The E-Sylum:  Volume 9, Number 6, February 5, 2006, Article 26

WHY I DON'T COLLECT CHINESE VASES

Dick Johnson writes: "The British Museum had a little boo-boo
this week. A visitor to their Fitzwilliam galleries tripped on
his shoelace, fell down a flight of stairs and ended up at the
base of a display that toppled over breaking three Chinese vases
in the process.  Oops!

The three Qing dynasty vases are not quite ancient, dating only
from the late 17th or early 18th century. Even so, they ended up
in "very small pieces" said museum officials, who further declared
"we are determined to put them back together."

The shoelaces and their occupant, it was reported, were undamaged.

Aren't you glad you collect coins, medals and tokens?  These are
noted for their longevity. Coins are still in existence after
2,500 years, medals for more than 500. No chance of broken pieces
here. And the only possibility they won't be around for another
2500 or 500 years would be the destruction of the entire earth.

Can't claim that longevity for any other art form. Statues and
even buildings of that age have nearly all crumbled or disappeared.
Coins and medals are impervious to the vicissitudes of time.

Blog readers had some rare comments about this event. Check out:
Blog

  Wayne Homren, Editor

	coinbooks.org Web

The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization 
promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org.

To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor 
at this address: whomren@coinlibrary.com

To subscribe go to: https://my.binhost.com/lists/listinfo/esylum