounts of gold and silver waiting to be found at the bottom...

Modern cruises and sea travel are often sold to us today in terms of luxury.  That has certainly not always been the case. Ocean travel for most of history has been difficult, people living in cramped, awful conditions. Yet, what role has coinage played onboard ship. How would you have managed in the golden age of sail? Perhaps more importantly, how would you have been paid if you went to sea? Fin...

Today we live in a highly connected and globalised world, one that has shrunk as modern technology has made it ever quicker and easier to access far flung corners of the globe. But, as a nation, we have been travelling and trading via the seas for centuries. With large profits to be made these trade routes have had an impact on coinage and the nation’s economy. Over this episode we will see the ef...

Britannia is a figure that has become synonymous with our nation. She has had many guises but, for the Royal Mint, she has developed into the figure of a woman, often classically attired, complete with robes, Corinthian helmet, shield and trident. Yet, there are many other forms and places that she might be encountered, whether in the name of companies, on pub signs or in art, she has become a sho...

Britain is a maritime nation, its history shaped by the actions of the Royal Navy and through the influence of international trade networks extending across the oceans. This history has had a lasting impact on our coinage and today there are many commemorative coins that celebrate this maritime tradition. But has this always been the case? Has our coinage continually reflected a nautical culture....