ONE IS NOT ENOUGH (CONTINUED) Public Deposited
The E-Sylum: Volume 7, Number 4, January 25, 2004, Article 18
ONE IS NOT ENOUGH (CONTINUED)
Howard A. Daniel III writes: "Alan V. Weinberg raised the
hair on the back of my neck, when he wrote about "duplicates"
and the Smithsonian Institution's Numismatic Department.
I've been writing to my two Senators (Warner & Allen) and
two Representatives (Tom Davis & Joann Davis (I have
homes in two Virginia districts)) for many years about
creating a separate National Numismatic Museum (NNM)
like the National Postal Museum. This would bring
numismatics out from under a very big umbrella and make
it visible to ordinary citizens and numismatists. And new
exhibits might be created every few years instead of basically
the same one for the past 25+ years. Another one of my
projects with my Senators and Representatives is to create a
bill that will allow the Smithsonian (or new NNM) to keep
triplicates (I'm generous) of a particular piece. One for
obverse exhibiting, a second for reverse exhibiting and a
third for research purposes. All of the others could be sold
or traded (to other museums to acquire missing pieces).
There are over 1 million pieces in the National Numismatic
Collection and probably less than one-tenth of one percent
have ever been seen by the public. The rarest pieces would
best be sold through prominent auction houses but the NNM
could list online the more common pieces and/or sell them
within the new NNM. The monies from such sales could
fund the operation of the museum and new exhibits. The US
Mints, Bureau of Printing and Engraving and US Treasury
could also sell their products within the museum and pay it
a percentage of their sales for more sources of funds. Exhibits
of banks, credit unions, private mints, financial paper printing
firms, etc., could be created with their funds and any of their
products could also be sold for additional monies.I hopes that NBSers will also pick a date every year (or
term) to write to their Representatives and Senators about
the creation of a NNM and the selling of "duplicates" in the
National Numismatic Collection. You might not like my
exact ideas, so I suggest that you please write your own
version. If you want to correspond with me about this subject,
send your emails to Howard at SEAsianTreasury.com."- 2004-01-25
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