The E-Sylum:  Volume 6, Number 15, April 13, 2003, Article 11

COLLECTION INVENTORIES

  In the Colonial Coin Collectors Club email forum, Ray
  Williams recently wrote:   "To all my colonial friends:
  I've discussed with C4 members the possibility of preserving
  coin collection inventories in libraries.  I find it a shame that
  we can't go to the library and look at the collection inventories
  of the great early collectors Crosby, Maris, Mickley, Parmelee,
  etc...  We've lost a lot of pedigree information which is of now
  of importance to all of us.   Even in a more modern scenario,
  where did Spiro get his coins from?

  When the time comes and our collections are dispersed, what
  will happen to the information about how our collections were
  assembled?  If we keep good records about our collections,
  and most of us do, I suggest that you make arrangements to
  have your inventories and ledgers deposited at either the C4
  Library or the ANS Library.  This way, future collectors will
  be able to have access and keep pedigree chains intact.  I
  hope that Mike Hodder will do what he can to preserve John
  Ford's papers at ANS.   I believe that the Garrett Collection
  papers are already at the ANS.

  We often think to ourselves, "I'm not a Garrett or a Ford.
  My coins are not world class examples.  I'm no one that
  anyone will remember."   IT DOESN'T MATTER!  For
  the collector 100 years from now, he'd be thrilled just to
  know that an electronic technician, a baker or a stone
  mason owned the coin.   If I discovered the name of a
  previous owner of one of my coins, I'd do what I could to
  learn about him.  I would be thrilled to have a coin owned
  by a farmer from the 1800's!

  What can you do for the good of the hobby?  If your
  inventory is kept in a computer, print a hard copy at least
  yearly and keep it with the coins in the safe deposit box.
  If you have a digital camera, photograph your coins and
  keep the photos with the inventory.   Place a large note
  on the front cover of your papers where to send them if
  someone is dispersing your collection.  That's all it takes.
  Take good notes and include as much info about each
  coin as possible.

  There are some of you out there that have disposed of
  sections of your collections already, and are pursuing
  something else.  Please send the librarian a copy of your
  inventory papers.  There are a number of collections that
  have gone to auction and the collectors are still with us.
  Harry Rescigno (Saccone), Henry Garrett ( Spring
  Quartette), Russ Smith (March Sale) are just a few
  examples of dozens that could probably still help by
  donating a copy of their collection inventories.

  If anyone wants a sample of my inventory, I'm going to get
  a copy of it to the C4 Librarian this month, and you can ask
  Leo to send you a copy of a page.  You can use it as a guide
  and modify the format for your purposes."

  [Ray's suggestion is a good one for bibliophiles, too.
   Wouldn't it be interesting to have an inventory of the
  libraries of the great early collectors?   We U.S. bibliophiles
  are lucky to at least have catalogs of the libraries of folks
  like Ted Craig, Armand Champa, Harry Bass and others.
  And soon we may have a catalog of the Ford library as
  well.   Tom Fort has posted a copy of his detailed library
  inventory on the NBS web site.   If I had an inventory I'd
  probably do the same, but unfortunately I don't have one.
  Who else even HAS an inventory of their libraries? -Editor]

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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