CHARLES RILEY COINS AND MEDALS Dealing in Coins, Medals, Commemorative Medals and Items of Numismatic Interest
P.O. Box 733, Aylesbury HP22 9AX, United Kingdom Tel. +44 (0)1296 747598 E-mail: charlesrileycoins@gmail.com

BRITISH MEDAL STOCK UPDATED 16^th AUGUST 2024

FOREIGN MEDAL STOCK UPDATED 16^th AUGUST 2024

MEDALS UNDER £50 UPDATED 16^th AUGUST 2024

Overseas buyers: I can now accept payment through the Paypal system (plus 4% fee) - please contact me for further details. US Dollar checks are also accepted (see terms & conditions)

Books for sale: These are listed at the bottom of the References page (click on References button above)

About Charles Riley

I have been a professional numismatist since 1990. Until 2005 I was a cataloguer and auctioneer for two of London's then principal numismatic auctioneers (namely Glendining’s and Baldwin’s - when the latter were in Adelphi Terrace), which included the cataloguing and sale preparation of the six thousand silver coins of the fifteenth century Reigate Hoard, sold at auction in 1992, and taking numismatic auctions in Hong Kong, Singapore and Dubai as well as London. In 2005 I launched my independent coin and medal dealing business and consultancy, Charles Riley Coins & Medals. Independent successes have included placing a million pound collection of quality British coins on the London auction market which included of one of the finest examples of the famous New South Wales ‘Holey Dollar’ of 1813, as well as a valuable collection largely formed in the 1930s.

As an enthusiastic collector of coins since the 1970s, my initial collecting interests were in British and French medieval coinage. Latterly I developed a particular interest in Commemorative Medals both British and foreign. My personal collecting interests are Welsh-language medals (where the Welsh legend is struck rather than engraved – see below), and historical / commemorative medals of Oxford and Oxfordshire. Please contact me if you have any of these for sale.

Medalau yn yr iaith cymraeg After 30 years of collecting Welsh-language commemorative and historical medals I'm turning my thoughts to compiling a reference catalogue. The main criterion is that the Welsh legend should be struck rather than engraved and can include civic or personal family mottoes. To this end I'm appealing for material of which currently I may be unaware so that it can be as complete as possible. The medals can be prizes at schools, universities or eisteddfodau, agricultural medals, friendly society medals, medals from Welsh learned societies, local militia and yeomanry medals, medals commemorating the great and the good of Welsh society or temperance medals. The scope is wide, so long as part of the legend is struck in Welsh. If you have any such medals please contact me.

I am a member of the British Numismatic Society, the British Art Medal Society, the British Numismatic Trade Association

Numismatic Services

Sale of Coins and Medals: My stock is sold mainly through this website, and through having a table at various fairs (see below, under News). However not everything is listed on the website, so if you are looking for a coin or commemorative medal and don't see it here, please contact me. Currently I do not issue a printed retail list.

Purchase of Coins and Medals: I am always keen to purchase coins and medals, be they individual items or collections. I live in Buckinghamshire, which is geographically well suited for visiting clients in the south and midlands of England, as well as London. I also travel the country widely.

Valuation for Probate: This can be arranged for a fee dependent on the amount of work involved.

Auction cataloguing: As an auction cataloguer and auctioneer between 1990-2005, I am well placed to catalogue numismatic collections for auction, and can offer advice on all matters relating to the auction process.

News

Please note my email address is charlesrileycoins@gmail.com

Website stock listings: The medal stock pages were updated on 16^th August. Over 140 new medals have been added, mostly from a private collection of a deceased collector, including many from Napoleonic France and other French medals.

Coin stock listings: I hope to list coins for sale in the (currently moribund) Coins For Sale sections later in the year (2024). Somewhat delayed by the collection of commemorative medals (see above). Watch this space…

Historical Medal Society website: There is a new website of the UK-based Historical Medal Society, here https://www.historicalmedalsociety.org.uk. I recommend it and also attendance at their annual Conference in Warwick, for which advance booking is necessary.

There is a small selection of numismatic books for sale. These are offered on the References page, after the numismatic bibliography: do have a look - although small in number, it is quite an interesting selection - and excellent value!

Facebook: There is now a Facebook page called...”Charles Riley Coins & Medals”. It has some photos not on this website and may have alerts as to website listings or events in my numismatic life. The Facebook page can be accessed here.

My photograph: Apparently some people like to know what the person they are dealing with actually looks like, so now you can find out by scrolling down to the bottom of the References page, below the "Books for Sale" section, or simply clicking here. Additionally, recently I unearthed the photograph here of my early days in the coin auction business at Glendining and Company in central London which I’m putting on this website for a bit of fun.

2015 - career anniversaries: 2015 marked a couple of milestones in my numismatic journey for which I issued a commemorative medal. It is available for purchase at just £5 plus registered postage, or will be free with any item ordered from this website, while stocks last. For further details click on this link here.

