Richard Kelleher | University of Cambridge (original) (raw)
Books by Richard Kelleher
Defaced! Money, Conflict, Protest, 2022
This fully illustrated catalogue is the first of its kind to examine the relationship between mon... more This fully illustrated catalogue is the first of its kind to examine the relationship between money, power, resistance and dissent. It accompanies major exhibitions at The Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge and the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto.
Naismith, R. (ed.), Money and Coinage in the Middle Ages, 2019
The connection between archaeology and coins, money and numismatics, has been repeatedly debated ... more The connection between archaeology and coins, money and numismatics, has been repeatedly debated over recent decades. This chapter focuses three aspects of the theme: conceptions of “money” and “coins” within archaeology, coins as archaeological material, and coins as part of archaeological research history. Focus is on the medieval period but outlooks are made to other times and areas where there are illustrative examples, and to general issues of theory and method.
The entire book is Open Access: https://brill.com/view/title/38646
This book is an excellent reference guide to identifying medieval coins. Containing over 530 beau... more This book is an excellent reference guide to identifying medieval coins. Containing over 530 beautiful colour photographs together with a comprehensive listing of mints, moneyers and denominations for all English and Irish coins struck between 1066 and 1489. A History of Medieval Coinage in England provides an illustrated guide to the coinage of medieval England from the Norman Conquest of 1066 to the reign of the first Tudor king, Henry VII. While providing guidance on identification this book also places coinage in its historical context and gives insight into how coins were manufactured, used in circulation and lost or buried in a hoard. It is illustrated by more than 530 colour photographs, as well as 125 distribution maps, tables and images of places and people which help bring to life the medieval world in which coins were used and lost.
Papers and Book chapters by Richard Kelleher
Money and Coinage in the Middle Ages, 2018
In 1986-1988 excavations at a medieval Black Death cemetery at East Smithfield in London (on the ... more In 1986-1988 excavations at a medieval Black Death cemetery at East Smithfield in London (on the old site of the Royal Mint) yielded an important group of burials, some of which were accompanied by coins. One of these was of particular significance, as it provided a rare glimpse into the composition of the stock of "everyday" money available to Londoners in the 1340s. Excavators discovered the burial of a woman aged 25-36, who had been interred with two distinctly different groups of silver coins.1 Of the 181 coins recovered, most of the pennies were found to the side of the chest, probably in a pouch slung around the neck or under the shoulder. The second cache -which consisted entirely of fractional denominations -was found within the pelvis cavity. The lesser denominations were available at the waist for ease of access, and the pennies kept closer to the body, hidden under the armpit.2 This tale from London was no doubt replicated countless times across the rest of Europe. That this evidence survives at all is a consequence of the horrific reality of death and hasty burial that overwhelmed town and country alike as the Black Death gripped Europe in the mid-14th century. The pandemic, which wiped out between one-third and one-half of the population, fundamentally altered the social, economic, and political landscapes over which it so mercilessly swept, arresting the economic progress of the previous two centuries. This chapter explores the major monetary changes that occurred between the Commercial Revolution of the long 13th century and the Black Death of the late 1340s and early 1350s. 1 Grainger, The Black Death Cemetery, East Smithfield, London, p. 15. A second female inhumation in the same grave row was found with eight coins. Gilchrist and Sloane, Medieval Monastic Cemetery, pp. 100-1. 2 Kelleher, Leins, and Cook, "Roman, medieval and later coins from the Vintry, City of London", pp. 235-36. Gilchrist and Sloane suggest the likely reason that coins (and other objects) were not removed from a body during its preparation for burial was advanced putrefaction, Requiem, p. 102. Richard Kelleher -9789004383098 Downloaded from Brill.com01/24/2020 02:58:38PM via University of Cambridge Richard Kelleher -9789004383098 Downloaded from Brill.com01/24/2020 02:58:38PM via University of Cambridge Richard Kelleher -9789004383098 Downloaded from Brill.com01/24/2020 02:58:38PM via University of Cambridge
XV International Numismatic Congress Taormina 2015 Proceedings, volume II. Edited by Maria Caccamo Caltabiano, Coeditors Benedetto Carroccio, Daniele Castrizio, Mariangela Puglisi, Grazia Salamone, 2017
This paper considers the medieval numismatic data from the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, a pe... more This paper considers the medieval numismatic
data from the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, a period
of critical importance in the development of the money
economy in England and Wales2. By examining the
spatial distribution and denominational profile visible
in the single find data, the spread of ‘monetisation’ and
the changing patterns of coin use will be shown.
