I imagine most readers of The E-Sylum have been following the misfortunes of F+W Media, the parent company of Krause Publications. Withmost of the editorial talent having already retired and recent reports of impending layoffs, the future doesn't look good for some long-runningnumismatic periodicals. Though this is bad news for the hobby in a general sense, there may be something of a silver lining to it.

I visit the Newman Numismatic Portal frequently, and I'm always frustrated that my searches turn up page after page of "Restricted"articles from commercial publications. There is an immense amount of valuable research material within the back issues of Coin World,Numismatic News, Numismatic Scrapbook Magazine, Coins Magazine, etc. The publishers of these periodicals are loathe to give awayfor free material that could be scanned and put online for a subscription fee, but what is the likelihood of that ever happening? In a time whenstaffs and budgets are shrinking, how can these publications commit resources to scanning tens of thousands of pages? It's unlikely that therewould be enough paid subscribers to justify this use of resources, so these back issues remain as inaccessible as they were before the internet.

If KP does go out of business or simply suspends its numismatic publications, there may no longer be an impediment to putting its severaltitles online. Even if the company does not have complete hard copy files of all issues, there are people in the hobby who are willing and able tofill in the gaps. The NNP staff is capable of performing the scanning, so there's little cost to the publisher beyond letting go of its mythicalrevenue stream. All that is needed is permission from F+W/KP to put the material online. While the KP drama is still playing out, this remains atantalizing prospect.

As for the other commercial publishers who are holding onto their back files as potential sources of revenue, they must ask themselves whetherthey will ever be in a position to provide the manpower and other resources to make this a reality. As the field of numismatic journalism continuesto evolve, I believe that is ever more unlikely.

At the time, Brett Charville, president of PCGS, commented:

NNP Project Coordinator Len Augsburger adds:

To read earlier E-Sylum articles, see:
NNP ADDS BOWERS & MERENA AUCTION CATALOGS(https://www.coinbooks.org/v22/esylum_v22n07a06.html)
KRAUSE PUBLICATIONS PARENT FILES FOR BANKRUPTCY(https://www.coinbooks.org/v22/esylum_v22n11a07.html)
F+W MEDIA MAY LAY OFF 66 AT KRAUSE PUBLICATIONS(https://www.coinbooks.org/v22/esylum_v22n15a21.html)