The difference between museums and private collectors is that most private collectors had to work hard to earn the money they used buy their coins and thus they value them for the effort it took to acquire them in addition to their collectable value. Private collectors therefore tend to take good care of the items in their collections.
You'd think the British museum could bother to photograph and catalog all the items in their "care". It wouldn't take a lot of creativity to partner with universities and get students who are interested in various areas to do a lot of this work.
It will take them 100 years to recover their credibility if ever.
John