Item 1960/1 - Four letters of Ian Stewart to Christopher Blunt

4 items, paper

Five letters from Ian Stewart to Christopher Blunt:
(a) manuscript, three pages on two folios, dated from 22 Finch Lane, EC3, on 19 March [1960], noting that "the two English coins in the Glenluce hoard [...] have been deliberately chipped down to the weights of the James III groat and half-groat", which in effect makes them Scottish currency, according to [R.B.K.] Stevenson, but he has asked for a cast of the Henry IV groat for CEB. He asks about the presence of Lombardic Rs on London halfpence of the second coinage of Edward III. He notes that he has two with different readings and asks whether CEB would be interested in taking them, "plus perhaps and Anglo-Saxon coin or two, in exchange for the John Baliol half-penny". He is sending the Edward III halfpence in the event that CEB is interested so that he may see them and expresses an interest in learning about their significance.
(b) manuscript, one folio (recto & verso), dated from Camlet House, Hadley Wood, Hertfordshire, on 5 June [1960], explaining his late reply to CEB's letter and his intention to make a cast from his "indifferent Robert III half-groat during a forthcoming visit to the British Museum. He notes that his holiday is subject to factors outside of his control and may preclude his acceptance of CEB's invitation to spend a weekend at Ramsbury in August, but he will let him know. He refers to an "exciting single bear's head half-penny in apparently an Edward II context" and asks whether, in mentioning the new evidence of the single bear's head coin in his paper on Scottish pence of 1280-1357, he may also mention CEB's discovery of the first mint entry for Edward III, which excludes the pence from 1333-1335.
(c) manuscript, one folio (recto & verso), dated from Camlet House, Hadley Wood, Hertfordshire, on 19 June [1960], noting that his "holiday dates are now fixed for late August", which should enable him to take up CEB's invitation for the weekend of 6 August. He expresses regret that he was unable to attend the general meeting of the Royal Numismatic Society, which caused him the miss CEB's address [i.e. the first part of his President's Address for the 1959-1960 session on Ecclesiastical coinage in England, delivered on 15 June 1960, which dates this and the preceding letter]. The last paragraph deals with "the bear's head half-penny hoard" and the efforts of IS to trace its source.
(d) manuscript, one folio (recto & verso), dated from 22 Finch Lane, EC3, on 8 August [1960], thanking CEB "for another most happy & rewarding weekend at Ramsbury, but also especially for the John Baliol ½d." and expressing his gratitude to the ladies of the house for breakfast and for ensuring that he caught his train in Hungerford. The weekend at Ramsbury and the reference to the John Baliol half-penny, in the context of the other letters, make it possible to date the latter to 1960.
(e) manuscript, one folio (recto & verso), dated from 40 Longridge Road, SW5, on 12 October [c. 1960?], thanking Mr Blunt for the opportunity "to attend the Essay Club dinner last evening". He promises to get in touch with CSSL [i.e. Stewart Lyon].