Almost a year ago I posted a request for help with a new numismatic research website. Coin Project is now open to the public at http://coinproject.com as a public beta.

The project is a data-driven web site developed by professional programmers with the support of over 100 volunteer numismatists, many of them the best in their fields. The result is an easily updatable, expandable and searchable resource that already contains nearly 40,000 coin records (with an additional 300,000+ pending). Refining and standardizing issuers, regions and cities for each type is a high priority; the site will have the most comprehensive and accurate set of these classifications to be found anywhere.

As a not-for-profit collaborative effort, Coin Project will rely on financial support by selling banner advertising and private donations. Coin Project will never charge a fee to use any of its resources. Strategic guidance is provided by a board of advisors with day-to-day management decisions made by a project executive.

There is still much work to be done, such as the editing and approving of a huge number of pending submissions from individuals, major institutions and commercial sources. For this work we require more volunteers and, now that the site is maturing, is a good time for new volunteers to join and contribute.

Please visit the website at http://coinproject.com and give us your comments. If you feel you can contribute some time toward processing the images and data, let me know and I'll arrange credentials and provide you with more details on the inner workings of the project.