The Antony Scammell Collection of British Coins

Antony Scammell

Antony John Scammell was born in Bristol on 4 July 1937. His earliest memories were of the destruction of his neighbourhood in the Bristol Blitz and playing toy soldiers with his grandfather, a veteran of the First World War. During his education he was always fascinated with history, in particular the Roman and British Empires. In 1954, when his immediate family emigrated to Australia, he couldn’t leave the country behind for patriotic reasons, so stayed behind and joined the regular army. After 3 years of active service with the Royal Tank Regiment, including during the 1956 Suez Crisis, Antony returned to a civilian life and forged a career in the financial sector.

By this point he had already started collecting coins and banknotes, almost exclusively from the Greek, Roman and British empires. Raising a family of four children meant that money was often scarce, but he continued to add to his collection whenever possible. By the mid 1980s Antony found himself a single man and his collecting reached new heights. All spare money at the end of each month was used to purchase strategically targeted coins, which were cherished and catalogued meticulously.

When his eldest son reached the age of 50, Antony decided to pass his treasured coin collections to him and his two brothers for them to cherish into the future. He then turned his attention to collecting other historical artefacts from multiple times and civilisations, right up until his death in July 2019.