http://coinarchaeology.blogspot.com/2009/01/disaster-in-germany-royal-collection\
-of.html


The following message was forwarded to me by a French colleague:

"Disaster in Germany: The Royal Collection of Hannover for sale !!!

In 1983 the coin collection of the Kings of Hannover was bought by
the Deutsche Bank, who now plans to sell it to a coin dealer. The
"Niedersächsisches Münzkabinett der Deutschen Bank" is one the most
important feudal collections in Germany
and one of the 25 most important collections in Europe. It was
managed in close cooperation with the "Landesmuseum Hannover"and
became one of the important numismatic institutions in Europe. It is
well known for its exhibitions and
publications. The head of the coin cabinet, Dr. Reiner Cunz, is
chairman of the German Numismatic Commission, vice president of the
International Committee of Money and Banking Museums ICOMON, board
member of the German Numismatic
Society, member of the Brunswik Academy of Sciences and other
academic societies.

A wave with letters of solidarity was sent to leading politicians
in Germany, such as Prime Minister Christian Wulff (Hannover) and
Bundeskulturminister Bernd Neumann (Berlin) and to the CEO of the
Deutsche Bank, Josef Ackermann (Frankfurt)."

This is truly disturbing news. Several museum collections are
currently being sold off on account of the recession and have been in
the news recently, stirring much controversy. These decisions are
often made by administrators and businessmen who are only concerned
about the bottom line and willing to cut things like art collections,
academic programs, and research positions.

The sale of this important numismatic collection would be a great loss
to numismatic scholarship. It should not be simply be divided up among
bidders. I encourage all readers to send letters to those responsible
for the decision to sell the collection and to the named German
politicians. Dr. Lucia Travaini (Milan/Rome) has a page on her
website, http://www.luciatravaini.it/ about the affair (click on
'Appello urgente per la collezione numismatic di Hannover,' which then
takes you to a page in English with further links). You can also read
her letter online.

FYI: her short anecdote about the coins from Rome that Mussolini asked
to be set aside to be melted are indeed the coins finds from Rome that
Prof. Dr. Maria R.-Alföldi and other numismatists at Frankfurt later
identified and catalogued. The finds still await publication for
various reason, though Prof. Dr. von Kaenel and Prof. Dr. R.-Alföldi
have made the unpublished list available to several researchers who
have already demonstrated the great value of this resource in their
published works. These particular coin finds, which were almost lost
due to the whims of a politician, are the most important corpus of
coin finds from the capital of the Roman Empire.

It would indeed be a great scholarly loss for another old collection
to be sold off as Deutsche Bank simply seeks to make up for losses,
unconcerned or uninformed about the educational and scholarly value of
the collection they wish to sell.