The E-Sylum:  Volume 3, Number 14, April 2, 2000, Article 4

NUMISMATIC LITERATURE ON-LINE 

   Due to the time, expense, and copyright issues involved, 
   relatively few numismatic texts are available in their entirety on 
   the internet.  Advertisements announcing the acquisition of the 
   numismatic firm of Bowers and Merena by Collectors Universe 
   promise that "all of the Bowers and Merena catalogs and many 
   of Dave Bowers' books will eventually be available online." 

   I doubt that this means any previous catalogs would be put 
   online, but certainly future catalogs will be.  Empire Numismatics 
   was probably the first major numismatic auctioneer to discontinue 
   printed catalogs in favor of online versions.  Several other firms 
   have very complete catalogs online, but continue to produce 
   printed versions.   What does this trend mean for numismatic 
   bibliophiles?   Is the printed word doomed?  Will libraries of 
   21st century numismatics consist largely of links to web pages? 

   Although newsgroups, bulletin boards, and chat rooms have 
   been around the internet for some time, The E-Sylum was 
   among the first, if not the first, completely edited electronic 
   periodical (the key word being "edited"). 

   The only printed copies are those made individually by 
   subscribers.  The only "volumes" are the archives on the NBS 
   web site.   So is that a good thing or not?     I'm sure some 
   of you have strong opinions on the subject - let us know what 
   you think. 

  Wayne Homren, Editor

	coinbooks.org Web

The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization 
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