Divina Moneta: Coins in Religion and Ritual edited by Nanouschka Myrberg Burström and Gitte Tarnow Ingvardson, 2018
In the early 1290s a Welshman named William Cragh, charged with arson and 13 counts of homicide, ... more In the early 1290s a Welshman named William Cragh, charged with arson and 13 counts of homicide, was condemned to death by William de Briouze, the marcher lord of Gower in South Wales. Cragh's hanging took place in November 1291 when he, and another man named Trahaearn ap Hywel, were hauled onto the gallows on a hill outside Swansea Castle. The execution was not routine; the gallows collapsed under the weight of the two men, and they had to be strung up again. Some time later the rope from which Cragh was suspended broke. To the witnesses he was considered dead, and his body was removed to a nearby house, where later, miraculously, he showed signs of life and eventually recovered well enough to live for at least another fifteen years (Bartlett 2004:1-7). The account of the execution and 'resurrection' of a local malefactor on the Welsh marches is relevant here because it is one of a few documented cases which describes in detail the circumstances around the votive act of folding a coin. 1 Extensive details regarding what was a local judicial matter have come down to us because Cragh's 'miraculous' recovery was one of the strands of enquiry pursued by a papal commission in 1307. The commission, initiated by Pope Clement V in 1306, was established to hear the evidence for the canonisation of Thomas Cantilupe, the former bishop of Hereford, to whom miracles were attributed following his translation in 1287. 2 Cantilupe was confirmed as a saint by John XXII (1316-34) in 1320, 38 years after his death. Of the 38 miracles ascribed to Cantilupe, the commission regarded 26 as bona fide and these were sent to Avignon for apostolic consideration. Cragh's 'resurrection' was not one of them, but his tale, recorded in the Vatican Library, brings into focus the obscure medieval custom of folding coins in hope of the miraculous intercession of a saint. The act of folding the coin, and rendering it unusable, echoes much earlier examples of the 'killing' or mutilating of devoted objects from the prehistoric, Roman and early medieval past, often as part of the funeral rite (Grinsell 1961:478). Historical archaeologists have been slow to engage
The Oxford Handbook of Later Medieval Archaeology in Britain, 2018
This chapter discusses the relationship between numismatics and archaeology in the later medieval... more This chapter discusses the relationship between numismatics and archaeology in the later medieval period. It begins by tracing the beginning of the serious study of medieval coins in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and discusses the estranged relationship between the disciplines of archaeology and numismatics into the modern period. It demonstrates the vital role that coin hoards have played in the study of the monetary economy of medieval England and Wales and the growth of numismatics as a discipline. However, the emergence of single find evidence (principally metal-detector finds recorded with the Portable Antiquities Scheme) provides us with a new dataset that has the potential to rewrite what we can say about monetization, especially in rural contexts. Imported coins and those used as jewellery or as votive objects are discussed.
David Baker, Selborne Priory: Excavations 1953-1971, Hampshire Field Club Monograph 12, Jan 2015
In medieval Britain coins found use beyond the monetary exchange purpose for which they were orig... more In medieval Britain coins found use beyond the monetary exchange purpose for which they were originally produced. Through the study of surviving coin finds and supporting documentary and archaeological evidence, this paper introduces the principal non-currency methods to which coins were put and explores a number of questions: why were coins used as the adaptive edium and for what purpose? What can we deduce from the type, denomination and condition of the adapted coins? What do the various practices outlined below tell us about the relationships between people and money, display and piety, and religion and ritual?
