The Sylloge of the Coins of the British Isles (SCBI) is an ongoing project to publish all major museum

Museum

A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...

 collections and certain important private collections of British coins

British One Penny coin (pre-decimal)

The English Penny, originally a coin of 1.3 to 1.5 g pure silver, includes the penny introduced around the year 785 by King Offa of Mercia. However, his coins were similar in size and weight to the continental deniers of the period, and to the Anglo-Saxon sceats which had gone before it, which were...

. Catalogues in the series contain full details and illustrations of each and every specimen. Every Anglo-Saxon

Anglo-Saxons

Anglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...

 and Norman

Normans

The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...

 coin included in the project can be viewed on the SCBI Database, based at the Department of Coins and Medals, Fitzwilliam Museum

Fitzwilliam Museum

The Fitzwilliam Museum is the art and antiquities museum of the University of Cambridge, located on Trumpington Street opposite Fitzwilliam Street in central Cambridge, England. It receives around 300,000 visitors annually. Admission is free....

, Cambridge

University of Cambridge

The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...

.

History

The project was first suggested in the early 1950s by Christopher Blunt and other members of the British

British Numismatic Society

The British Numismatic Society is an organisation for promoting the study of British coins and medals. It was founded in 1903. Its principal publication is the British Numismatic Journal, commonly abbreviated to "BNJ" in academic references....

 and Royal

Royal Numismatic Society

The Royal Numismatic Society is a learned society and charity based in London, United Kingdom which promotes research into all branches of numismatics...

 Numismatic Societies. In 1956, its unofficial committee secured recognition as a committee of the British Academy

British Academy

The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national body for the humanities and the social sciences. Its purpose is to inspire, recognise and support excellence in the humanities and social sciences, throughout the UK and internationally, and to champion their role and value.It receives an annual...

 through the good offices of its first chairman, Sir Frank Stenton

Frank Stenton

Sir Frank Merry Stenton was a 20th century historian of Anglo-Saxon England, and president of the Royal Historical Society . He was the author of Anglo-Saxon England, a volume of the Oxford History of England, first published in 1943 and widely considered a classic history of the period...

. The first volume, on Anglo-Saxon Coins in the Fitzwilliam Museum

Fitzwilliam Museum

The Fitzwilliam Museum is the art and antiquities museum of the University of Cambridge, located on Trumpington Street opposite Fitzwilliam Street in central Cambridge, England. It receives around 300,000 visitors annually. Admission is free....

, Cambridge (prepared by Philip Grierson

Philip Grierson

Philip Grierson, FBA was a British historian and numismatist, emeritus professor of numismatics at Cambridge University and a fellow of Gonville and Caius College for over seventy years...

), was published two years later in 1958.

Since that date almost sixty additional volumes have been published, covering collections in Britain, the United States, Germany, Russia, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Poland, Latvia and more. Further volumes are in preparation or projected for the future. The key gaps in the series are the British Museum

British Museum

The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...

 and the Royal Coin Collection in Stockholm

Stockholm

Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...

, both of which present massive undertakings and have not yet been undertaken for administrative reasons. Some of the early volumes, such as that covering the Cambridge collection, are also now in need of substantial updating. Nonetheless, British numismatics

Numismatics

Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, and related objects. While numismatists are often characterized as students or collectors of coins, the discipline also includes the broader study of money and other payment media used to resolve debts and the...

 has been extremely well served by the project, and it continues to publish volumes almost every year.

Committee

Since its inception, the policy of the Sylloge Project has been to keep an eminent Anglo-Saxon historian as its chairman. This reflects the emphasis on Anglo-Saxon material in the published volumes, and the need to keep an educated outside perspective on the project. Chairmen have included:

• Sir Frank Stenton, FBA (1956–1966)
• Professor Dorothy Whitelock
  Dorothy Whitelock
  Dorothy Whitelock was an English historian. Her best-known work is English Historical Documents, vol. I: c. 500-1042, which she edited...
  
  , CBE
  CBE
  CBE and C.B.E. are abbreviations for "Commander of the Order of the British Empire", a grade in the Order of the British Empire.Other uses include:* Chemical and Biochemical Engineering...
  
