Item 1989/1 - Two notes from Peter Mitchell

2 items, paper

Two notes from Peter Mitchell:
(a) brief note, manuscript, dated 24 January [1989], signed "P", stating that there is "no further news from Brettell who is 81 yrs old now", in reference to Patrick Brettell (see notes), and that "we buried Herbert two weeks ago", in reference to Herbert Schneider, who died in January 1989, which dates the note.
(b) note, manuscript, single page, undated, unsigned, but bearing the same penmanship as Peter Mitchell's brief note of 24 January. The right half of the page is taken up with a photocopy of five photographs showing the obverse and reverse of coins, while the left side is occupied by brief notes on them. For the first: "Hy I, ½ / IX mule of Sandwich, different moneyer to Mack, not a word until JPCK is hooked", in reference to John Kent, Keeper of Coins & Medals at the British Museum. For the second and third: "to BM". For the fourth: "Christies 28 Feb 89", which provides the terminus post quem. For the fifth: "Slipped through the net in 1988 to USA – authenticity doubted at the time".

Robert Patrick Vernon Brettell (b. 1907-d. 1998), known as "Pat", was a police inspector at Tavistock in West Devon on the edge of Dartmoor National Park. He initially collected broadly in English coins but disposed of the collection to focus on Devon mints. Peter Mitchell catalogued his coins for auction.