Should deep-pocket numismatic businesses endow two or three curatorial chairs at the Smithsonian?

Comments

• curly Posts: 2,880 ✭

  October 26, 2008 9:24AM

  
  
  If they want to....ok, but it certainly isn't up to me to suggest how they spend their money.

  Every man is a self made man.

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• 291fifth Posts: 24,687 ✭✭✭✭✭

  October 26, 2008 9:39AM

  What they should really do is auction off 90% plus of material they have. If they were to do that they wouldn't need more than one curator.
  
  Coins don't belong in museums.

  All glory is fleeting.

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• NHSBaseball Posts: 2,470 ✭

  October 26, 2008 9:50AM

  I think it's a heck of an idea- but one that should be funded by the Smithsonian itself in order to properly catalog and maintain their displays. I would think that there could be a joint effort of all collectors and dealers to fund at least one such position if the Smithsonian cannot.
  
  JMO.
  
  Edited to add- Does anyone know what the policy is of having volunteers do much of the work in a highly supervised setting? I am sure that there are many people who would relish the opportunity.

  "College men from LSU- went in dumb, come out dumb too..."
  -Randy Newman

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• RWB Posts: 8,082 ✭

  October 26, 2008 10:09AM

  Not to overstate the obvious, but the Smithsonian doesn't do this because they don't have the money. Also, volunteers do not usually have the dedication and consistency (or knowledge) that is needed.

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• Coinosaurus Posts: 9,645 ✭✭✭✭✭

  October 26, 2008 10:38AM

  Let's see, 250K a year, that means about $6M to endow permanently.
  
  I think it's a swell idea, but even for Heritage $6M is a lot of money.
  
  Also, I think there is more to it than just having curators. You have to have money to publicize it, money to exhibit it (security and so forth), money for a nice glossy quarterly publication, money for monographs and books, etc. Otherwise the curator is handcuffed in what they can do.
  
  In some financial sense it might be better invest in the ANA, from the perspective of the big auction houses.
  
  And one other thing - if you gave the government $6M to endow a chair, do you think the chair would still be active ten years down the line? Twenty? A certain benefactor was being hit up by the MMoA in NYC for naming rights in perpetuity. The potential donor cagily asked, "How long is perpetuity?" To which they were answered with a straight face, "Fifty years".
  
  The way to do this is to give them the 250K on an annual basis and then hire a museum professional to give them a good audit every year to make sure the donor's intentions are being honored.

  Newman Numismatic Portal, www.NewmanPortal.org

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