REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR I913 107 



VIII 



REPORT ON THE COLLECTION OF COINS, MEDALS 

 AND PAPER MONEY 



These collections, by action of the Regents, were transferred to 

 the custody of the State Museum after the Capitol fire, and the 

 following is a report on their present condition. 



Catalog of 1856. The only existing record of this collection was 

 issued by the State Library for the year 1856 (dated 1857). I n 

 this catalog the numerical contents of the collection are stated as 

 follows: coins (all metals), 1697; medals, 234; paper money, 320. 



Fire losses from the collection of 1856. A checking of the 

 record of 1856 by an expert numismatist shows that of the materials 

 above listed the following are the losses : coins, 897 ; medals, 197 ; 

 paper money, all. The losses therefore were, for the coins over 

 50 per cent ; medals, about 80 per cent ; paper money, 100 per cent. 



Coins not in the catalog of 1856. In the salvage from the fire 

 there are, not recorded in the catalog of 1856, 2376 coins and 57 

 medals. The total number of coins and medals in the salvage is 

 3270. 



General condition of the coin collection. The condition of this 

 collection is bad. With the exception of a very few articles in 

 gold which have been on deposit in the National Commercial Bank, 

 Albany, since 1881, nearly every specimen has suffered, and the 

 majority of them irreparably. This has been due in the first in- 

 stance to oxidation and discoloration in fire, aggravated by im- 

 proper treatment of much of the material when first rescued. 



Value of this collection. On an expert estimate of the face 

 value of all the coins and the market value of all United States 

 coins, it appears that the face value of the entire collection is ap- 

 proximately $725 ; that the market value of the American coins of 

 all metals is $499. 



General character of the collection. This collection is com- 

 posed of a small number of gold coins and medals of considerable 

 worth, most of them of American coinage, but some of other 

 countries; a large number of silver coins in rather bad condition, 

 and a very great majority of copper coins from all countries of the 

 world and of very little worth. The value of the collection (such 

 as it is) lies in its United States coins and medals, very few of 

 which are of superior quality or great rarity. These total about 

 1500. 



