A living archive of remembered things

Century-old treasures,
seen with fresh eyes.

Medals, badges, coins, and curiosities from a family collection. Each item is carefully catalogued with researched history, bringing each piece back to life.

Showcase 03

A small handful from a much larger story.

Featured treasure

UK 1915 Shilling

Twelve pennies, one shilling: a small silver reminder of everyday life in wartime Britain. Dated 1915, this coin pairs George V’s portrait with a crowned lion standing upon a royal crown. Above the lion, abbreviated Latin names the king “Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India,” placing the language of monarchy and empire on everyday money. Wear softens the raised details, while grey-brown toning settles around the design. Struck in sterling silver, it belongs to the coinage that preceded Britain’s reduction in silver content in 1920.

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Featured treasure

Centenary Celebration of The Time Machine

A journey through time for the price of a letter. Issued in 1995, this 25p stamp celebrates a century since H. G. Wells published The Time Machine. Designer Siobhan Keaney sends three figures tumbling through a vividly coloured spiral behind the words “TIME TRAVEL.” Wells used his journey into the distant future to question the society of his own day. A hundred years later, that imaginative leap found a new setting on a stamp that could carry an ordinary first-class letter.

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Featured treasure

Lancashire Fusiliers Officer Bronze Cap Badge

A Sphinx beneath a burst of flame brings two chapters of regimental history together. This Lancashire Fusiliers officer’s bronze cap badge combines the regiment’s fusilier identity with an honour inherited from its service in Egypt in 1801. Its warm, matte surface reveals the finely textured flames, laurel wreath and layered title scroll, while two broad attachment blades survive on the reverse. Attributed to the First World War, it represents the more subdued insignia associated with officers’ khaki service dress.

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Featured treasure

The Lancashire Fusiliers Cap Badge

Golden flames and a silver-coloured scroll give this Lancashire Fusiliers cap badge its distinctive contrast. Within the grenade, a Sphinx above “EGYPT” recalls the regiment’s service in the Egyptian campaign of 1801. Turn it over and the hollow impressions reveal how the design was stamped from sheet metal. Although its fastening slider is missing, the badge retains its regimental emblems and provides a striking comparison with the officer’s bronze example in the collection.

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Featured treasure

Gallipoli Golden Jubilee

Fifty years after the Gallipoli landings, New Zealand remembered through a view of the shore. This 1965 fourpenny stamp shows Anzac Cove’s narrow beach and steep slopes beneath the name “ANZAC” and the dates “1915” and “1965.” The landscape gives the anniversary a tangible setting: the shore where troops came ashore and the difficult ground beyond. Across this example, a bold partial POST EARLY cancellation adds a trace of everyday use.

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