ANS moving to Toledo, OH
pruebas
Posts: 4,836 ✭✭✭✭✭
It's official. The ANS will be relocating to Toledo, OH and a campus attached to the Toledo Museum of Art.
While the TMA is a fine institution with a storied history, both Toledo and its museum are the past, and the ANS should be looking to the future. Obviously cost is an issue in New York, but this is a time for creative thinking and possibly retrenching. Haven't we learned anything from the ANA being in Colorado Springs?
The ANS, first and foremost, is an academic institution, mostly for international academics due to the nature of its focus. Toledo is not an international city by any stretch and this move will only hasten the ongoing decline of the ANS.
As a member, I doubt I will be renewing my membership next year. I get very little value from it now and have remained a member out of loyalty and as a show of support. I have appreciated that ANS was a "New York institution." Now that it has given up on NY, it's value to me is nil, and I will give up on the ANS, much as I have given up on the ANA (but that's a story for another day).
Here is a link to the article (paywall): https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/20/arts/design/american-numismatic-society-coins-toledo.html
Comments
Colorado Springs is at least a cool, dry climate that's good for archival storage. Toledo is a place that most Americans actively avoid.
IG: DeCourcyCoinsEbay: neilrobertson
"Numismatic categorizations, if left unconstrained, will increase spontaneously over time." -me
I think you’re missing the point. The coins in the collection are just like the books in the library. Instructional tools.
ANS never sought to own “finest knowns” like a true museum or collector would, though they have ended up with some. And I’ll argue that gem coins can be kept safely in humid environments without problem as long as they are thoughtfully stored.
The ANS is about education and research. It needs to be in a population center and a location where people want to go and can get to easily.
The ANA never cared about that as they are less about research and more about advocacy (though I would argue that their education mission is hampered by their location).
I’d be interested to hear other views on this move. Does anyone here actually care about the ANS and where it’s located?
You are so right, they were very helpfull to me , a couple of years ago, when I did some numismatic research and , in the same time, was visiting NY. Thank you Dr. Peter van Alfen, Dr. Jesse Kraft and Librarian David Hill for letting me, a collector from a distant land, to be able to see coins and medals from the vast ANS collection! It was an extraordinary experience for me, thats for sure.
I agree with you, @pruebas . Without direct and simple access to the research materials (coins, books) in a population center, what purpose does the ANA serve? At best a diminished purpose.
I hope that this prevents important, condition census coins from ending up at the ANS going forward. The private market does a better job in curating these coins anyways.
Latin American Collection
As a New Yorker, I’m sad to see the ANS go. But if the move allows the ANS to create the type of museum they envision, and puts them on a more sustainable financial path, I have to endorse the move. As for the choice of Toledo, I’ve never been there, so have no opinion. Those behind the move obviously like the choice, so I’m hopeful.
One more thing. Considering the risks of war and terrorism, I do like the idea of locating institutional collections away from major population centers. In the long run, the ANS collection in Toledo and the ANA’s in Colorado Springs seem safer than the Smithsonian’s collection.
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
Excellent point! One thing that has always angered me is certain countries demands for repatriation of antiquities to their “home countries.”
For example, Egypt demanding that all Egyptian artifacts in the British Museum, the Met, the Getty, etc. be returned to their new museum in Cairo. Obviously they want the prestige and the tourism, but not everyone can afford (or wants to risk) a trip to Cairo to see a mummy. And who knows how stable those governments will remain in the future once all the antiquities are there (not that ours has been stable lately!). At least having some antiquities scattered around the world ensures better access to something, even if not all in the same museum.
Moving out of New York makes perfect sense to me, but Toledo? I can see it if they construct a quality destination attraction that will draw visitors from the larger metro areas. Just ask Klinger, Toledo is a nice enough spot.
I have no history or experience with the ANS but the article make it seem like not many people were even visiting the collection in New York.
chopmarkedtradedollars.com
I have always found the ANS to be very helpful. When writing one of my books, they had a unique Norweb piece that I needed to include. For a reasonable fee, they took hi-res pictures of it for me and allowed me to publish them. I found them very pleasant to deal with. In return, my last two books are in their library.
http://www.victoriancent.com
I'm sure this is true. Why? Because you need to make an appointment and tell them what you want to see. You need to be a member or pay a $50 fee, and there is a 2 hour time limit.
I understand the security concerns, but it cannot be called a museum under those circumstances.
Apart from researchers, what coin collector off the street is going to go through that?
I don't know for sure but would guess they are also making or saving big money on selling/vacating their current Manhattan digs.
http://www.victoriancent.com
I expect that the new Toledo location will prove to be a good move. The Toledo Museum of Art has an excellent collection and the addition of the ANS will only be positive.
I did my absolute best to compliment Colorado Springs and that was all I could come up with.
IG: DeCourcyCoinsEbay: neilrobertson
"Numismatic categorizations, if left unconstrained, will increase spontaneously over time." -me
Did anyone else raise their hand and say, "pick me, pick me", when a discussion started about a move???
Interesting local take on the move in the Toledo Blade.
https://www.toledoblade.com/opinion/editorials/2025/11/26/editorial-arts-community-coin-toss-numismatic-society/stories/20251127029
It will be interesting to see how many of the staffers make the move and stay a year.
Latin American Collection
The link wants you to activate a subscription or free trial. Any chance of getting a clean copy?
Man, I had forgotten about Coingate, that was a big scandal at the time.
I am biased, but I think people may be pleasantly surprised by Toledo. I have met many people over the years who have moved to Ohio from very large metro areas elsewhere and stayed.
I had no problem seeing it without a sub.
I hope it works out for them. But I have a hard time seeing those crunchy big-city intelligencia finding a largely hollowed-out blue collar rust-belt city interesting. But that’s just me.
Maybe in a few years there will be a complete changing of the guard at the ANS, and that might actually be a good thing.
The staff is going to find the Toledo area cost of living vs. New York city to be much lower.
Absolutely true. And the staff will also find the reason for that difference.