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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;benhur767, post: 3270991, member: 36818&quot;]I&#039;d add that coins of historical interest belong in a museum as well. In the context of a museum exhibit that is not about the coins themselves, coins should add depth to the material that they are supporting and help to advance the story being told. Exhibits exist to tell a story. An exhibit that doesn&#039;t tell a story isn&#039;t an exhibit at all, it&#039;s merely a display. While displays can be interesting, they do little to educate or advance understanding</p><p><br /></p><p>And yet someone responded to your question by saying that the only coins that belong in museums are of historical interest, ignoring artistic merit as a reason.</p><p><br /></p><p>But I would argue that any artifact possessing artistic merit possesses intrinsic historical value as well, even if not connected to a specific known historical event because:</p><ol> <li>The production of a work of art is itself a cultural event, which can be placed in the context of a historical timeline to tell us something about the culture within which it was produced at a specific place on that timeline.</li> <li>The coin as a work of art reflects or advances a style, and as such is worthy of study from an art-historical perspective.</li> </ol><p>The question of whether or not all coins belong in museums has been covered before in great depth and detail in other places, so I don&#039;t think that there&#039;s a need to rehash it here. But the answer is no.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>The vast majority of ancient coins are corroded slugs or nearly so, of little interest even to collectors.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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