Collecting “Museum Coins” on a Budget: Between Public Knowledge & Private Collections

Thumbnails for a quick preview (all images w/ captions & links also in an imgur album, incl. summary pricing data for the 20 coins (since it's about "budget" collecting too), “Images for CT Thread, ‘Museum Coins’"):
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Institutions mentioned (among others): National Danish Museum, Copenhagen; American Numismatic Society (ANS); Hispanic Society of America (HSA); Art Institute of Chicago (AIC); J. Paul Getty Mus.; Ashmolean Mus.; Staatliche Münzsammlung München (SMM); Israel Museum, Jerusalem; British Museum; James Madison University Foundation (JMFU); et al.

Private Collections mentioned (among others): Archer Huntington; Robert Grover; Jonathan Rosen; Hugh Goodacre; Hermann Lanz; Josef Samel; James Sawhill; BCD; Elvira & Vladimir Clain-Stefanelli (Smithsonian); Cornelius Vermeule III (Boston MFA); Phil Peck (Chase Bank Money Museum); and others.
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You may have more “museum coins” than you realize.

Sometimes the phrase is used as a superlative – synonymous with priceless rarity and great beauty. To dispel that notion:

The small Greek bronze coin below (Fig. 1) was reportedly a duplicate from the Danish National Museum in Copenhagen (judging “hearsay provenance” is another topic in its own right). I bought it in a group lot several years after it went unsold at 20GBP:

FIG 1. Locris Opuntii AE Chalkous (13mm, 3.05g, 6h) [Photo: Naville 14 (11 April 2015), 54].

Provenance: Reportedly ex-Duplicates of the National Danish Museum, Copenhagen; presumably among those acquired by C. Holm (1960s) in trade for an important Danish coin; BCD then acquired a number from Holm (c. 1974-1975; see his account, BCD Locris-Phocis (NAC 55) 130.2); unfortunately BCD’s tag and coin were separated.​

As someone interested in the “modern social lives of ancient coins,” I am most curious about the relationships between coins, institutions, literature, scholars, collectors, and private markets; and how those relationships are reflected in the “object biographies” of coins.

The examples below, all from my collection, illustrate various ways to be a “museum coin.”

Since I claim such a collection can be affordable, here are summary prices of the 20 coins illustrated (2014-2022 unadjusted USD, incl. auction fees), and a chart for the curious:

Range = $14 – 450; Mean = $150.75; Median = $126 (6 of 20 under $50 and 9 of 20 under $100; many of my other examples were cheaper still).

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Permanent Collections

The archetypal “museum coin” has, at some point, been accessioned into the permanent collection of an old, accredited nonprofit or public institution. The following (Figs. 2 & 3) were from the collections of American Numismatic Society (ANS), Hispanic Society of America (HSA), and Art Institute of Chicago (AIC).

Between 2008 and 2013, the Archer Huntington (1870-1955) Collection was the subject of public controversy and legal wrangling between two museums, the ANS and HSA, over which would control the fate of the coins and their potential deaccession and sale. In the end, they were sold, but many were donated again to the ANS, and some – like those below – even “re-deaccessioned” and sold again! (Full story for another post.)

FIG 2. (a) Vespasian Denarius w/ ANS tag [Photo: Curtis]; (b) Quadrans [Photo: CNG]; (c) Divus Augustus, Caligula Dupondius [Photo: CNG].


Each coin above (Fig 2) came with a small peach-colored tag from the ANS indicating its accession number (see, e.g., below the Vespasian denarius, usually the same number used by the HSA). (The Dupondius has a white crust on its surface; did someone make plaster casts at the ANS?)

Many other CT member collections include Alexandrian coins deaccessioned from the AIC and sold at Gemini XIII in 2017 (mine is ex- @zumbly ). They had been donated by Robert L. Grover from 1978 to 1984; some were previously ex-Dattari (incl. the Antoninus, Fig 3A, shown with Dattari’s pencil rubbing, c. 1901-1913). (The Art Institute still has a fine collection; if near Chicago, it’s worth visiting or getting a membership.)

