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Message:: [QUOTE="Curtis, post: 8268316, member: 26430"]<blockquote>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), “<a href="https://imgur.com/a/CLEkBu3" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://imgur.com/a/CLEkBu3" rel="nofollow">Images for CT Thread, ‘Museum Coins’</a>"):[ATTACH]1459051[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]1459053[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]1459054[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]1459059[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]1459061[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]1459062[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]1459063[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]1459064[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]1459082[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]1459065[/ATTACH]</blockquote> <blockquote>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. </blockquote> *** 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: <a href="https://www.sixbid-coin-archive.com/#/en/single/l30167712" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.sixbid-coin-archive.com/#/en/single/l30167712" rel="nofollow">Naville 14 (11 April 2015), 54</a>]. <blockquote>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, <a href="https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=860023" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=860023" rel="nofollow">BCD Locris-Phocis (NAC 55) 130.2</a>); unfortunately BCD’s tag and coin were separated.</blockquote>[ATTACH=full]1459051[/ATTACH] 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: <blockquote>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). [ATTACH=full]1459053[/ATTACH] </blockquote> 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 <a href="http://numismatics.org/magazine/huntingtonwinter08/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://numismatics.org/magazine/huntingtonwinter08/" rel="nofollow">2008</a> and <a href="http://numismatics.org/magazine/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/Summer2013.pdf" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://numismatics.org/magazine/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/Summer2013.pdf" rel="nofollow">2013</a>, 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) <a href="https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=3835788" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=3835788" rel="nofollow">Vespasian Denarius</a> w/ ANS tag [Photo: Curtis]; (b) <a href="https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=8196897" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=8196897" rel="nofollow">Quadrans</a> [Photo: CNG]; (c) Divus Augustus, Caligula <a href="https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=3835735" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=3835735" rel="nofollow">Dupondius</a> [Photo: CNG].[ATTACH=full]1459054[/ATTACH] 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- [USER=57495]@zumbly[/USER] ). 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): <a href="https://www.minotaurcoins.com/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.minotaurcoins.com/" rel="nofollow">Minotaur Coins</a> / [USER=57495]@zumbly[/USER]]; (b) Gordian III Tetradrachm [Photo: <a href="https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=8181525" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=8181525" rel="nofollow">Kölner e-7, 208</a>]; (c) Trajan Tetradrachm [Photo: <a href="https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=8043174" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=8043174" rel="nofollow">Agora 100, 124</a>]. [ATTACH=full]1459059[/ATTACH] 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: “<a href="https://www.cointalk.com/posts/6516651/" class="internalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.cointalk.com/posts/6516651/">blue ink on the back of the ticket</a>.” “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) <a href="https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=8446747" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=8446747" rel="nofollow">Brettii AE Didrachm</a> (?); (b) <a href="https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=8446879" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=8446879" rel="nofollow">Divus Augustus, Tiberius Sestertius</a> [Both Photos (edited): CNG].[ATTACH=full]1459061[/ATTACH] 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 <a href="https://www.sonumex.org.mx/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.sonumex.org.mx/" rel="nofollow">Sociedad Numismática de México</a>, 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 (“<a href="https://jstor.org/stable/42660764" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://jstor.org/stable/42660764" rel="nofollow">Notes on Some Rare Byzantine Coins</a>”) 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) <a href="https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=8931081" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=8931081" rel="nofollow">John III Ducas-Vatazes AE Tetarteron</a>; (b) <a href="https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=8264423" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=8264423" rel="nofollow">Lesbos BI Tetartemorion or 1/48 Stater</a> (5.5mm, 0.26g) [Both Photos: CNG].[ATTACH=full]1459062[/ATTACH] As noted by <a href="https://archive.org/details/wintermailbidsal1987numi/page/n6/mode/1up" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://archive.org/details/wintermailbidsal1987numi/page/n6/mode/1up" rel="nofollow">NFA (Winter 1987)</a>, Jonathan P. Rosen’s (NYC, 1944-) entire collection (at that time) <blockquote>“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.”</blockquote> 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 = <a href="https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=8264423" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=8264423" rel="nofollow">CNG e-494, 196</a>, 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 <a href="https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=7825707" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=7825707" rel="nofollow">EA 65, 7045</a> (previously <a href="https://www.numisbids.com/n.php?lot=2018&p=lot&sid=3700" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.numisbids.com/n.php?lot=2018&p=lot&sid=3700" rel="nofollow">Auction 334, 2018</a>)]; (b) E. Celts “Baumreiter” AR Drachm [Photo: Roma <a href="https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=6333375" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=6333375" rel="nofollow">XVIII, 115</a>].[ATTACH=full]1459063[/ATTACH] 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].[ATTACH=full]1459064[/ATTACH] The Philip I AR Antoniniani above (Fig. 7) were part of the 1994 Wareham, Dorset Hoard (CHRB X, 36; <a href="https://finds.org.uk/database/hoards/record/id/512" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://finds.org.uk/database/hoards/record/id/512" rel="nofollow">Hoard ID: IARCH-3DB3D1</a>). 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 <a href="https://archive.org/details/ancientforeignco1979stac" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://archive.org/details/ancientforeignco1979stac" rel="nofollow">Sawhill-JMU sale</a>: FIG 8. <a href="https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=622418" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=622418" rel="nofollow">Messenia AR Hemidrachm</a> (this coin = Slg. Otto 493, <a href="https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/hess_nachf1931_12_01bd1/0074/image" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/hess_nachf1931_12_01bd1/0074/image" rel="nofollow">Plate 12</a> = Sawhill-JMU 157, part = BCD Peloponnesos II 2327 = Grandjean 203g) [Photo: Curtis].[ATTACH=full]1459082[/ATTACH] 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 <a href="http://arthurhoughton.com/biography" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://arthurhoughton.com/biography" rel="nofollow">Arthur Houghton</a>, 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.” (<a href="http://www.numisbel.be/1987_2.pdf" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.numisbel.be/1987_2.pdf" rel="nofollow">direct link to pdf online</a>): FIG 9. (a) Rhegion AR Hemilitron (7mm, 0.31g) [Photo: <a href="https://www.sixbid-coin-archive.com/#/en/single/l30182408" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.sixbid-coin-archive.com/#/en/single/l30182408" rel="nofollow">Naville 38, 41</a>]; (b) Phrygia, Sebaste AE27 [Photo: <a href="https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=7927672" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=7927672" rel="nofollow">Noble 126, 2688</a>]; (c) Antoninus Drachm [Photo: <a href="https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=6691552" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=6691552" rel="nofollow">Heritage/NGC</a> Morris Collection (Part III), 82].[ATTACH=full]1459065[/ATTACH]Cornelius Vermeule III (1925-2008; curator at Boston Museum of Fine Arts, 1957-1996) collected Roman coins since childhood (<a href="https://archive.org/details/CNGsale50/page/9/mode/2up" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://archive.org/details/CNGsale50/page/9/mode/2up" rel="nofollow">CNG MBS 50: pp. 9-10</a>), 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 <a href="https://issuu.com/cngcoins/docs/triton_iii" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://issuu.com/cngcoins/docs/triton_iii" rel="nofollow">Triton III (30 Nov 1999)</a>, 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, “<a href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/egyptian-drachm-with-a-provenance.354986/" class="internalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/egyptian-drachm-with-a-provenance.354986/">Egyptian Drachm with a Provenance</a>”) 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.)[/QUOTE]

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