The Coin Cabinet

Hi all, Thanks for this post! I well remember Terry Page, he was another friend of my Fathers and he also had a shop in Brookley Road, Brockenhurst in the New Forest! which was only 8 miles from where we lived. He was a very genial man and very knowledgable about all aspects of the Antiques trade. He 'found' a lot of coins for my Fathers collection over the years. Happy days! Terry

Going back to my Father with his collection which he felt was complete after 40 years travelling the country - he'd tended to take the Seabys book and try to obtain the lowest minted in number for each denomination of UK coins, not a mean feat?! Some, because of their rarity were impossible to acquire but his pride and joy was an 1839 milled edge Halfcrown of which, if I remember correctly was rarity 6 or 7 in Seabys with only a few examples known! When he retired he sold his beloved collection so he and Mum could travel and enjoy their final years, which they did in style! Happy memories! Since my first post I have been searching for the picture of us at the Cumberland in Marble Arch 1969, found it! Ada is holding the cup we won for best stand in show! My Father is on the right. I don't remember my chubby cheeks?! Terry

Yes, loved it and all other Will Hay films! Now I'm into the narrow boating 'The Bargee' 1964 starring Harry H Corbett and Ronnie Barker is a must! A lovely 'document' of the working waterways in the last throws! Iv'e just passed a lot of the places in the past week where it was filmed! Get it on Amazon if you want a peak?! Cheers Terry

Hi, I know to what you are referring, tho it was a few years before I was first breathing?! Terry

Thanks! That will be one for home as I will use all my data on the boat if I run that to the end?! Cheers for that, Terry

Thanks for that Peckris 2, I'll take a look. Terry

Thank you! I have done track work in the Winter when the trains aren't running and I appreciate the graft that goes into that side of things so that us loco men can run our trains! I have moved on to narrow boating now and am on the Grand Union at Hemel Hempstead going down to London and over to Bristol which will take most of the Summer. Cheers Terry

Hi Mike, Just noticed you are interested in heritage railways! I was a volunteer on the Talyllyn Railway in Wales for 45 years and a Driver for 29 of those! First volunteered in 1971 and finished in 2016 Cheers again, Terry

Hi Mike, You're welcome! I'm really hoping that some from that time will still be around but I'm 65 now so not many I would imagine?! Where's it all gone?! Cheers Terry

Hi folks, I stumbled across this site by chance and seeing some of the names posted here felt I was duty bound to add my six penny worth! Back in the late 1960's my Father (a coin collector) befriended a chap in Palmerston Road in Boscombe, Bournemouth. His name was George Blackwell and he had a shop called 'The Coin Cabinet'. Well, over the next few years their friendship grew and Dad would join George on Sunday morning trips up to Cutler Street which is off Petticoat Lane in the east end of London with me in tow! I couldn't believe some of the sites I saw, quite scruffy attired men with pockets crammed with coins and a bunch of notes that they had a job to get their hands around! George would buy large amounts from all manner of folk to stock his shop until the next visit! Later, George asked my Father if he would like to help him at the coin fairs which George attended, around 4 - 5 times a year. Dad jumped at this and George said bring your son if you want! I was 14 when we went to our 1st fair at the 'Rougemont Hotel' opposite Exeter Central railway station which I think was a 2 or 3 day affair. This was 1968 and for a lad of that age who'd never stayed in a hotel it was like another world with all the luxury rooms and food you could only dream of eating! After this came the Midland Hotel in Birmingham, the Piccadilly in Manchester, the Cumberland in Marble Arch and the Imperial in Blackpool which George couldn't attend due to ill health but insisted Dad and I go with the stand and it was a total success. I remember getting into a lift at the Cumberland and Mary Quant the fashion designer was there with I assume, her husband! At the Cumberland George did some business with a couple of Brothers (millionaires!) whose surname was Hearn, one of them I recall was Bernard but can't remember the other?! George's Wife Ada always came to the fairs with us, she was a lovely lady and added attraction to the stand! Sadly George did not enjoy good health in the early 70's and passed on I think around 1974. I have kept in touch with Ada from all those many years ago until her passing in 2015 aged 90. I remember talking to Lawrence from R & L coins at one of the fairs, he would be a few years older than me I think?! Other names that spring to mind:- Mike Harrison Leeds coin centre Ava Hardy from London Fred Jeffries, I remember going to his house in Melksham, Wiltshire, with Dad to collect some coins he'd found for him. Peter Ireland from Blackpool Jeff Cook, who I think put George onto the Cutler Street Sunday gatherings! A footnote to Jeff, I remember going to visit him in Winchester prison with my Dad in the early 70's, he was serving I think, 21 months for hitting a Policeman after drowning his sorrows due to marital problems! Nowadays you'd probably get a warning?!! How times have changed! Hope this may be of interest to some of you and perhaps jog a few memories!? All the very best Terry