FIG 3. (a) Antoninus Tetradrachm [Photo (edited): Minotaur Coins / @zumbly]; (b) Gordian III Tetradrachm [Photo: Kölner e-7, 208]; (c) Trajan Tetradrachm [Photo: Agora 100, 124].



These coins and tags aren't at home now, but perhaps someone will share one of their tags that include AIC accession nos. and (on many tags) Curtis Clay’s cataloging notations from Gemini XIII: “blue ink on the back of the ticket.”


“For the benefit of.”

Individual lots or entire auctions are sometimes sold “for the benefit of” an institution. The coins may or may not have ever been part of the museum’s collection, or even owned by the museum at all (see also Fig 9-b, below). It is important to investigate exactly how such coins, the institution, and any benefactors are related.

Robert W. Bartlett (1931-2017) bequeathed his collection of several hundred Greek and Roman coins to the ANS. The ANS accessioned some into its collection (especially Sestertii) but consigned the majority to CNG’s Keystone Auction 4 (2 Sep 2021). Despite being at the ANS over 3 years, NGC’s custom labels describe the coins as “Ex-ANS” rather than “Ex-ANS Collection” because they were never accessioned into the collection proper.

FIG 4. (a) Brettii AE Didrachm (?); (b) Divus Augustus, Tiberius Sestertius [Both Photos (edited): CNG].


The Bartlett sale was notable for its recorded provenances which illustrate an important period in the history of the American ancient coin market. Bartlett built his collection at an exceptionally opportune moment, shortly after the 1980 silver (and numismatic) crash, but before the major investment fund buyers later in the decade. (Yet another story deserving a post.) He bought the Bruttium AE (Fig 4-a) in June 1981 from the Collection of Miguel Muñoz (1909-1989; President of the Sociedad Numismática de México, 1959-1966), and the Sestertius (Fig 4-b) at Lucien Birkler and Ed Waddell’s NYINC sale, December 1981.


“On Loan to.”

In other instances, collections are housed at museums for research or placed on loan for exhibitions, but only temporarily. Though not part of the permanent collection, such a coin’s residency and its uses at a museum are worth recording as an important chapter in its “object biography.”

The AE Tetarteron below (Fig 5-a) was part of the Hugh Goodacre (1865-1952) collection from at least 1931 (“Notes on Some Rare Byzantine Coins”) until his death. His collection remained on loan at the Heberden Coin Room of Ashmolean Museum (Oxford University) until finally being sold in 1986.

FIG 5. (a) John III Ducas-Vatazes AE Tetarteron; (b) Lesbos BI Tetartemorion or 1/48 Stater (5.5mm, 0.26g) [Both Photos: CNG].


As noted by NFA (Winter 1987), Jonathan P. Rosen’s (NYC, 1944-) entire collection (at that time)

“was placed on loan to the J. Paul Getty Museum … in the early 1980s. More than 100 select coins were placed on special exhibition … with a beautifully produced exhibit catalogue … documenting 50 of the most extraordinary specimens.”​

I don’t yet know if the tiny Lesbos fraction (Fig 5-b) above was exhibited, but it was not among the fifty coins in the 1983 Getty catalog. However, that same year, it was cataloged by Nancy Waggoner and published by the ANS (Waggoner-Rosen 548 = NFA W 1987, 579.5 = CNG e-494, 196, WB Porter Coll.).


“Exhibited by.”

The following pair were from collections exhibited by the Staatliche Münzsammlung München (SMM, the State Coin Collection, Munich) and published in associated catalogs in the 1990s.

The John Hyrcanus AE Prutah (Fig 6-a = Overbeck-Meshorer 58) is from the Josef Samel (1913-2005) Collection, jointly exhibited by the SMM with the Israel Museum, Jerusalem. The exhibit was published as Das Helige Land (1993) by a curator from each, Bernhard Overbeck and Ya‘akov Meshorer.

