"Culture Grrl" has additional coverage about more Huntington coins being “repatriated” back to the ANS due to the generosity of a donor. More good news for the ANS.
Showing posts with label Hispanic Society. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hispanic Society. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
More on Recall and Sale of Hispanic Society Coins Long Held by ANS
Jason Kaufman has written more about the Hispanic Society's apparent plans to sell Archer Huntington's coin collection long held at the American Numismatic Society: http://www.theartnewspaper.com/article.asp?id=16116 Another story about these plans can be found here: http://culturalpropertyobserver.blogspot.com/2008/08/archer-huntington-coins-to-be-sold.html
As Kaufman notes, unlike prior sales of Hispanic Society material, this sale would seem to potentially be at odds with the Hispanic Society's core mission of preserving Spanish Culture. Obviously, putting together a similar collection today would be very difficult, if not impossible.
Moreover, while there evidently is some possibility Spain may wish to purchase the collection, it presumably would only do so to repatriate it back to that country. That, of course, would do little to promote the appreciation of Spanish coins and culture in this country.
One further thought. While the Kaufman article focuses on some of the superlative pieces in the collection, no doubt the collection also contains many coins of modest value. Hopefully, the ANS and the Hispanic Society will come to some agreement that at least allows such coins to stay accessible to numismatists in the ANS collections.
As Kaufman notes, unlike prior sales of Hispanic Society material, this sale would seem to potentially be at odds with the Hispanic Society's core mission of preserving Spanish Culture. Obviously, putting together a similar collection today would be very difficult, if not impossible.
Moreover, while there evidently is some possibility Spain may wish to purchase the collection, it presumably would only do so to repatriate it back to that country. That, of course, would do little to promote the appreciation of Spanish coins and culture in this country.
One further thought. While the Kaufman article focuses on some of the superlative pieces in the collection, no doubt the collection also contains many coins of modest value. Hopefully, the ANS and the Hispanic Society will come to some agreement that at least allows such coins to stay accessible to numismatists in the ANS collections.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Archer Huntington Coins to be Sold
Sebastian Heath has reported on the upcoming sale of Archer Huntington's coins that had been on long term loan to the American Numismatic Society from the Hispanic Society. See:
http://mediterraneanceramics.blogspot.com/2008/08/whither-archer-huntingtons-coins.html
I'm sure some collectors and dealers will welcome the prospect of a large group of coins with old provenances onto the market, but as an ANS Trustee and collector that believes that deacession should be limited to sales of duplicates or items outside the interests of an institution, I find this sale to be troubling.
In particular, it's unclear to me whether the Hispanic Society really has taken all the necessary steps to get its own house in financial order before taking this precipitous step of selling off an important part of its collection.
One thing is for sure. Collections like these can't easily be purchased in today's market by institutions like the ANS. In that sense, selling off this collection is a real shame to anyone who loves museums and what they stand for.
http://mediterraneanceramics.blogspot.com/2008/08/whither-archer-huntingtons-coins.html
I'm sure some collectors and dealers will welcome the prospect of a large group of coins with old provenances onto the market, but as an ANS Trustee and collector that believes that deacession should be limited to sales of duplicates or items outside the interests of an institution, I find this sale to be troubling.
In particular, it's unclear to me whether the Hispanic Society really has taken all the necessary steps to get its own house in financial order before taking this precipitous step of selling off an important part of its collection.
One thing is for sure. Collections like these can't easily be purchased in today's market by institutions like the ANS. In that sense, selling off this collection is a real shame to anyone who loves museums and what they stand for.
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