Boulton 2009 News

THERE HAS BEEN INCREASED INTEREST IN THE MEDALS MATTHEW BOULTON PRODUCED AT THE MINT IN SOHO, BIRMINGHAM - Added 09.01.08

Sir Nicholas Goodison has recently published a booklet in association with Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery on Matthew Boulton’s Trafalgar medal; Dr. Richard Clay, Lecturer in History of Art, the University of Birmingham, has carried out research in The Birmingham Assay Office Library on 18th century tokens minted at Soho by Boulton; and Sue Tungate, doctoral student at the University of Birmingham, has been conducting research into the Boulton medals held in the Collections at The Birmingham Assay Office. 

Sir Nicholas’ work tells the story of Matthew Boulton’s gift of the Trafalgar Medal to all the men who fought in the Battle of Trafalgar on 21st October 1805. The Birmingham Assay Office holds an example of the medal in its Collections, and this research will provide an excellent complementary resource to the object. Copies are £3.00 and can be purchased from Chris Rice, Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, chris.rice@birmingham.gov.uk

Dr. Richard Clay is researching Boulton tokens and coins in the lead-up to the exhibition The Art of Making Money which is to be staged at The Barber Institute in 2009. During the time he spent in the Library, Richard identified several first editions, which deal with minting, medals and coins, as highly significant.

Sue Tungate has been documenting the Boulton tokens, coins and medals held in the Collections, and discovered that some of the examples of Boulton medals held at The Birmingham Assay Office are not known to exist in any other Collections. Sue has kindly given a copy of her research to the Library.

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