Dr. Cximpaiettc ... is said to ii.ivc bcrii '4i(\iti\ cdii- 

 ceriicd . . . about the apparent deterioration of the eondilioii 

 of the eoiiis in the colleetion. The cause ol lliis . , . was 

 beheved to be due to an atmospheric condition . . on 1 lie 

 M.dl in Washini^ton, all Mich conditions will lie leinoved 



The editorial concludes that the closini; ol' the 

 mints to \'isitors "is to be regretted more than the 

 transfer of the collection from one cit\- to another." 



Concerned about the protests from I'hiladclphia, 

 which multiplied during the month of April, Helote 

 tried to obtain the active support of liie national 

 numismatic organizations. 



He visited New York where he had a series of 

 meetings on May 7 and 8 with Edward T. Newell, 

 President of the American Numismatic Society, 

 Moritz Wormser, President of the American Numis- 

 matic Association, and Howland Wood, C'.urator of 

 the American Numismatic Society's collections. He 

 obtained assurances that efforts would be made to 

 ha\'e resolutions passed b\- the executive bodies of 

 the two societies for presentation to the Secretar)- of 

 the Treasury recommending the proposed transfer 

 without delay. 



As a result of these conferences, the C^ouncil of the 

 American Nitmismatic Society passed a resolution 

 favoring the transfer of the Mint collection to the 

 Smithsonian, and on May 15 a letter to that effect 

 was sent to the Secretary of the Treasury "'' Howland 

 Wood reported to Belote that: "Our C!ouncil passed 

 a Resolution to write to Secretary Mellon favoring 

 the transfer of the Mint collection to Washington, and 

 a letter was sent to that effect on Saturday last. 

 Also, the N.Y. Numismatic Club on Friday evening 

 passed a similar Resolution. It looks now fairly 

 favorable for the National Museum's getting it." 



Similar action was taken by the New York Numi.s- 

 matic Club upon motion brought by Moritz Wormser 

 at its May meeting. After obtaining the unanimous sup- 

 port of the board of governors of the American Numis- 

 matic Association as well, Wormser wrote on Ma>' 

 1 4 to Andrew Mellon : 



(Jur As.sociation has noted, with great interest. news|)aper 

 reports stating that the Coin Clollcction. heretoloic on e\hi- 

 lion to the public and in charge of your Dep.niineiii .it 

 the Philadelphia Mint, is about to be transfeired to the 

 custody of the National .Museum in Washington. 



\eedlc-.v to s,iv, our .\ssoci.ition is vit.ilK iiU'Te^tril m 

 this collei tion. ,iiid its ulliin.ile disjiosiiion. .nul we belirvr 

 that if ti.msferrcd to (he Nation. il .\Iuveiim. the t:olleaion 

 will serve a far niiMlei usehilncss ili.in .il the I'liiladi'lphi.i 

 .Mint. We .ire coiniiiced tli.it .it the .N.ition.il .Museum in 

 \\ashini;toii. it would be used to the best .idv.iiil.i^e for 

 scieritilu .md ediu .iiion.tl purposes. ( ()-oi(hn.Ued with the 

 splendid Collections in otiiei bi. inches of ,iit .ind siieiuc 

 wliiih .lie thr-ie di^pl.ucd. ih.it il could loim tlie nucleus 

 ol a l.iri^e n.ition.il collei linii. piopeiK linused, displ.ived, 

 .iccessible ,it all times lo .i w idei piiblii li om .ill p.ii l^ of our 

 t^ountiv. inde.\ed .md ullim.iIeK imie.isrd b\ propei 

 a|.ipropriatioii to .i si/e in keepint; with its import. nice .md 

 with collections owned b\ othei ( iovei iimcnts less wealthy 

 and powriiiil th.in outs. 



Our .\ssociation. thionyli the pio|ier ai lion of out I5o.n d 

 of Clovernors. 1.)cl;s to yo uii ircoid .is he.iitiK in f.i\or of 

 the proposed ti.msiei of the Collciliou to ilir .N.ition.il 

 Museum and we ho|ie .md e.irnesiK ui^e tli.il \our Dep.irt- 

 ment will ellect the tr.msfci of the (iolleition to ilic .N.ition.il 

 .Museum, as indie. ited in these new ■.p.i|)er lepori^ 



In short sequence, .Secretary Walcott informed 

 .Mellon on May 16 that "the National Museum has 

 entirely perfected its plans for the acceptance and 

 approjjriate installation of the numismatic collection 

 from the L'nitcd States Mint" and asked whether the 

 Secretary of the Treasury could advise him "of the 

 e.xact time when the transfer . . . will lie com- 

 pleted." ""' .XctualK', all arrangements for the trans- 

 portation of the collection were completed without 

 further delay, and on .May 28, Ravenel was informed 

 that: 



.\t the iei|iiest of the Diicctoiol I he .Mint, we are sendini; 

 to \(iu today 23 cases i onl.iininL; the niimiMu.itic collec tion 

 of this Mint. 



I am enclosini; herewith receipts prep.iicd in liiplicale 

 w Inch I would tli.mk \ou to si^n. returning lo me the oi it;iiial 

 .md diiplii ate i opies. 



I heie .lie some ( h.uiyes in the unmbeis as loiiiid b\ \oui 

 rcpiescnt.itive due to misioimt in ,i lew inst.iiues .md .iddi- 

 lion.il coins tli.il he did not see. discoveied bv us when ,ill 

 cases were emptied. .\s noted in the K'ceipt. wc li.ive 

 returned to Joseph K, D.ividson's Sons ined.iK lo.ined by 

 llieni lo the Mini, dem.ind loi which w.is in.ide b\ tlHin. 



KespeclhilK 

 M II Ch.illin 

 .Sujiei intendent. 

 I reasury Dep.irtment 



"' H. Wood's communication to T. T. Helote uf May 1 ')- 

 Letter in United States National Museum file No. 70 1 CI. 

 This flic has been recently consolidated to contain all pertinent 

 information on the Mint collection transfer. 



Carbon copy in CSNM file No. 711 li'i 



P.\PF.R 31 : HISTORY OF TIIK N.NTIoNAI. NUMISM.ATIC (^Ol.M'.CTIONS 



95 