Tutbury: ‘A Castle Firmly Built’: Archaeological and historical investigations at Tutbury Castle, Staffordshire by Malcolm Hislop, Mark Kincey and Gareth Williams. British Archaeological Reports 546 (2011): pp-pp. 62-87., 2011
The British Museum and the Future of UK Numismatics. Proceedings of a conference held to mark the 150th anniversary of the British Museum’s Department of Coins and Medals, B. Cook (ed.), British Museum Research Publication 183, (2011) London
Surrey Archaeological Collections, 2011
Defaced! Money, Conflict, Protest, 2022
This fully illustrated catalogue is the first of its kind to examine the relationship between mon... more This fully illustrated catalogue is the first of its kind to examine the relationship between money, power, resistance and dissent. It accompanies major exhibitions at The Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge and the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto.
Naismith, R. (ed.), Money and Coinage in the Middle Ages, 2019
The connection between archaeology and coins, money and numismatics, has been repeatedly debated ... more The connection between archaeology and coins, money and numismatics, has been repeatedly debated over recent decades. This chapter focuses three aspects of the theme: conceptions of “money” and “coins” within archaeology, coins as archaeological material, and coins as part of archaeological research history. Focus is on the medieval period but outlooks are made to other times and areas where there are illustrative examples, and to general issues of theory and method.
The entire book is Open Access: https://brill.com/view/title/38646
This book is an excellent reference guide to identifying medieval coins. Containing over 530 beau... more This book is an excellent reference guide to identifying medieval coins. Containing over 530 beautiful colour photographs together with a comprehensive listing of mints, moneyers and denominations for all English and Irish coins struck between 1066 and 1489. A History of Medieval Coinage in England provides an illustrated guide to the coinage of medieval England from the Norman Conquest of 1066 to the reign of the first Tudor king, Henry VII. While providing guidance on identification this book also places coinage in its historical context and gives insight into how coins were manufactured, used in circulation and lost or buried in a hoard. It is illustrated by more than 530 colour photographs, as well as 125 distribution maps, tables and images of places and people which help bring to life the medieval world in which coins were used and lost.
Money and Coinage in the Middle Ages, 2018
In 1986-1988 excavations at a medieval Black Death cemetery at East Smithfield in London (on the ... more In 1986-1988 excavations at a medieval Black Death cemetery at East Smithfield in London (on the old site of the Royal Mint) yielded an important group of burials, some of which were accompanied by coins. One of these was of particular significance, as it provided a rare glimpse into the composition of the stock of "everyday" money available to Londoners in the 1340s. Excavators discovered the burial of a woman aged 25-36, who had been interred with two distinctly different groups of silver coins.1 Of the 181 coins recovered, most of the pennies were found to the side of the chest, probably in a pouch slung around the neck or under the shoulder. The second cache -which consisted entirely of fractional denominations -was found within the pelvis cavity. The lesser denominations were available at the waist for ease of access, and the pennies kept closer to the body, hidden under the armpit.2 This tale from London was no doubt replicated countless times across the rest of Europe. That this evidence survives at all is a consequence of the horrific reality of death and hasty burial that overwhelmed town and country alike as the Black Death gripped Europe in the mid-14th century. The pandemic, which wiped out between one-third and one-half of the population, fundamentally altered the social, economic, and political landscapes over which it so mercilessly swept, arresting the economic progress of the previous two centuries. This chapter explores the major monetary changes that occurred between the Commercial Revolution of the long 13th century and the Black Death of the late 1340s and early 1350s. 1 Grainger, The Black Death Cemetery, East Smithfield, London, p. 15. A second female inhumation in the same grave row was found with eight coins. Gilchrist and Sloane, Medieval Monastic Cemetery, pp. 100-1. 2 Kelleher, Leins, and Cook, "Roman, medieval and later coins from the Vintry, City of London", pp. 235-36. Gilchrist and Sloane suggest the likely reason that coins (and other objects) were not removed from a body during its preparation for burial was advanced putrefaction, Requiem, p. 102. Richard Kelleher -9789004383098 Downloaded from Brill.com01/24/2020 02:58:38PM via University of Cambridge Richard Kelleher -9789004383098 Downloaded from Brill.com01/24/2020 02:58:38PM via University of Cambridge Richard Kelleher -9789004383098 Downloaded from Brill.com01/24/2020 02:58:38PM via University of Cambridge
XV International Numismatic Congress Taormina 2015 Proceedings, volume II. Edited by Maria Caccamo Caltabiano, Coeditors Benedetto Carroccio, Daniele Castrizio, Mariangela Puglisi, Grazia Salamone, 2017
This paper considers the medieval numismatic data from the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, a pe... more This paper considers the medieval numismatic
data from the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, a period
of critical importance in the development of the money
economy in England and Wales2. By examining the
spatial distribution and denominational profile visible
in the single find data, the spread of ‘monetisation’ and
the changing patterns of coin use will be shown.
