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The Royal Mint Museum collection partially accessible online

Started by eurocoin, August 16, 2024, 03:05:51 PM

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eurocoin

The Royal Mint Museum has launched a website containing the objects in its collection. So far, 6,000 objects out of its collection can be viewed online of the UK, Channel Islands and Ireland. Regularly new objects will be added. It is their aim to eventually make the full collection accessible online.

https://royalmintmuseum.collectionsindex.com/home

Figleaf

While any collection made accessible is to be applauded long and loudly and this collection is no exception, there are some important caveats.

The search function is quite limited. There is no way to filter for metal, size, weight, denomination or mint. Our partner site Numista does very much better, e.g. it also has filters for non-circulating coins and for tokens.

The restrictions on picture use are too tight. They resemble those of private photo collections aimed at commercial users such as Alamy, not those of a government subsidised institution that solicits gift from the public. The restrictions just follow existing international copyright practices without adding additional rights or even following common practice.

If I want to use a picture in a Dutch or French public collection or archive on WoT, it is normally enough to mention the source of the picture. Most don't even want me to ask permission or say only they would appreciate notice if I use their pictures. As a gesture of good will, I always try to make the source line clickable, so that it leads back to the original. All that is useless in the case of this collection, as all use on all web sites is blocked (which in practice may or may not mean you have to pay, even if you are a non-profit, un-funded site) in all cases. Evidently, they claim to be educational but don't respect other educational sites.

The home page claims The Royal Mint Museum has one of the finest collections of coins, medals, artwork and minting equipment in the world.. This is hot air, that leads to immediate disappointment when you start exploring the collection. The coins are restricted to UK related pieces. Logical, but not conducive to the claim made. I found only two tokens. Agreed, tokens are often not minted by state mints, but it is again a major restriction on the collection. You cannot browse medals, artwork and minting equipment. You can only shoot in the dark with the general search function.

Needs more thought.

Peter
An unidentified coin is a piece of metal. An identified coin is a piece of history.

<k>

I mentioned this to a member of the Royal Mint Museum. I wrote:

When I used this search engine, I was successful when I entered "Edward VIII" as a search term, but I got no results for the country names that I entered, e.g. Iceland, Jordan, Ireland, Libya, Malawi, South Africa.

The staff member replied:

Thanks for your message, and for your feedback on our new Collections Online service. The digital collection is still in its infancy, and our initial uploads have concentrated on coins of the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Channel Islands. We have around 6,000 coin records available via the link you have mentioned, though there are several hundred-thousand still to come, due to be digitised and uploaded in batches over the coming months and years. Those countries that you mention will likely be among some of the earliest uploads, owing to the amount of work the Mint has done with them and the space they occupy in the collection. If you have any more specific feedback about the new Collection Online service, such as parts of it that are useful, or difficult to use, then I will gladly pass it along to the team who are working on it.
Visit the website of The Royal Mint Museum.

See: The Royal Mint Museum.

Figleaf

It'd be nice if you could convey my post above or a link to this discussion to them.

The restrictions on searching are odd and they are easily remedied. The restrictions on using pictures make their site virtually useless for us.

Peter
An unidentified coin is a piece of metal. An identified coin is a piece of history.

<k>

Quote from: Figleaf on August 21, 2024, 12:00:00 PMIt'd be nice if you could convey my post above or a link to this discussion to them.

I did indeed do that, and the text in blue was their response. Note the final sentence.

They are indeed now taking such feedback seriously, as their online archives undergo a makeover. A couple of months ago I was asked for feedback on their Annual Reports online archive. I mentioned that it would be useful to see coin designs grouped by artist / designer. Yesterday, in response to another matter, they mentioned that they have now indeed tagged those Annual Reports records by designers. I do not know whether I was the only one who requested this, but I have tried out the function and found it very useful. When I get a chance, I will post visual instructions on how to use the function. For now, see:

Royal Mint Advisory Committee: records from 1922 to 1992 searchable online
Visit the website of The Royal Mint Museum.

See: The Royal Mint Museum.

Figleaf

My confusion is complete. I gather from reply #2 that you gave them your feedback and they reacted to your feedback as per the same post.

My two points are different. Am I to understand you submitted my feedback also and they reacted with. "Oh nice. Feedback. Send us your feedback." ??? Sounds wrong.

Peter
An unidentified coin is a piece of metal. An identified coin is a piece of history.

<k>

I got the impression that it was implied that this feedback was passed on (as my own as, a couple of months ago), and now you were being asked if you have any more specific feedback.

But I will contact you privately about this, to see if I can put you through the correct channels.
Visit the website of The Royal Mint Museum.

See: The Royal Mint Museum.

Figleaf

With <k>'s help, I contacted the museum and received feedback with comfort on both the copyright and the search issue. The search function will be developed in the future, the copyright text adjusted in the near future. Of immediate usefulness was this phrase: we have no concerns with images being downloaded or saved from the website and uploaded to, for example, forums and discussion groups on non-commercial websites such as World of Coins. Do remember a decent source note, preferably linked to the page on the museum web site.

Peter
An unidentified coin is a piece of metal. An identified coin is a piece of history.

Mister T

Oh nice - they had this online four or five years ago I think then took it down. Good to see it's back again.

eurocoin

The coins of Australia that are part of The Royal Mint Museum's collection (1813-1963) have now been added.

<k>

Visit the website of The Royal Mint Museum.

See: The Royal Mint Museum.

eurocoin