medals, plaquettcs, and original models dating from 

 1889 to 1920 desicjned by the noted American 

 medallist Victor David Brenner, as well as a selec- 

 tion of medals illustrating twenty years of modern 

 medallic art in the United States. 



\ational ,\'umismatic Convention at Boston, August 

 24-27, I960." Die-sinking techniques at the United 

 States Mint during ihe early 19th century; United 



States patterns; and Peter the Great's life and 

 military exploits as illustrated on 18th-century medals. 



Lincoln Museum at Washington, D.C., spring 1961. 

 The history of the Medal of Honor. 



Hancock County Centennial Exhibition at W'eirton, 

 West Virginia, March 1963, on the occasion of the 

 West \'irginia Centennial Celebration. Coins, paper 

 money, and tokens used in West Virginia in 1863. 



CARE OF THE COLLECTIONS 



Equally as important for museum purposes as the 

 acquisition and exhibition of numismatic specimens 

 is the care and maintenance of these specimens, which 

 includes not only their proper handling and conserva- 

 tion, but frequently also involved and difficult 

 problems of restoration and technical examination 

 and analysis. 



Little is known about the care of coins and medals 

 in the early years of the national collections except 

 that no guiding policies are apparent and the practice 

 was largely a matter of the attitude of the individual 

 to whose care the specimens happened to be entrusted. 

 The earliest e\idencc of any systematic approach to 

 the problem appears in the work of Theodore T. 

 Belote in preparing a reorganization of the exhibits in 

 1914. At that time he saw to the cleaning of every 

 coin and medal to be displayed, but even of this no 

 details are given as to the methods he employed. 

 We do know, howexer, that the storage of the reference 

 collections posed .serious problems for him, and 

 Belote decided to arrange them in alphabetical order 

 according to the donors and lenders. He dedicated a 

 considerable amount of time to this task which was 

 completed in 1916.'- 



'""^z::. 



Fig. 45. — LNiquE Pattern in Gold of double 

 eagle, 1906. Designed by Charles E. Barber. 



Over the next two decades the lack of a numismatist 

 and a trained staff, an ever-increasing workload, and 

 general neglect of the hall led to continuing deteriora- 

 tion of the coins and medals on display as well as in the 

 reference collections. There is a report that mentions 

 the cleaning of the silver coins in 1937,'' but the 

 situation became so intolerable by 1948 that the 

 .American Numismatic .Association appointed a com- 

 mittee to consult with Museum oflicials on the proper 

 preservation and display of the national coin 

 collection."' 



Fig. 46. EXPERIMENT.\L DoUBLE Eagle. 1907, 



by .Augustus .Saint-Gaudens, struck on 10-dol- 

 lar size planchet. The only two surviving spec- 

 imens are in the Smithsonian. 



The committee met in July at the Museum and there 

 achieved full cooperation and a complete agreement 

 on remedies. Dr. William Blum, of the Electrodeposi- 

 tion Section of the National Bureau of Standards, and 

 his assistants conducted research to find the easiest 

 and safest methods for removing dirt and tarnish 

 from the surface of silver coins and the best inethod for 

 protecting all the numismatic items.'^ 



" US.\M Rfporl, 1961, p. 32. 

 " US.\'.\t Report, \9\-y p. ,33; 



1916, p. 26. 



"3 US.X.M Report. 1938, p. 74. 



" Considerable material concerning the committee and results 

 of its activity has been consolidated in a file entitled "William 

 Guild and Stuart Moshcr" and consists of the old United 

 .States National Museum file numbers 17j 877, 176 221, 

 182 106. The file consists of correspondence and memoranda 

 from May 14, 1947, through January 28, 1949. 



»> USMM Report. 1948, p. 79. 



28 



BULLETIN 229: CONTRIBl'TIONS FRO.M TllK .MUSEUM OK HISTORY .AND TECHNOLOGY 



