The British Association of Numismatic Societies (BANS) held its spring congress at the Orchard Hotel in the grounds of Nottingham University from Friday, 11 April to Sunday, 13 April. The event was co-hosted by the Numismatic Society of Nottingham.

The event started on the Friday evening at the Nottingham Museum of Archaeology with a welcome address by Dr John Rainey MBE, BANS'S president, who introduced the Sheriff of Nottingham to welcome the attendees to Nottingham. This was followed by a presentation on the history of numismatics in Nottinghamshire given by Mark T Ray.

Saturday commenced with a presentation by Gareth Howell titled 'The Fishpool Hoard Mystery', then Dr Stuart Jennings delivered an insightful look at the 'Coinage Distribution and Siege Coins During the English Civil War (1642-46)'. Mathew Morris delved into the events of 'Richard III: Solving a 500-year-old Mystery'. This was followed by Tim Millett speaking on the subject of 'Tokens of Love, Loss and Disrespect'.

After lunch, delegates were taken to the National Civil War Centre in Newark to see the displays (and siege coins) . Many attendees then took advantage of a guided tour around parts of the town.

Back to the hotel, BANS held its AGM before the congress dinner. The traditional raffle after dinner raised £625 thanks to the donations of over 30 prizes from sponsors and attendees.

Sunday commenced with Dr Kerry Love providing her experiences of 'Numismatics Networking: Experiences of Collecting and Cataloguing as a PHD Student'. Then Charles Farthing presented 'East India Company Coinage Outside India'. After the break, Steven Jackson gave a fascinating and concise overview of the 'Coins of the Cimbrian War'. The final presentation was the Marion Archibald Memorial Lecture given by Dr Richard Kelleher on 'Killing Time: Coins as Trench Art'.

BANS next event is the autumn weekend of 19-21 September at the Cathedral Hotel, Lichfield. For further details, see www.bans.org.uk