FIG 6. (a) John Hyrcanus AE Prutah [Photo: Künker EA 65, 7045 (previously Auction 334, 2018)]; (b) E. Celts “Baumreiter” AR Drachm [Photo: Roma XVIII, 115].


The Hermann Lanz (1910-1998) Collection, cataloged by Michaela Kostial in 1997, quickly became a standard reference for Celtic coins (Fig 6-b = Kostial-Lanz 422). It was published in conjunction with a series of exhibits, beginning with the SMM at the 1997 International Numismatic Congress in Berlin. Kostial’s second edition coincided with a 2003 exhibit in Munich.


“Cataloged by.”

If one has coins from recent British hoards – especially those found after about 1996 – there is a strong chance the British Museum handled and cataloged them.

FIG 7. Philip I AR Antoniniani [Photos: Curtis].


The Philip I AR Antoniniani above (Fig. 7) were part of the 1994 Wareham, Dorset Hoard (CHRB X, 36; Hoard ID: IARCH-3DB3D1). After the British Museum individually cataloged them and bought a few rarities, the remainder were sold by Spink (110, 4 Oct 1995, Lot 35, part = these coins). I purchased seven of them (~$25 each) from Rudi Smits (Antwerp, d. 2014) a few months before his untimely death.

Other Institutions.

With or without “museum” in their titles, many universities, libraries, societies, and foundations do more-or-less the same things. Hence the more appropriate term, “institutional collection” (or “public collection”).

An example is the James Madison University Foundation Collection, which included a bequest from John Sawhill (1892-1976). In 1979, JMU sold the Sawhill Collection at Stack’s. (Importantly, many were ex-John Quincy Adams / Massachusetts Historical Society Collection, though not my example.)

Sawhill had acquired the Messenian Hemidrachm below (Fig. 8) from the Sammlung Heinrich Otto, Jr. (1856-1931) – or “Kommerzienrat H. Otto, Stuttgart,” as he was named in Hess 207 (1 Dec 1931). BCD then purchased it at the Sawhill-JMU sale:

FIG 8. Messenia AR Hemidrachm (this coin = Slg. Otto 493, Plate 12 = Sawhill-JMU 157, part = BCD Peloponnesos II 2327 = Grandjean 203g) [Photo: Curtis].


Curators.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, curators of public collections also often collect privately. Anyone interested in Seleukid coinage, for instance, will soon become familiar with the important collection of Arthur Houghton, a former Getty curator. (Unfortunately, I have none of his yet.)

One of the best-known curator-collectors is Elvira Clain-Stefanelli (1914-2001). Much of her collection was jointly built with her husband Vladmir Clain-Stefanelli (1914-1982). The pair served for decades as important curators of the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian. Their private collection was extensive and “scholarly” (i.e., included many interesting but affordable coins). The tiny, rare Rhegion Hemilitron below (Fig. 8-a) is illustrated in Elvira’s 1987 RBN article, "On Some Fractional Silver Coinages of Sicily and Magna Graecia During the Fifth Century B.C.” (direct link to pdf online):

FIG 9. (a) Rhegion AR Hemilitron (7mm, 0.31g) [Photo: Naville 38, 41]; (b) Phrygia, Sebaste AE27 [Photo: Noble 126, 2688]; (c) Antoninus Drachm [Photo: Heritage/NGC Morris Collection (Part III), 82].

Cornelius Vermeule III (1925-2008; curator at Boston Museum of Fine Arts, 1957-1996) collected Roman coins since childhood (CNG MBS 50: pp. 9-10), and repeatedly donated from his own collection to BMFA both during and after his tenure as Curator of Classical Art. The Phyrigian AE27 above (Fig. 9-b) was reportedly ex-R. C. Lockett (1873-1950) and Pierre Strauss (1922-1995) Collections before Vermeule’s. He sold it “for the benefit of” the BMFA at Triton III (30 Nov 1999), Lot 1668 (part).

