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Sir Charles William Fremantle (1834–1914) was a British official who served for 26 years as deputy master of the Royal Mint, and for most of that time as its executive head. Educated at Eton College, he served as private secretary to several officials, latterly Benjamin Disraeli, including while Disraeli was prime minister in 1868. Disraeli appointed him as deputy to Thomas Graham, the master of the Mint. Graham died in September 1869, and the Treasury decided the mastership should go to the chancellor of the exchequer of the day, with the deputy master the head of the Royal Mint. Fremantle began work to modernise the antiquated Royal Mint. Fremantle sought to beautify the coinage and, believing the Mint's engraver, Leonard Charles Wyon, not up to the task, sought to do so by resurrecting classic coin designs, like Benedetto Pistrucci's depiction of Saint George and the Dragon for the sovereign. In 1894, at the age of sixty, Fremantle retired from the Royal Mint. (Full article...)

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On this day

September 14

HMAS AE1

AD 81 – Domitian, the last Flavian emperor of Rome, was confirmed by the Senate to succeed his brother Titus.
919 – Viking activity in the British Isles: A coalition of native Irish, led by Niall Glúndub, failed in their attempt to drive the Vikings of the Uí Ímair from Ireland.
1863 – American Civil War: The Little Rock campaign ended with the Union Army capturing Little Rock, Arkansas.
1914 – HMAS AE1 (pictured), the Royal Australian Navy's first submarine, was lost at sea; its wreck was not found until 2017.
1989 – Typhoon Sarah dissipated after causing extensive damage along an erratic path across the Western Pacific, killing 71 in Taiwan, the Philippines, and the Gotō Islands.

Drusus Julius Caesar (d. AD 23)
Luke P. Blackburn (d. 1887)
Romola Costantino (b. 1930)
Mamadou N'Diaye (b. 1993)

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Today's featured picture

Il trovatore is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto largely written by Salvadore Cammarano, based on the Spanish play El trovador (1836) by Antonio García Gutiérrez. Set in the 15th century in Biscay and Aragon, Spain, it tells the story of a nobleman named Count di Luna, who falls in love with Leonora, a lady-in-waiting. However, Leonora in turn falls in love with Manrico, the titular troubadour of the opera. The premiere of Il trovatore took place at the Teatro Apollo in Rome in January 1853. This undated poster by Luigi Morgari depicts a scene from act 4 of the opera, in which Leonora encounters Manrico, who is imprisoned in di Luna's dungeon.

Poster credit: Luigi Morgari; restored by Adam Cuerden

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