In the case of the collection of Samuel Rush Meyrick, of arms and armour, Franks failed to persuade George Ward Hunt to purchase it complete for the nation when Augustus W. H. Meyrick put it up for sale around 1871.
When the British Museum was considering buying the ceramics collection of Sir Andrew Fountaine and his heirs, which came onto the market in 1884,[REF] Franks eased the deal by matching the money required with purchases of his own.