Divina Moneta: Coins in Religion and Ritual edited by Nanouschka Myrberg Burström and Gitte Tarnow Ingvardson, 2018
In the early 1290s a Welshman named William Cragh, charged with arson and 13 counts of homicide, ... more In the early 1290s a Welshman named William Cragh, charged with arson and 13 counts of homicide, was condemned to death by William de Briouze, the marcher lord of Gower in South Wales. Cragh's hanging took place in November 1291 when he, and another man named Trahaearn ap Hywel, were hauled onto the gallows on a hill outside Swansea Castle. The execution was not routine; the gallows collapsed under the weight of the two men, and they had to be strung up again. Some time later the rope from which Cragh was suspended broke. To the witnesses he was considered dead, and his body was removed to a nearby house, where later, miraculously, he showed signs of life and eventually recovered well enough to live for at least another fifteen years (Bartlett 2004:1-7). The account of the execution and 'resurrection' of a local malefactor on the Welsh marches is relevant here because it is one of a few documented cases which describes in detail the circumstances around the votive act of folding a coin. 1 Extensive details regarding what was a local judicial matter have come down to us because Cragh's 'miraculous' recovery was one of the strands of enquiry pursued by a papal commission in 1307. The commission, initiated by Pope Clement V in 1306, was established to hear the evidence for the canonisation of Thomas Cantilupe, the former bishop of Hereford, to whom miracles were attributed following his translation in 1287. 2 Cantilupe was confirmed as a saint by John XXII (1316-34) in 1320, 38 years after his death. Of the 38 miracles ascribed to Cantilupe, the commission regarded 26 as bona fide and these were sent to Avignon for apostolic consideration. Cragh's 'resurrection' was not one of them, but his tale, recorded in the Vatican Library, brings into focus the obscure medieval custom of folding coins in hope of the miraculous intercession of a saint. The act of folding the coin, and rendering it unusable, echoes much earlier examples of the 'killing' or mutilating of devoted objects from the prehistoric, Roman and early medieval past, often as part of the funeral rite (Grinsell 1961:478). Historical archaeologists have been slow to engage
The Oxford Handbook of Later Medieval Archaeology in Britain, 2018
This chapter discusses the relationship between numismatics and archaeology in the later medieval... more This chapter discusses the relationship between numismatics and archaeology in the later medieval period. It begins by tracing the beginning of the serious study of medieval coins in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and discusses the estranged relationship between the disciplines of archaeology and numismatics into the modern period. It demonstrates the vital role that coin hoards have played in the study of the monetary economy of medieval England and Wales and the growth of numismatics as a discipline. However, the emergence of single find evidence (principally metal-detector finds recorded with the Portable Antiquities Scheme) provides us with a new dataset that has the potential to rewrite what we can say about monetization, especially in rural contexts. Imported coins and those used as jewellery or as votive objects are discussed.
