Do museums ever sell their coins?

Discussion in 'Coin Chat' started by Gam3rBlake, Jun 27, 2022.

  1. buddy16cat

    buddy16cat Well-Known Member

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  3. Kentucky

    Kentucky Supporter! Supporter

  4. baseball21

    baseball21 Well-Known Member

    Everything gets bombed in war zones. There's always some risk of destruction even if you buried everything in the bunker below the White House. Realistically though things generally are the safest at major museums, the problem is you just probably will never see them again
     
  5. Gam3rBlake

    Gam3rBlake Well-Known Member

    Notre Dame Cathedral caught fire. If a museum caught fire all that heat and smoke would destroy any coins and probably melt them.
     
    Rushmore likes this.
  6. masterswimmer

    masterswimmer A Caretaker, can't take it with me

    I think you're overestimating the heat generated in most fires, excluding industrial fires. And you're underestimating the required heat to melt most metals. The coins damaged due to heat is virtually a certainty.

    What would be destroyed beyond recognition would be soft good, ie: textiles, paper, artwork, plastics, etc.
     
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  7. Savoyspecial

    Savoyspecial Member

    Museums do periodically deaccession coins and other objects, usually in an effort to raise funds for a more focused interest. I have helped a few museums on occasion in this effort. I will say that they move quite slowly throughout the process as they must have every stage of the transaction approved by a board or committee. Definitely not for the faint of heart - it would drive most "quick flip" dealers crazy.
     
    coolhandred24 likes this.
  8. baseball21

    baseball21 Well-Known Member

    Major museums keep things in fire proof cases, they also have fire systems and vaults that can be closed which obviously a cathedral built over 1000 years ago did not have.
     
  9. coolhandred24

    coolhandred24 Member

    When I visited the Dahlonega Mint in Georgia they had a display with all of the gold coins issued by that mint on view. It was quite impressive. Well worth the visit as most of these issues are very scarce.
     
    Cheech9712 likes this.
  10. Cheech9712

    Cheech9712 Every thing is a guess

    And a fine museum to get coins from. Glad they set them free
     
  11. Cheech9712

    Cheech9712 Every thing is a guess

    I think not. Pink panther never has a good plan.
     
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  12. Cheech9712

    Cheech9712 Every thing is a guess

    What museum was that that sold them?
     
  13. whopper64

    whopper64 Well-Known Member

    It's a shame that the ANA, with the support from the established TPG's, can not create a truly unique coin emporium (not museum) in which all worthy donated U.S. coins would be guaranteed to be shown. Perhaps an abandoned warehouse, former sanitarium or private school to begin with and future expansion pre-planned. Can't believe that there wouldn't be extensive donations as long as the donors knew that their collections would be shown. TPG's could be encouraged to donate monies so much per year with the knowledge that their slabs would be represented in many collections. Also, the loaning donors would pay a "caretaker" fee each year (something like what is charged to families in some of the largest cemeteries in New Orleans). For outright donations, the emporium would guarantee that the collections would be shown for so many years before being broken up and/or sold to pay for upkeep and expansion of the emporium. Truly rare and unique coins would be featured in a permanent section for display. Considering that many of the coins would have historical importance, thousands of companies/organizations could be solicited for monetary donations to help pay for maintenance/security/upkeep. Ultra rich families could be encouraged to donate millions of dollars if sections of the emporium would be named after them. Just a thought but wouldn't it be worth consideration?
     
  14. baseball21

    baseball21 Well-Known Member

    Why would the TPGs pay money for that?

    Why should a donor have to pay a "caretaker" fee each year for what they gave away for free?

    Also its a horrible idea to encourage everyone to start donating everything to the ANA or a museum. You're going to just end up sky rocketing the price of everything that doesnt get donated when the nicest examples are removed from the market.

    The ANA would also be probably the worst place to donate it in terms of people getting to see it. At least the major museums are in major cities that you could stop by while passing through for something else. Even among coin collectors and enthusiasts the vast majority arent going to pay for plane tickets/car rental/hotels etc just to go to the ANA museum. There's really not much or ever a reason to go to Colorado Springs unless you're skiing or going to the Air Force Academy
     
  15. whopper64

    whopper64 Well-Known Member

    What else can there be done to truly showcase rare and unique coins and collections, right now there is basically nowhere where any collector can be assured that his/her coins/collection would be showcased. "Caretaker" fee would be for guaranteeing that the coins would be showcased each and every year. TPG"s would pay for a permanent type of exposure & publicity. You'd be surprised at how much companies pay for guaranteed exposure/publicity. However, this is just my pipedream until someone else can come up with any other idea for preservation and showcasing truly rare and unique coins/collections.
     
  16. baseball21

    baseball21 Well-Known Member

    it was really more why would someone pay for something they donated. that’s just giving away your property and paying to do so.

    As far as TPGs, they’re a business. They’re a necessary thing that helps collectors but why would they pay for something that would be free advertising for competition or raw coins.

    There’s big time displays that happen at coin shows and you can also build a website if you want it shown off. If a major collector is all one TPG they have contributed to those in the past but they’d never do it otherwise nor should they.

    There’s no obligation nor should there be to publicly display things. If someone isn’t paying the bills for something they have no right to see it. You can find pictures for most special things whether a Trueview or from an auction but the amount of people tha5 would spend thousands just on travel to see something is minuscule especially with coins
     
    Kentucky likes this.
  17. whopper64

    whopper64 Well-Known Member

    Just my musings and I appreciate your feedback.
     
  18. Jim Dale

    Jim Dale Well-Known Member

    It was interesting about the "Raiders of the Lost Ark" movie. After all the work Harrison Ford did to "save" the "Ark of the Covenant", the United States government boxed up the "Ark of the Covenant" in the last scene of the movie and took it to a large government warehouse, never to be seen again.
    When the United States went to war against Iraq, many of the U.S. soldiers as well as Iraqi soldiers and citizens, stole money, gold and other precious metals, and anything else that was not "nailed down." Billions of dollars have been lost in countries of the Middle East and Afghanistan and other places the U.S. has been. There have been many "tongue in cheek" movies about soldiers and citizens were stealing from the vaults of those countries. If you don't think that it is happening in the U.S., you have blinders on. There was a "60 Minutes" episode about a custodian that walked out of the Smithsonian with many precious and special items. I don't remember how he was targeted as a thief of Smithsonian artifacts, but he must have made someone mad. It was televised many decades ago and I don't remember what happened to him, but many of the artifacts that Nazi, Russian, British, French, and especially the U.S. took during WW II, were sent home. There was a scene towards the end of Band of Brothers mini-series, where it was shown that a U.S. officer was sending things home that he had "found."
    Sorry for the length. I was an auditor for the State of North Carolina for over 30 years. I found many things that state employees had stolen. Many found ways that there were no procedures protecting the assets of the state. If we find that no one would ever find out that they could not be caught, they will steal. Most of the thefts were reported by someone that the thief offended.
     
  19. Savoyspecial

    Savoyspecial Member

    Durham Museum in Omaha
     
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  20. Savoyspecial

    Savoyspecial Member

    ... Ah, if only

    Do you know how many societal problems could be solved with this wish granted
     
    Paddy54 likes this.
  21. Cheech9712

    Cheech9712 Every thing is a guess

     
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