  , FBA (1966–1979)
• Professor H. R. Loyn
  H. R. Loyn
  Henry Royston Loyn , FBA, was a British historian specialising in the history of Anglo-Saxon England. His eminence in his field made him a natural candidate to run the Sylloge of the Coins of the British Isles, which he chaired from 1979 to 1993.-Works:The Sylloge's natural emphasis is on...
  
  , FBA (1979–1993)
• The Rt Hon. Lord Stewartby, FBA, FRSE
  Royal Society of Edinburgh
  The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity, operating on a wholly independent and non-party-political basis and providing public benefit throughout Scotland...
  
   (1993–2003)
• Professor S. D. Keynes
  Simon Keynes
  Simon Douglas Keynes MA, PhD, Litt.D, FBA is the current Elrington and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon in the Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse, and Celtic at Cambridge University.-Biography:...
  
  , FBA (2003–)

General Editors of the project have included:

• Christopher Blunt, OBE, FBA (1956–1987)
• Professor M. R. H. Dolley, MRIA
  MRIA
  MRIA may refer to:* Members of the Royal Irish Academy are permitted to use the letters MRIA after their names to indicate their election to the Academy.* Antonov An-225...
  
   (1956–83)
• Dr M. A. S. Blackburn (1980–)

Other current members of the Sylloge Committee are:

• Professor N. P. Brooks, FBA
• Dr B. J. Cook
• C. S. S. Lyon
• R. G. R. Naismith
• H. E. Pagan
• Dr V. Smart
• Professor P. Spufford, FBA
• The Rt Hon. Lord Stewartby, FBA, FRSE
  Royal Society of Edinburgh
  The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity, operating on a wholly independent and non-party-political basis and providing public benefit throughout Scotland...
  
  

Volumes

Current volumes of the Sylloge are:

• 1. FITZWILLIAM MUSEUM, CAMBRIDGE.

Ancient British and Anglo-Saxon Coins.
By P. Grierson

Philip Grierson

Philip Grierson, FBA was a British historian and numismatist, emeritus professor of numismatics at Cambridge University and a fellow of Gonville and Caius College for over seventy years...

. 32 plates, 1958.

• 2. HUNTERIAN MUSEUM, GLASGOW.

Anglo-Saxon Coins.
By A.S. Robertson. 42 plates, 1961.

• 3. COINS OF THE CORITANI.

By D.F. Allen. 8 plates, 1963.

• 4. ROYAL COLLECTION, COPENHAGEN.

Part I. Ancient British and Anglo-Saxon Coins.
By G. Galster. 30 plates, 1964.

• 5. GROSVENOR MUSEUM, CHESTER.

Coins with the Chester Mint-Signature.
By E.J.E. Pirie. 16 plates, 1964.

• 6. NATIONAL MUSEUM OF ANTIQUITIES OF SCOTLAND, EDINBURGH.

Anglo-Saxon Coins.
By R.B.K. Stevenson. 29 plates, 1966.

• 7. ROYAL COLLECTION, COPENHAGEN.

Part II. Anglo-Saxon Coins: Æthelred II.
By G. Galster. 71 plates, 1966.
(Published jointly with the Carlsberg Foundation)

• 8. BRITISH MUSEUM.

Hiberno-Norse Coins.
By R.H.M. Dolley. 8 plates, 1966.
(Published by the Trustees of the British Museum)

• 9. ASHMOLEAN MUSEUM, OXFORD.

Part I. Anglo-Saxon Pennies.
By J.D.A. Thompson. 42 plates, 1967.

• 10. ULSTER MUSEUM, BELFAST.

Part I. Anglo-Irish Coins, John - Edward III.
By M. Dolley and W. Seaby. 20 plates, 1968.
(Published jointly with the Trustees of the Ulster Museum)

• 11. READING UNIVERSITY.

Anglo-Saxon and Norman Coins;
ROYAL COIN CABINET, STOCKHOLM.
[Part VI.] Anglo-Norman Pennies.
By C.E. Blunt and M. Dolley. 20 plates, 1969.
(Published jointly with the Swedish Royal Academy)

• 12. ASHMOLEAN MUSEUM, OXFORD.

Part II. English Coins 1066-1279.
By D.M. Metcalf. 36 plates, 1969.

13-15. ROYAL COLLECTION, COPENHAGEN.
Part III. A, B, and C. Anglo-Saxon Coins: Cnut.
By G. Galster. 158 plates, 1970. (3 vols.)
(Published jointly with the Carlsberg Foundation)

• 16. NORWEB COLLECTION.