David Baker, Selborne Priory: Excavations 1953-1971, Hampshire Field Club Monograph 12, Jan 2015
In medieval Britain coins found use beyond the monetary exchange purpose for which they were orig... more In medieval Britain coins found use beyond the monetary exchange purpose for which they were originally produced. Through the study of surviving coin finds and supporting documentary and archaeological evidence, this paper introduces the principal non-currency methods to which coins were put and explores a number of questions: why were coins used as the adaptive edium and for what purpose? What can we deduce from the type, denomination and condition of the adapted coins? What do the various practices outlined below tell us about the relationships between people and money, display and piety, and religion and ritual?
Tutbury: ‘A Castle Firmly Built’: Archaeological and historical investigations at Tutbury Castle, Staffordshire by Malcolm Hislop, Mark Kincey and Gareth Williams. British Archaeological Reports 546 (2011): pp-pp. 62-87., 2011
The British Museum and the Future of UK Numismatics. Proceedings of a conference held to mark the 150th anniversary of the British Museum’s Department of Coins and Medals, B. Cook (ed.), British Museum Research Publication 183, (2011) London
Surrey Archaeological Collections, 2011
… journal: including the …, Jan 1, 2006
An introduction to the continental copies of English pennies of Edward I and II.
Fig.1. The site of the excavation of Norse buildings at L'Anse aux Meadows, Newfoundland © Eric T... more Fig.1. The site of the excavation of Norse buildings at L'Anse aux Meadows, Newfoundland © Eric Titcombe, used with a CC-BY 2.0 license. Fig.3. The reconstructed settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. © Richard Kelleher. Fig.2. Norway, Olaf Kyrre (1067-93), silver penny with degenerate bust on obverse and cross with runes on the reverse. © Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.
Fig.4. Louis XII, billon douzain au porcépic, Montpellier mint © Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. F... more Fig.4. Louis XII, billon douzain au porcépic, Montpellier mint © Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. Fig.5. Louis XII, billon hardi © Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.
An introduction to the coinages of the Yorkist kings Edward IV, Edward V and Richard III.
A history of the coins of Henry VI
The Long Cross Coinage Fig.1. Silver long cross penny of Henry III, class 1b, minted at Canterbur... more The Long Cross Coinage Fig.1. Silver long cross penny of Henry III, class 1b, minted at Canterbury. Found at Stapleford, Cambs. © Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. Clipping was a problem at most periods in the Middle Ages. This coin has been clipped and then the edges hammered to disguise the fact. It weighs 1.19g, quite a bit less than the 1.38g norm. Fig.2. Silver long cross penny of Henry III, class 3a, minted at Gloucester by the moneyer Ricard. © Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. Fig.3. Tomb of Henry III at Westminster Abbey (© 2005 Anthony Majanlahti). Cambridge. A scarce type. Half fleurs at ends of crown, new R. Fig.15. Silver long cross penny of Henry III, class 5e, minted at Canterbury by the moneyer Willem. © Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. This coin has been transformed into a piece of jewellery. Rare type, distinctive band to crown -double line with four pellets.
English Historical Review, 2021
Stewart Lyon's book is the sixty-eighth volume in the British Academy's Sylloge of Coins of the B... more Stewart Lyon's book is the sixty-eighth volume in the British Academy's Sylloge of Coins of the British Isles series (SCBI). The purpose of the series is to publish detailed and fully illustrated catalogues of coins of the British Isles in British and foreign collections. Lyon's important private collection is a worthy addition to this numismatic canon. The collection, of more than 1,000 coins, was assembled over a period of more than sixty years and Lyon's eye for quality specimens is clearly apparent in the plates. However, while one can appreciate the aesthetic merits of individual pieces, this was not the guiding motivation in assembling the collection; rather, it was formed with a scholarly agenda and developed in order to address a set of specific research questions. All volumes in the SCBI series consist of two parts. The first contains an introduction and supporting essays, chapters or information relevant to the collection. The second provides a fully illustrated catalogue of the collection. Lyon's volume has an extensive 'introduction' composed of ten chapters. The length and detail of these reflects the relative size of the coin series illustrated later in the book. The emphasis therefore falls on extended discussions of two periods, the small base metal coins of the Kingdom of Northumbria, often called stycas, and the coinage of the period 973-1023/4. The other eight chapters address the