The E-Sylum:  Volume 9, Number 22, May 28, 2006, Article 10

STATUS REPORT ON NUMISMATICS TAUGHT IN COLLEGES

Dick Johnson writes: "I first met Larry Lee at the week-long
board meeting of the Gallery Mint Museum last September. I had
the pleasure, along with other board members, of selecting him
as the top candidate for the position of director of the new
museum of engraving and minting to be built in Eureka Springs,
Arkansas.

I knew of Larry's previous positions as director of ANA's money
museum in Colorado Springs and curator of the Byron Reed Collection
in Omaha, but I was unaware of his activities as an educator. He
wants numismatics to be taught in colleges and universities on a
level unlike before. He is looking for a sponsor for just such a
textbook he wants to write to accomplish this. In fact, he wrote
his PhD dissertation on a comprehensive analysis of numismatic
education in America over the last 150 years, "Measuring Numismatic
Education at the Post-Secondary Level."

As part of his dissertation he compiled lists of:  146 American
museums with numismatic holdings -- irrespective of whether or not
they were affiliated with an educational institution --141 colleges
and universities with numismatic holdings, 114 institutions that
have sold a portion of their numismatic holdings, and 178 numismatic
events in conjunction with colleges and universities (like exhibits
or publications).

Some of his findings are astounding. Bottom line:  American
numismatics as an academic discipline has declined in the last
century and a half as a historical discipline comparable to
archaeology or geology. He calls this a "fall from grace" among
American colleges and universities.

Lee was restricted in writing this dissertation. It had to meet
Both academic standards for the PhD fulfillment plus professional
Museum standards in what constitutes a museum collection. In addition
he had to have an extensive numismatic knowledge. Yet, I found this
wasn't a dry dissertation. His research was extensive, well organized
and written, it was, indeed, easy to read.

He is making the dissertation available in either digital (at $20),
hard-copy format (at $29), or microfilm (at $50) all postpaid.
Additional ordering information is at numuserv.com; click on
"dissertation."

You can address him now as "Dr. Lawrence J. Lee," he got his PhD
this last semester at the University of Nebraska. Contact him at
Numismatic Museum Services, P.O. Box 6194, Lincoln, NE  68506;
telephone 402-488-2626, or via e-mail at lee@athena.csdco.com"

[Congratulations to Dr. Lee, a longtime E-Sylum subscriber!
-Editor]

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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