How to Order Items from this Website

Make a note of the stock number(s) you would like to order, with a brief description (so that I am sure the Item Number is not in error) and email me (charlesrileycoins@gmail.com) with your order. I will then advise the total to pay (including postage) and methods of payment, which in order of preference are bank transfer, Paypal or cheque/check. I cannot take debit or credit cards. Please make sure I know which country you are in as obviously postage cost will be dependent on this.

Coin Fairs

I will have a table at the following coin fairs

2025
1 February	London Coin Fair	Novotel London West Hotel, 1 Shortlands, Hammersmith, London W6 6DR
4 & 5 April	Harrogate Coin Fair	Old Swan Hotel, Swan Road, Harrogate, Yorkshire HG1 2SR
7 June	London Coin Fair	Novotel London West Hotel, 1 Shortlands, Hammersmith, London W6 6DR
12 July	* Medallion Congress	Delta Marriott Hotel, Stratford Road, Budbrooke, Warwick CV34 6RE
6 September	London Coin Fair	Novotel London West Hotel, 1 Shortlands, Hammersmith, London W6 6DR
1 November	London Coin Fair	Novotel London West Hotel, 1 Shortlands, Hammersmith, London W6 6DR

Coin Fairs are a great way to meet clients and also an opportunity for me to display items which never appear on the website: see here for a photograph of me at the London Coin Fair.

* Advance booking is necessary. The cost for a day of lectures plus two meals is £63. There is an evening bourse. Contact me for further details.

Oxford Numismatic Society

The Society meets monthly usually very informally over lunch in Kidlington (north of Oxford) at 12pm. Currently the meeting venue is subject to change so check with me first. The next meeting is on 14^th December. Additional information is available here. New members are welcome - please contact me for further details (there’s no membership fee – it’s really an informal meeting of like-minded people). Our Secretary has said: “Why join a coin club? Numismatic societies exist to encourage our hobby and learn from each other. We meet on a Saturday lunchtime at a pub in Kidlington. Each month has a theme and members can bring items that reflect that theme. It may be a subject or an event or a place. The idea is to include as many collecting experiences and backgrounds as possible. We very occasionally have a speaker but most meetings are informal discussions over food and drink. Members’ interests are varied and include most aspects of numismatics. We often display new purchases and swap stories about how coins used to be cheap. We pass around items to identify and usually someone knows what they are.” So, it’s a very informal ‘Society’ which exists to share numismatic fellowship. A typical lunchtime meeting will have about five or six members currently, so - small and friendly! There is now a Facebook group for the Oxford Numismatic Society also. Because of falling attendee numbers due to ill-health or worse, we really do need new ‘members’ (no fee – see above). Do come along if you have an interest in things numismatic, no matter what level of experience.

A photograph of a typical meeting is available here.

Bits and Bobs

Numismatically departed: brief farewells to selected numismatists can be found here.

Occasionally I scribble some thoughts and sometimes they see the light of day in print. Here are a few:

“Welsh Wizardry” (Coin News April 1997), here ; “Fishguard Bicentenary 1797-1997” (Coin News June 1998), here ; “Notes on a Chance Find” (Coin News June 2014), here ; “The Maharajah’s Well and its Medal” (Historical Medal Journal No.2, June 2020), here ; “The National Eisteddfod Medal 1898 by Sir William Goscombe John” (Historical Medal Journal No.3, July 2021), here ; “Why I Like This Medal” (Historical Medal Journal No.4, May 2022), here

And here are a couple of random thoughts only published by me on various internet forums: Simpson Rostron & The Riley Connection, here ; The Bear & I, here

PLEASE TAKE NOTE!

The full notice advising of my thoughts on general requests for information, or ‘discounted’ prices has been moved to the foot of the Orders & Enquiries page, but briefly:

Please DON’T ask for general information, and certainly please DON’T ask for reduced prices. Thank you.

In addition, please do not contact me with any enquiries regarding modern coinage, especially ‘rare’ 50-Pence or 2-Pound pieces. By and large there is a lot of hype around these, both in the Press and through silly prices being asked on eBay. If you have a coin like this that you think is very valuable and rare, your first port of call should be to list it on eBay. Recently there’s been some excitement that modern 1971 Two-Pence coins are worth money. Well yes, they are worth 2p but no more! I think the idea that they are worth a small fortune has arisen due to a mistaken report in the popular press, confusing 1971 with 1983 (and the 1983 coin must read ‘New Pence’ not ‘Two Pence’).

Educational tips / grammatical gripes
available for consultation here

On parle du français
ich spreche ein bisschen Deutsch

Copyright 2005-2024: all rights reserved

Calling all Riley extended family I have published a Riley family history, some 25 years in the making. However I have lost contact with family who might like copies, especially in the Manchester area of England. Other extended family may have links to the Prestatyn area of North Wales. For example you might be connected to the late Walter Riley (Manchester), or the late Colin Gilbert Riley (Prestatyn). The History will be available to anyone with proven links to me through the Riley heritage. Contact me if you would like a copy.

Glendinings, B