ANA, ANS and Smithsonian
Zoins
Posts: 34,116 ✭✭✭✭✭
Who do you think has the best collection and research? Who makes their collection available the most?
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Zoins
Posts: 34,116 ✭✭✭✭✭
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Best collection goes to Smithsonian
Best research goes to ANS
Smithsonian by far.
I went to ANS to try and BUY a few UNIQUE Gold Patterns a while ago (they wanted a $1 million donation to do so). One gold pattern was FAKE (and it had a JP Morgan pedigree......
And what a disappointing display-a UHR was next to a circ Half Dime...Coins were all jumbled.
Coins and museums/societies don't mix.
I believe the Smithsonian has the greatest collection and @RogerB does the best research....
Cheers, RickO
It seems reasonable to expect a sizable donation for a society or museum to sell. I would normally expect them to never sell.
The J.P. Morgan fake is interesting.
Ricko - Thanks, but I feel the best long-term research person is Bob Julian. Sadly much of his early articles are imprisoned in copyright limbo by Amos Media (owners of Numismatic Scrapbook's remains).
SI's NNC materials are exceeded only by the Royal Museum and Hermitage in St. Petersburg. But their documents and related archive is poor.
ANS has a very good archive, but the American section has a lot of error the staff have long refused to correct. That means everything has to be checked against 2 or 3 other sources for validation.
All three institutions make their collections available to researchers. That is, with an appointment and sufficient notice, the collections are accessible for research purposes.
But, the real test of a museum is how much they enable that to happen, how actively they engage with various researchers, how much they facilitate publication of their collections, and how much they work internally to catalog and learn about what they have. A lot of this is dictated by funding, and none of the three have a lot of money to do these sorts of things. The staff are good people and do what they can, but there are a lot more ideas than resources.
I'm liking the ANS more recently because I've noticed that when I look for esoteric items, they may show up in the ANS collection which is published online. This happens more than say for the ANA or the Smithsonian. Also older issues of the ANS Magazine are freely available which helps disseminate information to a wider audience.
They say the the Smithsonian has the best collection but you could never tell via their displays of it. I have been there several times over the past couple years and walk away each time in disappointment when viewing their numismatic displays. Very poor lighting, and frankly, a few dozen coins (at most) displayed does not cut it. Whoever is involved at the Smithsonian in setting up these displays has failed greatly to present this allegedly great collection to the public. This is in strong contrast with the rock and mineral displays in the Natural History museum down the street which are more than spectacular as are pretty much every other display in the Smithsonian museums. Why the coin displays are so poorly done is a mystery.........
Best, SH
Smithsonian by far. https://americanhistory.si.edu/national-numismatic-collection/collection
Minor Variety Trade dollar's with chop marks set:
More Than It's Chopped Up To Be
Yeah I feel morally dirty like I need another shower just from reading that post
They have an impressive collection, but unfortunately much of it seems inaccessible or less accessible to me.
Smithsonian views the NNC as a support resource to subjects of broader interest. The old, large displays had few visitors, and no meaningful way to help people see and understand the coins. The present Curator, like others, has to prepare proposals and compete for space and money. Rare coins and medals are way down on the list of public interest.
The present staff is much better supported for research visits than it used to be; but, one cannot simply wander in - the collection is too vast to permit that.
This comparison has some drawbacks. For example it depends on the coin/country etc. "Best US collection?" The Smithsonian. When we needed comparison specimens for Spanish countries, we took the train to NYC. The collection of Byzantine coins at Dumbarton Oaks in DC blows away ANS and the Smithsonian combined.
Could be, but nevertheless, the NNC was added a nice 2nd display room in the last few years at the National Museum of American History. I was hoping they would actually display some coins in this legendary collection. But again, in the 2nd room, only a small fraction of the allocated space has coins in it, and awful lighting to boot. So compete or not, how about use the allocated space they have to make a fantastic display? No excuse for it and extremely underwhelming, as if they are thumbing their nose intentionally.
Best, SH
Complain to SI management, not the Curator,
This. Harry Bass would be so proud. He was the guy who could "see around corners" with respect to the ANS embracing computing technology. George Cuhaj is a lesser known name but he contributed greatly to getting the ANS collection online.
What was the fake? Did they know it?
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
Next time, see if you can get a quote on their 1921 Saint.
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.