periods in less detail. The first chapter, 'Southumbrian England to c.750', gives a very brief onepage account of the gold solidus pendant in the collection and the 47 early silver pennies (commonly referred to as sceattas) (catalogue nos. 1-47). In the first of two more lengthy chapters, Lyon tackles the issue of regnal dating in the coins of the Kingdom of Northumbria (nos. 48-558). The meat of the chapter is an extensive analysis of die pairing, die-links and metrology, which establishes the relative chronology for this often difficult series, and, while this might sound like numismatic overkill, the findings help challenge the traditional date for the accession of Eanred. Lyon's numismatic analysis suggests that this has been placed a decade too early, and so has important implications for the start of this, and subsequent reigns. The next three chapters are brief descriptive essays on 'Southumbrian England from c.750 to the Arrival of the Viking Army in 865' (nos. 559-92), 'Monetary Unification and the First Viking Campaign' (nos. 593-609) and 'Viking Coinages in the Danelaw, c.895-927' (nos. 610-28)'. These bridge the chronological gap between the Northumbrian series and the important two-line Horizontal issue of Alfred of the 880s, which was influential for the next eighty or ninety years. Chapter Six, 'Alfred's Monetary Reform and the Expansion of English Minting, c.883-939' (nos. 629-705), tracks the development of types and die-cutting centres through the reigns of Edward the Elder and Athelstan. Chapter Seven, 'The Mid-Tenth Century, 939-c.973' (nos. 706-760), briefly introduces the prehistory of the coinage prior to the fundamental changes introduced by Edgar in c.973.
Newsletter of the Money and Medals Network (British Museum) to sign up simply email newsletter@mo... more Newsletter of the Money and Medals Network (British Museum) to sign up simply email newsletter@moneyandmedals.org.uk with the subject 'SUBSCRIBE'. Visit our website at moneyandmedals.org.uk
Money and Coinage in the Middle Ages, 2019
Coins are a vital source of evidence for many aspects of the medieval past. In this thesis a larg... more Coins are a vital source of evidence for many aspects of the medieval past. In this thesis a large volume of provenanced coin records collected and published online by the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) are analysed to look for patterns of monetization and coin use in medieval England and Wales. While the approach used here will make full use of numismatic methods it also seeks to evolve an interdisciplinary perspective to the data. As well as providing the first national study of this kind the research also aims to draw out evidence for alternative, non-monetary uses of coins, including the adaption of coinage for other purposes, for example jewellery. Additionally the impact and various roles played by imported foreign coins will be assessed to provide a new perspective on England’s links with its near Continental neighbours and beyond. The results demonstrate a long and complex story of coin use and monetisation over the study period. The spread of coin use was intimately linked to coin production which was itself a geographically contingent phenomenon absorbing metals through trade with the Continent. Coin distributions were also subject to dynamics such as levels of population and other demographic factors. Foreign coins played an important role at times in English currency, if not always a welcome one. The political contacts of the English crown is borne out in the appearance of many imported coins but direct trading links, for example with Venice, mutually beneficial currency agreements, as arranged with the Burgundians in the fifteenth century, or coins as the simple souvenirs of pilgrims also played a part. By exploring the re-use of coins this thesis significantly expands current understandings of how medieval people viewed coinage and how they attributed new meanings to them.
… journal: including the …, 2006
This chapter discusses the relationship between numismatics and archaeology in the later medieval... more This chapter discusses the relationship between numismatics and archaeology in the later medieval period. It begins by tracing the beginning of the serious study of medieval coins in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and discusses the estranged relationship between the disciplines of archaeology and numismatics into the modern period. It demonstrates the vital role that coin hoards have played in the study of the monetary economy of medieval England and Wales and the growth of numismatics as a discipline. However, the emergence of single find evidence (principally metal-detector finds recorded with the Portable Antiquities Scheme) provides us with a new dataset that has the potential to rewrite what we can say about monetization, especially in rural contexts. Imported coins and those used as jewellery or as votive objects are discussed.
A Cultural History of Money in the Medieval Age, 2019