Peter Alan Rayner (8 December 1924 – 29 July 2007) was a British

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

of numismatic (coin collecting) books. He was known by his second name Alan, rather than his first, to avoid confusion with Peter Seaby, also a popular author, whose family firm Rayner joined at the age of 24.

Biography

Rayner lived in Harpenden, Hertfordshire where he attended St George's School, Harpenden as a day boarder. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

he was conscripted into the mines as a

Bevin Boy Bevin Boys were young British men conscripted to work in coal mines between December 1943 and March 1948, to increase the rate of coal production, which had declined through the early years of World War II. The programme was named after Ern ...

, although he was eventually released owing to ill health and enlisted in the Intelligence Corps. In 1948 he joined B.A. Seaby Limited as an assistant in the English Coin Department, and began to specialise in milled silver coins. In early 1954 he wrote a small 26-page booklet entitled ''The Designers and Engravers of the English Milled Coinage 1662 - 1953''. The book was published by Seaby's Numismatic Publications and covered each denomination showing the engravers and designers of both the obverse and reverse of each coin. In 1957 he helped prepare for print a second revised edition of the book called ''English Silver Coinage from 1649'', written by Herbert Allen Seaby and first published in 1949.English Silver Coinage Book by Rayner
''books.google.co.uk'' Retrieved 28 May 2020. This proved to be one of the most popular books published by B.A. Seaby Limited and further updated editions were printed in 1967, 1974, 1992, 2015, 2020 and the most recent 7th edition in 2021 (republished by author Maurice Bull and printed by Spink and son). The book is used by numismatists as a main reference for all English silver coinage from 1649 to the year 1992 with a three-lettered prefixed (ESC - referring to English Silver Coinage) numbering system attributable to each coin and any variant. In 1961 Rayner wrote ''Your Book of Coin Collecting'' (published by

Faber & Faber Faber and Faber Limited, usually abbreviated to Faber, is an independent publishing house in London. Published authors and poets include T. S. Eliot (an early Faber editor and director), W. H. Auden, Margaret Storey, William Golding, Samuel ...

London). This presented to the new collector of coins 'a complete guide to Coin Collecting'. In 1966 he also wrote the book ''Coin Collecting For Amateurs'' published by Frederick Muller Ltd of Fleet Street. Rayner remained at Seaby's until 1974, when he left to join the English branch of the coin company Paramount. He immediately became a valued member of staff whose knowledge of silver coins was unrivalled. He also specialised in foreign coins, in particular

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

Personal life

He is survived by his Swiss wife Madeleine (from

Schaffhausen Schaffhausen (; gsw, Schafuuse; french: Schaffhouse; it, Sciaffusa; rm, Schaffusa; en, Shaffhouse) is a town with historic roots, a municipality in northern Switzerland, and the capital of the canton of the same name; it has an estimate ...

who caused Rayner to learn Schweizerdeutsch - Swiss German), four children (Christopher, Peter, Hester and John) and eight grandchildren.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rayner, Peter Alan British numismatists Bevin Boys People educated at St George's School, Harpenden People from Harpenden 1924 births 2007 deaths