AHRC COLLABORATIVE DOCTORAL AWARD PHD STUDENTSHIP
Criminal skill: coining and coiners during the long eighteenth century
History Group, University of Hertfordshire in partnership with the British Museum
Applications are invited for an AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Award PhD Studentship
commencing in October 2012. This award brings together academic research, expertise
and facilities and the collections and resources of one of the world’s major museums to
explore the work of coiners over the long eighteenth century.
A key feature of this studentship is the collaboration between the University of
Hertfordshire and the British Museum. As such, the successful applicant will benefit not
only from the active research environment at the University of Hertfordshire but also
from the British Museum’s complementary research culture, and community of around
20 students undertaking Collaborative Doctoral Award research. At the museum, the
student will gain experience of the work of a large institution, and the ways that its
collections are studied and made available to a wide range of audiences. This
collaboration will also enable the student to work closely with important relevant
collections.
The project’s context, aims and objectives
Counterfeiting the coinage has been common since the emergence of a monetised
economy. During the long eighteenth century it was facilitated by the variety of coins
and tokens in circulation and by an ever-changing numismatic environment, which saw
a series of recoinages and a shift away from silver towards gold. To some extent, the
work of coiners was also made necessary by the state's inability to provide a workable
system of small change and its failure to manage the exchange rate so as to maintain
the stock of gold and especially silver coin. Without a detailed understanding of the work
of coiners and the extent to which their products circulated and were accepted,
therefore, it is impossible to fully comprehend the nature of the eighteenth-century
monetised economy.
The primary aim of the project is to provide the first full length study of coining during
the long eighteenth century. In particular, it is anticipated that the project will focus on
the skills and skill base of early modern coiners in an effort to understand the nature of
their work and how it was organised, the skills and instruments needed for coining and
how those skills were acquired and transferred. It will also consider how the coiners and
the skills they used were perceived by the public and the authorities.
The project will draw on the collective expertise of the supervisory team to allow a
combination of approaches relating to material culture and cultural, financial and
economic history. It will also be able to take advantage of a very rich range of sources
including artefacts preserved at the British Museum and the Royal Mint Museum,
sources in the Public Record Office, the Bank of England archive and the Old Bailey
online and a range of newspapers, pamphlets and other contemporary published
literature.
In addition to filling a significant gap in our understanding of early modern criminal
activity, the project will seek to inform debates about the nature of the English economy,
the use of certain mediums of exchange, the nature of learning and skill in the
undertaking of crime and the connections between crime and work and crime and the
management of the household economy.
While the student must be able to bring their own perspectives and ideas to the project,
it is anticipated that the CDA will address such questions as:
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What was the technology of coining? What instruments and techniques were
used? How were dies and punches manufactured and by whom? How extensive
were the synergies between coining and the metalware industries that were such
a successful feature of the eighteenth-century British economy?
Where did coining take place? What conditions and facilities were needed?
Did coiners commonly work individually or in organised groups?
What members of the family or group were involved and what were their roles?
Was there evidence of specialization within families or groups?
What investment was necessary in coining? How were the costs of materials and
tools met?
Where did coiners acquire their skills and how were those skills transferred? How
did they perfect their art? What legitimate training/skills could be subverted for
the purposes of clipping and coining?
To what extent was coining and clipping regarded as ‘work’? To what extent was
coining and clipping part of the economy of makeshift?
What were the occupational hazards of coining aside from the obvious risk of
apprehension and prosecution? Were there health risks associated with the
work? Was there a danger of irretrievably damaging the metals used in the
coiners’ work?
What were the authorities’ responses to coining? How did the technical nature of
coin production and coining hamper policing and prosecution of coiners?
How did the public perceive the coiners and the products of their work? How
were public responses to those coiners like Thomas Lightowler, who aimed to
deceive, different to those like the Yorkshire coiners, who seemed in many ways
to be performing a public service?
Supervisory team
The supervisory team will consist of:
Dr Anne Murphy (University of Hertfordshire)
Dr Catherine Eagleton (British Museum):
Prof. John Styles (University of Hertfordshire)
Details of the award
Please note that full funding is normally restricted to UK residents. The award is
available as a three-year AHRC studentship which must be held at the University of
Hertfordshire. A maintenance grant at standard AHRC rates is included. The BM
provides an additional contribution to the student for travel and research expenses.