Best of both worlds
I was interested to read that Katrin Raynor-Evans has combined her two hobbies of astronomy and philately (‘Field of View’, July). I have done something similar with numismatics, coin collecting. It started when I picked up a silver coin celebrating the life of Copernicus and from there I focused on a theme of coins with a celestial connection. Most astronomical events seem to have been celebrated with a coin or medallion of some sort. Eclipses and comets seem to be the most popular, the 1986 flypast of Halley’s Comet being the most prolific. I also have one that depicts Columbus predicting a lunar eclipse to the indigenous people of Jamaica. Australia produced a series of domed coins depicting some of the Southern constellations (right). When the skies are cloudy I can open my coin trays and do some indoor astronomy. Brian Beresford, via email