3 minute read

Teaching the Next Generation to Love Antiques

from The Bath Magazine February 2023

by MC Publishing Limited

from The Bath Magazine February 2023 , page 78

Article from: The Bath Magazine February 2023

5 key marketing tools to help ...

RON PRINGLE

Founder, Beau Nash Bath

Sadly today, antiques, family heirlooms or period pieces are often dumped in charity shops or sold, because they are deemed “useless” by the younger generations.

Growing up, our family antiques and silverware were used on a daily basis and never hidden in a drawer or tucked out of the way - this ignited my current love for antiques. We were taught from a young age to respect the pieces, learn about potential fragility, and maintain the furniture or silverware to keep them useable for the next generation. Most memories of my childhood feature family meals and playing in rooms surrounded by the antiques my parent's inherited. I've since inherited my grandmother's simple brown wood table and it has pride of place in my home and has contributed to the experience of raising of my children around antiques.

In my observations, things that get used, get loved. Trying to pass down a dusty, unloved, out-of-sight antique to your children is probably not going to be well received; however, if you can integrate that piece into everyday family life, then maybe it can be viewed differently by the younger generations.

When my children get married, they each receive a silver canteen of cutlery, which immediately gets put away in their kitchen cutlery drawer for everyday use - making a cuppa, cutting a cake, eating dinner. Don't worry, even modcons like dishwashers are safe for solid silver flatware, so no one has to worry about washing up! It is possible for antiques and silverware to be “normal” and using them makes every day feel a bit more special. We need to foster their integration into our modern world, encouraging the next generation to style and use things in new ways; recognising that these historic things still have a valued place.

Organiser and artist Alce Harfield is again donating an original Glastonbury Festival painting for the charity raffle. In response to the outpouring of love and support for those displaced from Ukraine and to all refugees who have found themselves in Bath, proceeds will go to the charity Bath Welcomes Refugees. bathwelcomesrefugees.org.uk

The provenance of an antique is more than it’s original owner, it is the combined story of everyone that has used it. By using a piece routinely and admiring it's adaptability and versatility, its story becomes enriched. And that, in my opinion, is the provenance that really counts. n beaunashbath.com;

What’s your story worth?

By Matthew Denney

It must be every metal detectorist’s dream… the sound in the headphones of a hopeful tone, the shine in the earth of a coin lost for centuries coming to light for the first time. The first coin followed by another, then a gold coin and more silver! This is just what happened, to one experienced and lucky detectorist!

Having spent a clear but chilly Autumn morning in a field usually used for grazing, it was only when having given up on the day, the pair turned back towards their car and within seconds a silver groat, then three more...

The potential of the site was immediately clear and after careful work with fellow detectorists alongside the landowner, the full extent of the hoard was revealed. Naturally, correct procedure was followed, and the collection of coins were recorded on the PAS scheme and a Coroner's report compiled stating the full detail of the find.

Quoting from this report, the quality and importance of the find is immediately apparent:- “The coins belong to the reigns of Henry IV, first reign and Edward IV first reign, the period of the Wars of the Roses. They are a highly selected group of good condition, high value coins and do not simply reflect the general coinage in circulation at the time. The majority of the coins appear to be a group of closely dated coins of the same denomination… This close grouping does not reflect the general distribution in coinage at the time and may reflect specific episodes of payment or saving of money, brought as a group from the mint.… a closure date for the hoard of 1468 or 1469....”.

Further recorded in a fully illustrated three-page article in Treasure Hunting Magazine for June 1919, this is a well recorded and properly reported find.

The collection was offered for sale in our Autumn militaria, coins and medals sale and sold for £21,630.

Virtually every day someone will call into our offices with coins to be looked at; these inevitably range from the finest gold coins to more straightforward heavily circulated coppers.

The excitement of looking through a quantity of coins be they an accumulation or a fine collection, never diminishes. With a long held interest in coins and medals, specialist Matthew Denney is always keen to see interesting and unusual items and researching the history that these sales cover.

If you have items that you would like to include in our forthcoming sale on May 25th, please get in touch for a free, no obligation valuation.

Consignments are accepted throughout the year!

A wonderful example of the four coin gold proof set produced by the Royal Mint to celebrate the Coronation of King George VI.