The E-Sylum:  Volume 10, Number 22, June 3, 2007, Article 21

RESEARCHER NOTES GAPS IN INSTITUTIONAL NUMISMATIC PERIODICAL HOLDINGS

John Meissner writes: "The early "Numismatic News", "Coin World" and
"Numismatic Scrapbook" issues are invaluable for tracing the history
of coin clubs, personalities, etc.  I have been talking with a number
of people at the ANA about the fact that every time I need to find a
back issue of a publication, regardless of the series, I find gaps.
This would suggest, since I am taking a random sampling depending on
what I'm researching, that many of their holdings are not complete
runs, which I find extremely troubling.

"Just as an example, yesterday while I was at the ANA I found that
they were missing the Spring 1991 issue of "FUN Topics" from the Florida
United Numismatists.  Doubtless they are missing others in this series
- this happened to be the one I needed.  Not too many people will get up
in arms about a missing "FUN Topics", but I think that some people will
recognize the problem if an entire issue of the Numismatic News cannot
be found at either the ANA or the ANS, and that the headquarters for
that publication has an incomplete issue (which proves that it exists).

"My biggest beef is that the ANA is missing complete years of issues of
Coin World, but I think the best way to point out this problem and to
make people drop what they are doing and agree that it is a problem is
to highlight one particular issue that appears to be lost.

"I am willing to fill in these gaps at the ANA where I can, and have
done so, for example, by contacting the Society of United States
Commemorative Collectors.  The ANA was missing the earliest issues,
which are the most important ones.

"Another thing that I found yesterday is that the ANA that isn't complete
on the population reports/census reports from PCGS and NGC (missing a
number of early issues in both cases).  Neither PCGS or NGC said there
was much they could do about it.  I wonder if either company has archived
complete sets of these reports, or if anyone would have a complete run
that photocopies could be made from.

"Most recently I have been trying to locate the 9 November 1964 issue
of Numismatic News and came up empty at the ANA, ANS and Numismatic News
itself.  If this issue is not on microfilm and no one has bothered to
save a hard copy, then it is lost, especially if the people at Numismatic
News don't care about completeness.  This Numismatic News publication is
from only 40 years ago, for gosh sakes, and they probably printed up
50,000 copies at the time.  Are they all gone?

[Gaps are a perennial problem for numismatic libraries.  It's a tall
order to collect one of each single issue.  Institutions often must rely
on the whims and resources of donors to build up and maintain their
collections.  I'm sure some E-Sylum readers would be willing to help
fill in the gaps once they know what's needed.  In the past we have had
pleas for certain issues from the ANS library, for example.  If
librarians or researchers are aware of such gaps, pleas make them know
to our readers.  -Editor]

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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