Online coin and currency research tool to be established at Washington University
Newman Numismatic Portal launches in 2015

December 11, 2014

Washington University in St. Louis and the Eric P. Newman Numismatic Education Society (EPNNES) have announced plans to create the Newman NumismaticPortal, an online research tool that will become the ultimate go-to resource for the study of coins and currency. A commitment of $2 million fromEPNNES will support the project.

"I have long wanted to make the literature and images of numismatics, particularly American numismatics, available to everyone on a free andforever basis," said Eric P. Newman, president of EPNNES. "Today's digital technologies, combined with the funds recently assembled from auctions ofsome of our foundation's holdings, now make this possible."

Newman is among America's most distinguished numismatic scholars and a 1935 graduate of Washington University School of Law. He has written morethan 100 articles and several volumes on numismatic subjects, including many of the standard reference books in the field. He began collecting coinsnearly a century ago and built one of the nation's strongest private collections of U.S. and Colonial American coinage and paper money.

Newman and his wife, Evelyn, made a major gift in 2004 to establish the Newman Money Museum at the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts atWashington University.

"We are proud to be involved in the creation of the Newman Numismatic Portal, which is made possible by the generosity of EPNNES," Chancellor MarkS. Wrighton said. "The study of numismatics involves many disciplines, from art to metallurgy, economics, politics and history. Making thesesignificant scholarly resources widely accessible for the first time will elevate numismatic research to a new level."

Washington University Libraries will launch a preliminary version of the Newman Numismatic Portal in 2015. "The project will begin by digitizingEric Newman's extraordinary collection of books, periodicals and correspondence on numismatics, as well as images of coins and currency," saidJeffrey Trzeciak, university librarian. "We also are undertaking discussions with libraries, publishers, auction companies, and others in the fieldof numismatics to make the new online resource as comprehensive as possible."

Said Wayne Homren, past president of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society and editor of The E-Sylum, "I am delighted to bring my CoinLibrarynumismatic search and organization project to this effort and welcome the great boost that this commitment provides to numismatic scholarship."Anyone wishing to provide materials for inclusion in the project is encouraged to contact NNPCurator@wustl.edu.

Chris writes:

To read the complete new release, see:
http://news.wustl.edu/news/Pages/27786.aspx