Posted By:
Al C.risafulliI think that's a great idea.
There would certainly be logistical challenges, and the costs involved with professionally photographing the material (and travel, etc), as well as some web design charges involved with putting together a professional layout.
The only speedbump I could envision would be how to generate income. Unlike most fine art, very few items in card collections are one-of-a-kind. In other words, if you want to see what a T206 Wagner looks like, you can find an image easily enough. So your potential paying viewer would be limited to those people who would be interested in paying to see the items in the context of their larger collection, or to view the few one-of-a-kind items that each of these collections contain.
Another speedbump would be the fact that so many private collections are already on display, on Card Registries and personal websites and the like. Plus, you can find many examples of scarce cards in old auction catalogs.
Conceptually, though, I love the idea of a central resource for viewing museum collections.
-Al