The Collectors

C14　—　Chain of people

The people who collected them also have a story. Rulers, scholars, anonymous hoarders, and modern connoisseurs—this is a chain that traces the act of collecting from the human side.

Supervised by: Mitsuru Hayama　／　Reading time (main text): About 6 min (3,086 characters of text at 500 chars/min; exercises and readings not included)　／　Beyond the text: 6 exercises · 2 coins · 8 readings · 2 references

What this course teaches you to do

• Can narrate the lineage of collectors in three lines: rulers, scholars, and anonymous hoarders.
• Can explain the error of "the polished hand" as a change in the standards of the era.
• Can explain that extant ancient coins are the product of a "chain of transmission".
• Can state specifically the responsibilities of the modern collector (recording, provenance, publication).

Lessons (6)

1. The Hand That Set the Value — Collecting by the PowerfulNobunaga's 'famous object hunt' was the ultimate example of the collector also serving as the guarantor of value.
2. The Hand That Counted, The Hand That Re-read — Figuerola and HamiltonThe minister who counted for reform, and the scholar who compiled ledgers four hundred years later. Academic collection is a two-stage process.
3. Hands That Left No Name — The People Who BuriedThe greatest contributors to the collection left behind neither name nor motive. The sum of these anonymous hands is the foundation of the discipline.
4. The Polished Hand — A History of Well-Intentioned DestructionThe EID MAR was polished by the hand of a coin dealer. What was then an act of goodwill is, by today's standards, a destruction of information.
5. A 2400-year chain of custody — the miracle of survivalA coin by Euainetos exists today because countless hands passed it down. Its survival is the product of a chain.
6. The Next Link — The Responsibility of the Modern CollectorRecord, continue the provenance, and someday part with it. The collector is not an owner, but a temporary custodian of a chain.

Readings (8)

• Nobunaga　Japan　the 1570s–1582　Azuchi and Kyoto
  Section 1. A record of a hand that served three roles.
• The price revolution　Spain　1503–1660　Seville, the archive of the official register
  Section 2. Re-examining the work of the hand. The second part of a two-stage structure.
• The landing of Rome　Britain　AD 60–61　A provincial town burned
  Section 3. Turmoil and hoarding—the background of the hand that left no name.
• A biography in a single coin　Overview: 2,700 years of the world　the modern age　Discovery and Provenance
  Sections 4 & 5. A record of the chain of hands it passed through, including those that polished it.
• Syracuse　Overview: 2,700 years of the world　the present　Face to Face, 2,400 Years On
  Section 5. The miracle of its survival for two thousand four hundred years.
• In the Name of a Dead King　Greece　c. 323–65 BC　The British Museum Catalogue
  This is an example of collecting work taking the form of a scholar's catalogue. Please note the disproportion between the years the king was on the throne and the approximately 4,100 coin types bearing his name.
• Emperor and Republic　Mexico　1821–1824　Mexico City Mint
  This passage defines what a rarity is from the collector's perspective. Please read to understand why the eagle's neck—which varied in the engraving workshop despite an edict—came to be sought after by later generations.
• When small change vanished　Italy　the mid-1970s　The till of a bar
  This is an account of how the act of collecting contributed to the disappearance of small change from circulation. The hoarding by collectors is only one of the explanations offered, and the text states that it is impossible to know which factor had what degree of effect—please read the passage, including this disclaimer.

Assessment

6 exercises in this course (3 check, 1 compare, 2 written). Progress is recorded by self-assessment.

References

• MANTIS — ANS collection database — American Numismatic Society　The American Numismatic Society's collection database (based on Numishare). Allows searching by mint, hoard, and findspot, with visualization on maps and charts.
• About the American Numismatic Society — American Numismatic Society　A numismatic society founded in 1858. A self-description of its collection, library, and publication system.

Only works and primary sources whose existence has been verified are listed.