There has never been a better time to be a numismatic researcher, thanks to the growing presence of classic numismatic literature made available online.

As senior editor Paul Gilkes reports on page 4 this week, the Newman Numismatic Portal is now open to the public, with a growing number of classic books, auction catalogs, government reports and more now accessible online at no cost. The concept is being "funded by the Eric P. Newman Numismatic Education Society and administered through Washington University in St. Louis. The focus of the portal is to provide the most comprehensive numismatic research tool available online," Paul reports.

If you didn't know Eric Newman, father of the project, you might think that a 104-yearold man would be the last person who would champion an Internet resource. We all have older relatives (like my own mother) who have never gone online or used a computer, so it wouldn't be a surprise that a man born before the opening of World War I might not embrace the digital age. But Eric Newman has, and we all benefit.

The Newman Numismatic Portal is one of the most significant contributions to the hobby in years and has the potential to be one of the most important tools any numismatists could access. It will offer casual collectors, advanced researchers, and historians from outside the numismatic community an immense treasure trove of research materials. Here is a list of titles already available to read (for free): A Manual of Gold and Silver Coins of all Nations by Jacob Reese Eckfeldt; Illustrated History of the United States Mint by George Greenlief Evans; Dates of United States Coins and their Degree of Rarity by Joseph Jacob Mickley; Guide to the numismatic collection of the Mint of the United States at Philadelphia, Pa. by Thomas Louis Comparette; and Rare American coins: their description, and past and present fictitious values by E. Locke Mason.

I think it is safe to say that most numismatists love books and auction catalogs and original manuscripts, but until now, access to major works was often limited. That's no longer true. The Newman Numismatic Portal is continually adding content, including auction catalogs, other 19th and 20th century books and much more. Every collector should bookmark the page in his or her online browser (right next to your bookmark for www. coinworld.com) and make it a regular stop during your day's online reading experience

To read the complete Paul Gilkes article, see:
Newman Numismatic Portal now open to public to conduct research (www.coinworld.com/news/us-coins/2016/03/newman-numismatic-portal- for-research-goes-public.html)

To visit the Newman Numismatic Portal, see:
www.newmanportal.org