Last, another curator-collector (though perhaps not always recognized as such) represented in many CT member collections: Philip C. Peck (born c. 1941/2 [?]; AKA the “Morris” Collection). Among other accomplishments, Peck was a curator at the Chase Bank Money Museum in Manhattan from the mid-1960s until it closed permanently in 1977 (its collection was donated to the Smithsonian and ANS). His own collection was consigned by his older brother Morris to Heritage.

The Antoninus Pius Drachm above (Fig. 9-c) was purchased by Al Kowsky (who made a popular CT post of it, “Egyptian Drachm with a Provenance”) and had previously been in the collections of K. Wetterstrom and V. Ruzicka and illustrated in Kampann & Ganschow (2008: 35.511).


Why Collect “Museum Coins” and "Object Biographies."

Brief concluding thoughts on the value of collecting coins connected to institutions:

To the individual collector, a major benefit is to learn about the history of numismatic knowledge (not that it isn't also accomplished in many other ways): Who are key actors in shaping that knowledge? How has it changed over time? Who disagrees with whom? What might they have overlooked and how?

More generally – and of special importance at a time when collecting is increasingly subject to public policy and debate – it highlights the interconnections between public knowledge and private collectors. It is essential to recognize that “private” collections are private only in a strictly economic sense, not in a sociological sense. Classical numismatics – both as a scholarly discipline and commercial market – is a thoroughly social and collaborative enterprise, built upon networks of relationships between institutions, researchers, and collectors.


PLEASE SHARE ANY COINS, INFO, OR QUESTIONS YOU DEEM RELEVANT!
(INCLUDING ANYTHING I MISSED OR GOT WRONG.)

 

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Very nicely done. I just wonder how many coins are sold by museums that were once donated to them, with the idea they would remain in the collection.

 

Thanks! Yeah, that's always a big issue. What I want to know is how many museums have sold their coins anonymously because they don't want to deal with the controversy around de-accession!

I've been trying to find an excellent old article in The Celator by Alan S. Walker (always entertaining) about planning your numismatic estate and any museum donations. (Anyone remember it?) He pointed out that it's important to state very explicitly what can and cannot be done with your coins and who pays for upkeep...

Sometimes it's a good idea to let the museum sell them to pay for upkeep and people often donate with that in mind. But sometimes you want coins that are valuable for scholars to be kept together -- in which case you have to make sure the institution can afford to keep them! (That was why the Massachusetts Historical Society sold the John Quincy Adams Collection in 1971 -- they couldn't afford the security to exhibit or make them available to scholars.)

The Huntington Collection is interesting because the ANS fought for years to keep the Hispanic Society of America (a related institution) from selling. Originally Huntington had very strict terms on what could be done with the coins, so I forget how HSA was able to sell them. Then many thousands were bought back and re-donated to the ANS in 2012-3... And hundreds (or 1,000s?) were sold AGAIN! (This time proceeds going to ANS not HSA.) But apparently the terms allowed duplicates to be sold.

 

Long ago I arranged to see the ancient-coin collection at Washington University in St. Louis. They had some on display in piles behind glass (not individually) and many in a safe. Looking at the coins that were out, I counted about 50 Agrippa/Neptune asses. So, when I talked to the curator (very part time--it is not that major a collection) I noted that was many duplicates and perhaps some could be rolled over to improve the collection in other areas. He responded that the original donation was with the condition that all the coins must remain in the collection or it would all revert to heirs. Nothing could be sold.

Donors sometimes have an unrealistic and exaggerated impression of the importance of their donation. Sometimes museums would do well to prune and improve their holdings, if allowed.

 

Indeed, the ancient coin market needs more Gordian III Ants, can't get enough of them.

 

A very interesting writeup thank you!

