Mint Archives and History: the Value of the Evidence
Mike Marotta
Marotta (ANA 1162953)
I hate to argue with either Robert W. Julian. However, there is a
fine point to be beaten to death and beyond here on RCC.
In the topic on "Illegality in Numismatics" Michael Benveniste pointed
to an ANS publication, "Treasures from the Archives" Robert W. Julians
Grove Forum speech from 2002. In that address, Julian said:
"At this point it is only fair to note that some documents ought to be
thrown away, as they would simply clog the archival space for
generations to come and would never be consulted. For example, does
anyone really care that employee X was off on January 23, 1900,
because of a common cold? Such information has no bearing on the
history of coins or medals struck at the Mints and should be
discarded. In similar vein, should we keep the records showing each
and every person who purchased mint or proof sets in the past half
century?"
When he was with the ANA, Robert Hoge (now with the ANS) told me that
he hates to see coins cleaned because dirt is evidence. It might seem
silly, even to collectors who are obsessive or compulsive (or both)
about details. The point is, though, that we never know what will
prove important later. A hundred years ago, few Americans collected
coins by Mint mark: P, D, O, C or S, it was all the same. Many of the
widely accepted and reproduced estimates of mintage in The Red Book
came from painstaking research by Walter Breen. Breen read the Mint
Director reports and reasoned back to the empirical evidence from
incomplete or incorrect statements. For just one example, right now,
the Mint is striking next year's coins. Do those tallies go under
2008 or 2009?
On the matter of who had a cold or did not, it might seem trivial.
However, when I wrote about The Peace Dollar for the ANA, I discovered
that there was no convention in 1918. In a packet of photocopies that
I had requested from the ANA Library for that was another short
article about ANA conventions. The writer -- this was about 1965, as
I recall -- seemed puzzled that the annual convention scheduled for
Philadelphia was cancelled "apparently because some people had the
flu." Mint records on employee requests for time off are after all
just that: records. There was a time when archival storage space was
limited. Now, much can be scanned -- via a compressed format, if
necessary -- and stored on in or via other media.
The Library of Congress provides access to records of the early
American government -- from the Continential Congress, then under
first the Articles, then the present Constitution. The early minutes
of those Bodies were not verbatim. Unlike the modern Congressional
Record, the early Republic was recorded more like your own student
council or local historical society or coin club. In addition to the
official records, there were two private reports, Elliott's Debates
and Farrand's Records. Letters, newspaper accounts -- never intended
to be objective and often did not even pretend to be factual -- and
other ephemra can reveal facts not in the official records.
You never know what will be evidence. My advice is to keep
everything.
Mike M.
"Writing for the Readers of the Future"
Richard L. Hall
"Mike Marotta" <mer...@torchlake.com> wrote in message
news:8c0af39b-f408-49e9...@a26g2000prf.googlegroups.com...
>
> On the matter of who had a cold or did not, it might seem trivial.
> However, when I wrote about The Peace Dollar for the ANA, I discovered
> that there was no convention in 1918. In a packet of photocopies that
> I had requested from the ANA Library for that was another short
> article about ANA conventions. The writer -- this was about 1965, as
> I recall -- seemed puzzled that the annual convention scheduled for
> Philadelphia was cancelled "apparently because some people had the
> flu." Mint records on employee requests for time off are after all
> just that: records. There was a time when archival storage space was
> limited. Now, much can be scanned -- via a compressed format, if
> necessary -- and stored on in or via other media.
>
couple of people had the flu. There was a worldwide pandemic of influenza
in 1918-1919.
http://virus.stanford.edu/uda/
Estimates are that worldwide, between 20 million and 40 million people died
including about 675,000 Americans. A convention that year could well have
wiped out the numismatic community in the United States.
As for records, I think all records should be kept. You never know how
important a particular record might be to someone. Even records about
people having the flu may have some historical significance.
--
Richard
My coin Links:
http://coins.richlh.com/MyCoinLinks.htm
The happiest people don't have the best of everything - they just make the
best of everything they have