Ancient British and English Coins to 1180.
By C.E. Blunt, F. Elmore-Jones and R.P. Mack. 17 plates, 1971.
(Published by Spink & Son Limited)

• 17. MIDLAND MUSEUMS.

Ancient British, Anglo-Saxon and Norman Coins.
By A.J.H. Gunstone. 30 plates, 1971.

• 18. ROYAL COLLECTION, COPENHAGEN.

Part IV. Anglo-Saxon Coins from Harold I and Anglo-Norman Coins.
By G. Galster. 54 plates, 1972.
(Published jointly with the Carlsberg Foundation)

• 19. BRISTOL AND GLOUCESTER MUSEUMS.

Ancient British Coins and Coins of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Mints.
By L.V. Grinsell, C.E. Blunt and M. Dolley. 27 plates, 1972.

• 20. MACK COLLECTION.

Ancient British, Anglo-Saxon and Norman Coins.
By R.P. Mack. 56 plates, 1973.

• 21. YORKSHIRE COLLECTIONS.

Coins from Northumbrian mints, c.895-1279; Ancient British and Later Coins from Other Mints to 1279.
By E.J.E. Pirie. 54 plates, 1975.

• 22. ROYAL COLLECTION, COPENHAGEN.

Part V. Hiberno-Norse and Anglo-Irish Coins.
By G. Galster with M. Dolley and J. Steen Jensen. 22 plates, 1975.

• 23. ASHMOLEAN MUSEUM, OXFORD.

Part III. Coins of Henry VII.
By D.M. Metcalf. 53 plates, 1976.

• 24. WEST COUNTRY MUSEUMS.

Ancient British, Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Norman Coins.
By A.J.H. Gunstone. 30 plates, 1977.

• 25. NATIONAL MUSEUM, HELSINKI.

Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Norman Coins.
By T. Talvio. 41 plates, 1978.

• 26. MUSEUMS IN EAST ANGLIA.

Morley St Peter Hoard, and Anglo-Saxon, Norman, and Angevin Coins, and Later Coins of the Norwich Mint.
By T.H.McK. Clough. 52 plates, 1980.

• 27. LINCOLNSHIRE COLLECTIONS.

Coins from Lincolnshire mints, and Ancient British and Later Coins to 1272.
By A.J.H. Gunstone. 68 plates, 1981.

• 28. CUMULATIVE INDEX OF VOLS. 1-20.

By V. Smart. 1981.

• 29. MERSEYSIDE COUNTY MUSEUMS.

Ancient British and Later Coins to 1279.
By M. Warhurst. 39 plates, 1982.

• 30. AMERICAN COLLECTIONS.

Ancient British, Anglo-Saxon and Norman Coins.
By J.D. Brady. 30 plates, 1982.

• 31. NORWEB COLLECTION.

Tokens of the British Isles 1575-1750. Part I. Bedfordshire to Devon.
By R.H. Thompson. 35 plates, 1984.
(Published by Spink & Son Limited)

• 32. ULSTER MUSEUM, BELFAST.

Part II. Hiberno-Norse Coins.
By W. Seaby. 16 plates, 1984.
(Published jointly with the Trustees of the Ulster Museum)

• 33. BROOKER COLLECTION.

Coins of Charles I.
By J.J. North and P.J. Preston-Morley. 130 plates, 1984.
(Published by Spink & Son Limited)

• 34. BRITISH MUSEUM.

Anglo-Saxon Coins, Part V: Athelstan to Edgar's Reform.
By M.M. Archibald and C.E. Blunt. 56 plates, 1986.
(Published by the Trustees of the British Museum)

• 35. ASHMOLEAN AND HUNTERIAN MUSEUMS.

Scottish Coins.
By J.D. Bateson and N.J. Mayhew. 116 plates, 1987.

• 36. STATE MUSEUM, BERLIN.

Anglo-Saxon, Anglo-Norman, and Hiberno-Norse Coins.
By B. Kluge. 41 plates, 1987.
(Published jointly with the State Museum, Berlin)

• 37. POLISH MUSEUMS.

Anglo-Saxon and Later Medieval British Coins.
By A. Mikolajczyk. 20 plates, 1987.
(Published jointly with the Archaeological and Ethnographical Museum in Lódz)

• 38. NORWEB COLLECTION.

