| ANS Newsletter (Fall 1999): Australian Centre for Ancient Numismatic Studies and European Internet Catalogs |
A substantial private endowment has enabled Macquarie University in Sydney to establish the Australian Centre for Ancient Numismatic Studies. The objectives of the institution, apparently the first of its kind in the southern hemisphere, include continuing excellence in the study of ancient numismatics; a link to national and international research programs; facilitation of visits with other universities, museums, and similar bodies; assisting university students in the study of ancient numismatics; publishing the results of the institution’s studies and catalogues of its ancient coin collection, and presenting lectures on ancient numismatics. The institution, which anticipates appointing a director shortly, will have as a resource a numismatic library and a collection of over 2,500 Greek and Roman coins as well as the university's existing collection.
The trend of major auction houses to put their catalogues on the Internet has reached Europe. A number of commercial firms have taken to offering excellent quality digital images of their sale offerings. While presently this is still a complement to and not a substitute for traditional catalogues, the trend may eventually put the economic viability of the latter in question. That in turn would raise difficult questions both for collectors of numismatic literature, for whom such catalogues have long been a staple, and for scholars, who can more readily use “hard copy.” G. Jonathan Greenwald Jonandgaby@cs.com