Check List. An early step of cataloging, a list of numismatic objects intended to be identified, described, cataloged and ultimately published. A check list is a working list to which additional like items may be added. The numismatist will include items he learns of (but has not yet seen). As a working list it is also a shopping list or reminder for

the numismatist to acquire or examine these items in other collections. He may or may not publish it in checklist form for other numismatists to assist in adding to the list.

Check lists are compiled concurrently with the authentication and classification of specimens in the cataloging process. It aids immensely in arranging the logical order of specimens, as these can be easily rearranged before a numbering system is established. See cataloging.

A rare example of a check list published after the collection had been cataloged occurred in 1951 at the National Gallery of Art of the Smithsonian Institution. They had acquired the Gustafus Dreyfus collection (from Paris) in 1948. It contained bronzes, statues, reliefs in addition to coins, medals and plaquettes. The later had been cataloged twice before, including G.F. Hill in 1931 (in England). But the purpose of National Gallery's check list was to have a reference work for American viewers and numismatists. The ultimate catalog of the coins, medals and plaques forming this collection – this time compiled by Graham Pollard – was published in 1967.

Reference:

xx {1951} National Gallery of Art. Renaissance Bronzes, Statuettes, Reliefs, and Plaquettes, Medals and Coins from the Kress Collection.

O17 {1967} National Gallery of Art (the Kress collection catalog).