I've only recently been looking over eBay materials and there are some
interesting things out there in our line (postal history). However, I also
found it extraordinarily misleading for many items, common materials
described as "rare" and others mis-identified or mis-labeled. I also found
it interesting that so many "rare" photographs were really only copies of
originals from collections such as the Library of Congress and National
Archives. I'd also be concerned about the issue of provenance of pieces.
That said, if there is something that can not be obtained elsewhere, or hard
to locate, (such as the Alaskan curators were pointing out), then I could
see using it. But I'm not sold on it's use for our collection.

Nancy Pope

Nancy A. Pope
Historian
National Postal Museum
Smithsonian Institution
2 Massachusetts Ave., N.E.
PO Box 75039
Washington, DC 20002

202-633-5526
202-633-9393 (fax)
[log in to unmask]
http://postalmuseum.si.edu

* * * * * * *
A letter always seemed to me like immortality because it is the mind alone
without corporeal friend.
     Emily Dickinson

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