History

This Victorian ‘Penny Black’ – the world’s first adhesive postage stamp – is part of a collection of 19^th and 20^th century postage stamps in the Harris.

This 19th century token is a commemorative souvenir of a 214 foot gigantic ferris wheel that was once an attraction at Blackpool. There are 1,800 British tokens in the Harris collection relating to most counties in England and more from other countries.

This 10,000 Mark note is from the German Weimar Republic. It dates from a period of hyperinflation in the 1920s when currency inflation ran out of control as the country repaid its massive war debt after the First World War. Other bank notes in the Harris collection include currency from France, Belgium and Britain from the 19th and 20th centuries.

This medal records the laying of the foundation stone for Preston’s Gothic town hall during guild week in 1862. This impressive building designed by George Gilbert Scott stood on the Flag Market and was damaged in a fire in 1948, yet stood for many years after. There are a large number of medals struck for local events such as Preston Guild.

This one dollar coin is a British Commonwealth coin minted in 1996 for the East Caribbean States and has the head of Elizabeth II on the opposite side. It is part of a larger collection of Commonwealth coins at the Harris.​

This copper Twopence ‘Cartwheel’ was minted for King George III and dates from 1797. The Harris holds Georgian and Victorian coins from George I to Victoria.

This coin is from the Rossall/Fleetwood Hoard and was issued for emperor Constantius II, 355-360 AD. The coins were stored at Rossall Hall by the man who built Fleetwood, Sir Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood. The Harris holds a large numismatics collection which includes more than 600 Roman coins. Other Roman hoards include the Brindle Hoard, Fishergate Hill Hoard, Hackensall Hoard and the Leyland Hoard.

This handmade wooden sculpture depicts a female figure with a cockerel on her head – a symbol associated with queen mother effigies. She is a chiefly figure and probably comes from the shrine of a deified ancestor. It comes from Nigeria, south of Asaba, from an Igbo town on the east bank of the river Niger. The Harris has a collection of 250 items classed as ‘Ethnography’. They are social history items relating to Africa, North America, Oceania and Australasia.

Cigarette cards were collectible items produced by tobacco companies and sold with packs of cigarettes. They Harris has a collection of more than 800 cards depicting a wide range of subjects and dating from the 1910s to 1960s.​ This one is part of a set that shows the arms and munitions held by the victors after the First World War.