Item 1968/1 - Two letters from Bill Seaby, one with attachment and separate corrigenda

4 items, paper

Two letters from Bill Seaby, the first with an attachment and separate corrigenda:
(a) letter, in typescript with manuscript additions in the margins, single page, date 14 February 1968, entitled "Brussels Hoard (Irish portion) etc., informing that he has traced 1811 coins in the British Museum, Irish National Museum, the Ulster Museum, and several smaller cabinets. He claims to have identified all obverses and reverses to 98% accuracy. He expects to find fifty or so more specimens in other collections but does not believe that they will change the pattern very much. The findings are set out in the attachment (see below). He would value IS's comments, "particularly as to whether [...] the formula [...] can legitimately be applied to the number of die combinations in relation to the size of the sample taken" (for the formula, cf. NCirc, Sept. 1965, pp. 180-181). There appears to have one major recall of dies during some twenty-eight months of production, though he subsequently refers to 130 weeks, which would approximate thirty months. WAS then extrapolates from the data on die combinations and die usage. In the manuscript addenda, he asks IS whether he has any Henry III Irish coins and, if so, asks for photos of the same plus any relevant data. He also notes Albert Baldwin's death and that, two days before, he said that the Ulster Museum may retain any Irish coins from the Brussels so long as it returned a substantial proportion to the firm, adding "What a kind chap he was". Finally, there is reference to a copy of a letter to [Stewart] Lyon.
(b) attachment, carbon-copy typescript, single page, undated, entitled "Henry III: Irish long cross coinage, first issue, Sept. 1251- Jan. 1254 (Dublin mint: two moneyers only)", providing figures "based on the Brussels hoard and coins in public and private collections in England and Ireland" broken down by moneyer. Out of the 1811 coins, he records 799 die combinations, whereas the formula gives 950+ with the expected variation within the range from 865 to 1035. He then provides some extrapolations from his figures.
(c) corrigenda, carbon-copy typescript, single page, dated 16 February 1968, entitled "Slight correction to letter dated 14 February 1968", stating that "There appear to have been at most only 120 weeks of production at the Dublin mint".
(d) letter, in typescript, single page, dated 22 February 1968, returning IS's coins, having photographed them with his polaroid camera, commenting upon the degree of clarity needed in photos to identify dies.