I have this sestertius of Marcus Aurelius that I would guess was part of an old museum or university collection due to the number painted on the reverse. It also has a pretty thick clear lacquer covering the coin for... 'protection?' I'm guessing it was parted with as it wasn't a high quality coin... I was able to pick it up as a fun snack for about $10 I believe.

 

Everytime I see these my mind starts racing to figure out if more can be learned. Most people would consider the "India ink" labels damage but I'm always curious about them (sometimes they even come with little tags glued on!). Once in a while you can at least start to reconstruct who wrote the numbers and when/why if you can track down other examples, but those seem to be the exception.

 

Absolutely! For this coin, I bought it for the painted numbers. The coin itself isn't nice and without the numbers would be unremarkable, I thought it may be a fun mystery to solve. You'd think you could find some similar coins pretty easy but although I've looked, I have not yet found any coins from the same collection to get any further background. If anyone recognizes the style of the numbers from other coins, let me know!

 

Love the writeup, @Curtis... very thoroughly researched with several interesting stories! Sometimes, the history isn't just in the coins themselves, but the journeys they have taken since being recovered...

 

...good article Curtis...i guess we collectors, of coins & otherwise, all have a museum of some type..

 

Interesting thread. In the discussion about private collecting of antiquities, it is often overlooked that public collections and museums regularly both acquire and deaccession items. That means they accept donations, buy from, and sell to private collectors and dealers. This makes the distinction between private and institutional collections much less sharp than some of the advocates against private collecting suggest.

Raising funds might be one reason for deaccessions, but often institutions also sell items or don't accept donations since they lack space or don't have enough staff to properly curate and conserve everything that is accumulating in their basements. When I was in grad school, one of my side gigs was helping to catalogue the coin collection of my university library. Fortunately, my institution had enough funding and a group of librarians with truly impressive curatorial skills, so it was to my knowledge never necessary to deaccession anything. Still, space and manpower were always scarce, and many of our holdings had come from other instutions that were in less lucky positions.

I have a couple of ex-museum coins myself. According to an old seller's ("PMV Inc.") listing, this one once was owned by the Dorset County Museum in Britain. It must have been deaccessioned at some point.

Trajan Decius, Roman Empire, AR antoninianus, 249–251 AD, Rome mint. Obv: IMP C M Q TRAIANVS DECIVS AVG, bust of Trajan Decius, draped and radiate, r. Rev: PANNONIAE, the two Pannoniae standing, holding standards. 23mm, 4.14g. Ref: RIC IV,3 Trajan Decius 21b. Ex Warren Esty (@Valentinian); ex PMV Inc., "Late Summer List" 1982, lot 94; ex Dorset County Museum.

These two coins came from the enormous collection of Otto Horn (1880–1945). His private collection was more or less confiscated by the Eastern German communist regime after World War II and spent the next 65 years in the public Staatliche Kunstsammlung Dresden. Afterwards, it was given back to the collector's legal heir, a charity devoted to supporting cultural and social projects in Horn's hometown of Meissen. The charity sold some 10.000 historically important pieces to the Staatliche Kunstsammlung, the rest went on the private market to raise funds. Both of my coins came with their museum tags from Dresden:

County of Waldeck, under Franz III, Wilhelm Ernst, Christian, and Volrad, ½ Batzen, 1595 AD, Niederwildung mint. Obv: FRA. WE. C W. [C. I. WAL], helmeted shield with eight-rayed star; below, moneyer’s mark of Kaspar Huxer: crossed hooks and arrow. Rev: RVDOL. II. IM. AVG. P [.F. DEC]; 9-5; imperial orb with value mark Z. 19mm, 0.98g. Ref: Slg. Hennig 62; Grönegreß 1986, 292. Ex Ernst Otto Horn (1880–1945) collection; ex Staatliche Kunstsammlung Dresden (1945–2010).


