A Scion Society of The Baker Street Irregulars
Numismatists Do Not Fear Change
Sherlock Holmes as sketched by Sidney Paget, considered the master Holmes portraitist. We all know who Sherlock Holmes was, the greatest detective of Victorian England in all of literature. I’ll be willing to bet that most readers of this column have also read some, if not all. of the stories that are called by fans… Continue Reading
“The Capital and Counties Bank, Oxford Street branch, are my agents.” – The Adventure of The Priory School (PRIO) London in 1894, when Sherlock Holmes returned from his incognito foreign journeying, was enjoying the Golden Age of British Imperial investment and expansion, bringing an enormous accretion of wealth to the Capital City of the Empire.… Continue Reading
“… and had delivered his usual brilliant lecture to a crowded class.” – The Adventure of The Creeping Man (CREE) During the American Numismatic Association’s (ANA) 100th Anniversary Convention (aka The World’s Fair of Money, the first ANA convention to use this marketing theme) in August, 1991, the then Vice President of the ANA, Edward C. Rochette,… Continue Reading
“Give up a hundred thousand quid?” – The Adventure of The Mazarin Stone (MAZA) We, as modern American readers, have always had some problem in translating the British monetary system of the Victorian era into something more tangible, such as purchasing power. One who is not completely familiar with the monetary system of the time… Continue Reading
“I should like to see him clapped down in a third-class carriage on the Underground, and asked to give the trades of all his fellow-travellers.” – A Study in Scarlet (STUD) The London Underground, or “tube”, has a few mentions in the Canon. The above quote, from A Study in Scarlet” is Watson’s reaction after reading Holmes’ The Book… Continue Reading
Editor’s Note: This article by noted Holmesian, Jay Finley Christ, is reprinted from The Numismatist, Vol. 64, No. 10 (October 1951), pp. 1103-05. I would claim that this was the first paper published with Sherlock Holmes – numismatic connections. Glittering Gold Guineas by Jay Finley Christ There is at least a spark of numismatic interest in two… Continue Reading
“‘Sarasate plays at the St. James’s Hall this afternoon’…” – The Red Headed League (REDH) Pablo Martín Melitón de Sarasate y Navascués was born in Pamplona, Spain in 1844 and began studying the violin when he was five years old. Performing publicly at the age of eight, he was recognized as a prodigy and sent off… Continue Reading
Queen Victoria ruled Great Britain from 1837 until her death in 1901. During the 64 years of her reign, Britain turned to the remote parts of the world and established a colonial empire of such extent and prosperity that the world has never seen its like. Over the years of her reign, the bust of… Continue Reading