Tokens of the British Isles 1575-1750. Part II. Dorset to Gloucestershire.
By R.H. Thompson. 41 plates, 1988.
(Published by Spink & Son Limited)

• 39. NORTH COLLECTION.

Edwardian English Silver Coins, 1279-1351.
By J.J. North. 46 plates, 1989.

• 40. ROYAL COIN CABINET, STOCKHOLM.

Part IV. Anglo-Saxon Coins: Harold I and Harthacnut.
By T. Talvio. 74 plates, 1991.

• 41. CUMULATIVE INDEX OF VOLS. 21-40.

By V. Smart. 1992.

• 42. SOUTH-EASTERN MUSEUMS.

Ancient British, Anglo-Saxon and Later Coins to 1279.
By A.J.H. Gunstone. 78 plates, 1992.

• 43. NORWEB COLLECTION.

Tokens of the British Isles 1575-1750. Part III. Hampshire to Lincolnshire.
By R.H. Thompson and M.J. Dickinson. 51 plates, 1992.
(Published by Spink & Son Limited)

• 44. NORWEB COLLECTION.

Tokens of the British Isles 1575-1750. Part IV. Norfolk to Somerset.
By R.H. Thompson and M.J. Dickinson. 50 plates, 1993.
(Published by Spink & Son Limited)

• 45. LATVIAN COLLECTIONS.

Anglo-Saxon and Later British Coins.
By T. Berga. 12 plates, 1996.

• 46. NORWEB COLLECTION.

Tokens of the British Isles 1575-1750. Part V. Staffordshire to Westmorland.
By R.H. Thompson and M.J. Dickinson. 51 plates, 1996.
(Published by Spink & Son Limited)

• 47. SCHNEIDER COLLECTION.

English Gold Coins and their Imitations. Part I.
By P. Woodhead. 83 plates, 1996.
(Published by Spink & Son Limited)

• 48. NORTHERN MUSEUMS.

Ancient British, Anglo-Saxon, Norman and Plantagenet Coins to 1279.
By J. Booth. 64 plates, 1997.

• 49. NORWEB COLLECTION.

Tokens of the British Isles 1575-1750. Part VI. Wiltshire to Yorkshire, Ireland to Wales.
By R.H. Thompson and M.J. Dickinson. 43 plates, 1999.
(Published by Spink & Son Limited)

• 50. HERMITAGE MUSEUM, ST PETERSBURG.

Part I. Anglo-Saxon Coins to 1016
By V. M. Potin.
54 plates. 1999.

• 51. ESTONIAN COLLECTIONS.

Anglo-Saxon, Anglo-Norman and later British Coins.
By I. Leimus and A. Molvõgin.
54 plates. 2001.

• 52. UPPSALA UNIVERSITY COIN CABINET.

Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Norman Coins
By E. Lindberger. (Publ. jointly with the University of Uppsala.)
37 plates. 2006.

• 53. SCOTTISH MUSEUMS.

English Coins, 1066-1279.
By J. D. Bateson.
38 plates. 2001.

• 54. ROYAL COIN CABINET, STOCKHOLM.

Part V: Anglo-Saxon Coins, Edward the Confessor and Harold II.
Part VI: Supplement. Anglo-Norman Pennies.
Part V by F. Colman; Part VI by M. Blackburn and K. Jonsson.

• 55. HERMITAGE MUSEUM, ST PETERSBURG.

Part IV. English, Irish and Scottish Coins, 1066-1485.
By M. Mucha.
23 plates. 2003.

• 56. MASS COLLECTION.

English Short Cross Coins, 1180-1247.
By J. P. Mass.
82 plates. 2001.

• 57. SCHNEIDER COLLECTION.

Part II. English Gold Coins,1603 to the 20th Century.
By P. Woodhead.
58 plates. 2002.
(Published by Spink & Son Limited)

• 58. NATIONAL MUSEUMS OF SCOTLAND, EDINBURGH.

Scottish Coins. Part I. 1526–1603.
By M. C. Q. Holmes.
99 plates. 2006.

• 59. NORWEB COLLECTION.

Tokens of the British Isles 1575–1750.
Part VII. City of London.
By R. H. Thompson and M. J. Dickinson.
61 plates. 2007.

External links

• http://www-cm.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/dept/coins/emc/
• http://www-cm.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/coins/projects/scbi/index.html