Numismatic Places of Interest: London, Paris

LochNESS

So, I am going to be visiting London and Paris. Not a ton of "free time" for coin browsing but I figure there must be so many places of interest ... and I'm kinda lazy so ... before I spend hours reading wikipedia and google I figured I would ask you forumites for suggestions

London - already planning to tour the Tower in order to see the mint exhibit, but what else? sadly there won't be enough time to travel to Oxford (the college has a fabulous coin exhibit in their museum, so I'm told)

Paris - so far, "I got nothing" numismatically speaking. Open to suggestions but again, not enough time to travel outside of Paris so no Versailles on this trip.

General tourist ideas are appreciated, but not necessary, as my wife will be coming with and she has been tasked with planning touristy things. Les Catacombs, Notre Dame, and all sorts of London things are already on her/our list. So I'm told!

THANKS IN ADVANCE and no for security reasons I won't say WHEN exactly we are traveling

lordmarcovan

Wow! Have fun!

My November 2013 detecting trip to the UK was my first ever to any part of Europe. (And much of it was generously subsidized by my incredible forum friends here, for which I'm eternally grateful.)

I saw no more of London than Heathrow Airport and an overpriced chain hotel in some suburb nearby. All of my time was spent in the mud of the Essex farm fields (but numismatically interesting, of course, with the finds that I and my colleagues made). I did have one extra day left over at the end of the trip to spend in London but I was so exhausted by a week of digging that I collapsed in the aforementioned overpriced hotel and slept it off, rather than trying to figure out public transportation to go see the Tower or perhaps one of the cathedrals. It's a pity I had no more time to do regular "tourist" stuff while I was there, and spent all of the trip with my nose to the ground, but I still had an adventure I'll remember for all of my days.

We'll be expecting some photojournals when you get a chance!

(Reminds me, I still have tons of unedited, unpublished video from the England dig trip that I haven't done anything with- a year and a half later.)

SmEagle1795

London: You absolutely must go to the British Museum. They have a surprisingly large number of coins on display, many world class pieces, and it's fairly easy to get to. There's a couple large exhibits dedicated solely to coins but there are also coins strewn throughout the Greek/Roman areas.

Outside of coins, the British Museum also has a myriad of great artifacts including my favorite: the Rosetta Stone. I go to London relatively frequently and try to stop in the Museum almost every time. It seems odd to spend time in a museum when in a foreign country, but it truly is world class.

lordmarcovan

I'll bet you could spend a week at the British Museum, eh? I'd be worried about sensory overload!

I kind of remember feeling that way at the Smithsonian when I was a kid.

coinkat

I think the Coincraft store is across the street from the British Museum

lordmarcovan

<< <i>I think the Coincraft store is across the street from the British Museum >>

Dang, that sounds better than Disneyland for me.

Sullykerry52

Coinkat is absolutely correct. Go to the British Museum, see all the exhibits. You will be dazzled. And yes, right across the street is Coincraft http://www.coincraft.com/. Send them an e-mail or call when you arrive. Set up some time with the owners who are very helpful. I bought several coins there during my last London business trip.

If this is your first time in Paris, go to the Louvre but try to get tickets ahead of time (http://www.louvre.fr/en/advance-tickets). Otherwise, you will be fighting the lines of tourists. Try to go early in the morning as the place crowds up by mid-morning.

Have a safe and wonderful trip. John

7Jaguars

Uhh, Coincraft is of interest only by location IMO and not by content...

asheland

<< <i>

<< <i>I think the Coincraft store is across the street from the British Museum >>

Dang, that sounds better than Disneyland for me. >>

SYRACUSIAN

Numismatic places of interest in London would be Spink and Baldwin's headquarters. Otherwise, for Coincraft, I tend to agree with 7jag.


In Paris, PCGS' location is at the Rue de Richelieu. It's a street and an area with a lot of coin shops and numismatic interest.

In London, a trip to the Portobello market on a Saturday won't disappoint you.


For the rest, any decent guide, such as the Wallpaper mini city guides are essential to know what to choose, because it's impossible to see everything. Tate modern is a must, both architecturally as well as its content. Same for the Beaubourg center in Paris. Figuring out how to use the public transport, is a clever and efficient way to feel more connected to each city. Also, both cities have rivers with scheduled hourly trips (the bateau mouches in Paris) and that on a nice day, are an excellent way to see unobstructed views of the cities and their landmarks from the water, instead of losing hours and getting trapped to tourist attractions.

LochNESS

Thanks guys and gals(?) for the advice! We are pretty well set on the touristy places, but really appreciate the personal recommendations. Definitely appreciate the numismatic bits and opinions as that's the sort of thing you can't get from travel books or even travel websites. Yes I'll take plenty of pictures. My wife is actually a photographer, and she'll have her fancy camera, so I imagine there will be no shortage of documentary images.

Cheers

Swampboy

Oh, the British Museum!
I would love to go back and spend the first two days exploring the Roman exhibits.

I wonder if SwK's sestertius of Hadrian is on exhibit?