"I read with interest the various comments regarding the binding of periodicals. Although I agree with George Kolbe that binding rarely pays in an absolute sense, I wonder if we are being short sighted in viewing this on only a return on investment proposition.

Perhaps, a longer or different view should be taken. I wonder how many complete copies of the Numismatist would exist, if none had ever been bound? I think one could argue that many of the existing copies would have been carelessly thrown away by relatives who did not recognize the value of this little known periodical. By binding these issues in volumes, the series takes on the value of something that appears to be of greater value than just an individual issue might have to the non-numismatist. I think it could be argued that the very act of binding imbues these periodicals with a greater value than they might ordinarily appear to have."