NEW DEVELOPMENTS, 1923-1948 



No special curator of numismatics was appointed 

 after the transfer in 1923 of the Mint collection to the 

 Smithsonian, and Theodore T. Belote, curator of the 

 Division of History, remained in charge of the collec- 

 tions until 1948. They continued to increase — mainh' 

 through donations — from 40,285 pieces in 1924 to 

 45,802 in 1933, and by 1948 to 54,175 pieces. 



Curator Belote noticed during the Depression the 

 development of various forms of scrip and initiated 

 an intense correspondence in an attempt to secure 

 for the national collections examples of \arious local 

 emergency issues. In many instances the response was 

 prompt and it was thus possible to assemble 2bfj 

 specimens issued from 1931 to 1933 by banks, business 

 firms, municipalities, and other organizations in the 

 United States. 



.Among the more important additions of medallic 

 material received during the 25-year period 1923-1948 

 was a collection of nearly 300 medals and plaqucttes 

 assembled by the eminent American author and 

 diplomat Brand Whitlock. Also during this period the 



American Numismatic Association loan collection 

 was installed at the Smithsonian. 



In the early twenties Moritz VVormser (fig. 68) con- 

 ceived and promoted the idea of a display at the Smith- 

 sonian to be sponsored by the American Numismatic 

 Association, of which he was president (1921-1926). 

 The idea originated at the A.N. A. national convention 

 in 1 922 when Wormser delivered an address aiming 

 to set forth the historical \alue and importance of 

 numismatics. He made an impassioned plea for the 

 recognition and de\elopment of numismatics through 

 governmental support of the national collections and 

 through the inclusion of the study of numismatics in 

 university education. His well-documented address, a 

 product of thorough study of the situation in foreign 

 countries, was widely circulated as a special Ifj-page 

 pamphlet. Wormser sent the pamphlet with a personal 

 letter to, among others, .A. Howard Clark, secretary 

 of the .\merican Historical Association and for many 

 vears a ranking official of the Smithsonian Institution, 

 and Theodore T. Belote. A close and rewarding co- 





Fig. 9. — View of the Numismatic Display at the United .States Mint in Philadelphia, 1885. 

 (From A. M. Smith, Visitor's Guide and History of the United States Mint, 1885). 



\2 



BULLETIN 229: CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THK MUSEUM OF HISTORY .AND TECHNOLOGY 