Imperial City of Cologne, civic issue, AR bracteate heller, 1474–1493 AD, Cologne mint. Obv: civic coat of arms: three crowns above five flames. Rev: negative design (bracteate). 14.5mm, 0.31g. Ref: Noss 31. Ex Ernst Otto Horn (1880–1945) collection; ; ex Staatliche Kunstsammlung Dresden (1945–2010).

 

Interesting; IIRC, the only ex-museum coin I have is an Antiochus III Tetradrachm purchased from Alex Malloy in the 1990s, allegedly from a Boston museum, ex J.P. Morgan.

 

I don't have many, but here are a few that I picked up over the years:

DOC, at one point, traded with collectors and thus, I suspect this is one piece that came from that dealing. Of course, that door closed a looong time ago...

Empire of Nicaea: John III Ducas-Vatazes (1222-1254) BI Trachy, Magnesia (Sear-2093; DOC 39.2)
Obv: Bust of Christ Emmanuel, beardless and nimbate, wearing tunic and kolobion; hold scroll in left hand. Pellets in each limb of nimbus cross
Rev: Full-length figure of emperor on left, and of St. Constantine bearded, holding between them patriarchal cross at the base of which, three steps. Emperor wears stemma, divitision, jeweled loros of simplified type, and sagion; holds labarum-headed scepter in right hand. Saint similarly dressed, holds scepter cruciger in left hand

Plate Coin from the Catalogue of the Byzantine Coins in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection and in the Whittemore Collection



The MoneyMuseum in Zurich was liquidating some of its coins on CNG a while ago, and I picked up these two items. Wish I knew earlier as some really nice coins were sold...

Parthian Empire: Phraates III (ca. 70-57 BCE) AR Drachm, Mithradatkart Mint (Sellwood-39.6; Sunrise-343)
Obv: Long bearded bust left in diadem bound tiara, decorated with a horn on side and a row of recumbent stags around the crest, pellet ended spiral torque, dotted border.
Rev: Archer enthroned right, monogram below bow, six-line Greek inscription ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΜΕΓΑΛΟY ΑΡΣΑΚΟY ΕYΕΡΓΕΤΟY ΕΠIΦΑNOYΣ ΦΙΛΕΛΛΗΝΟΣ

Former collection of the MoneyMuseum, Zurich



Umayyad Caliphate, Arab-Byzantine: Anonymous (685-692 AD) Æ Fals (Album-3501; SICA I, 505)
Obv: Emperor Heraclius in center, with his sons Heraclius Constantine (on right) and Heraclonas (on left) standing facing, each wearing a crown with cross and long robes, and each holding in right hand a globe surmounted by a cross; traces of outer circle
Rev: Large M; staurogram above; officina mark Γ below; left downwards ANNO; right downwards XЧII; below exergual line mint-signature KVΠP (= Cyprus); outer circle



Finally, the Art Institute of Chicago auctions off several coins that I picked up. This is just two of almost 10 or so coins (from lots) that I picked up. I still need to attribute the rest...

Egypt, Alexandria: Gallienus (253-268 CE) Æ Tetradrachm, RY 14 (Köln 2932-3; Dattari (Savio) 5283; Milne 4145; Curtis Emmett 3802)

Obv: AVT K Π ΛIK ΓAΛΛIHNOC CЄB; laureate and cuirassed bust right
Rev: Eagle standing left, head right, holding wreath in beak, L IΔ before, palm behind

Former collection of the Art Institute of Chicago



Egypt, Alexandria: Valerian I (253-260 CE) Æ Tetradrachm, RY 4 (Köln 2867; Dattari (Savio) 5174; Milne 3936-38; Curtis 1520; Emmett 3721)

Obv: A K Π ΛI OVAΛEPIANOC EV EVC; bust laureate, cuirassed right, fold of cloak on front shoulder, Medusa head on cuirass
Rev: Tyche seated upon a throne left, holding a rudder in her right hand & cornucopia in her left hand, in field LΔ

Former collection of the Art Institute of Chicago



I am pretty certain I have a few marked coins with museum numbers written on them. But where it came from has been lost to history...