A new exhibition at the National Museum of American History invites visitors to explore the development and meaning behind American coinage and currency. “Stories on Money” demonstrates the interplay among people, money and history, from the earliest times to the present day. The display of coins and other related objects will open June 12 in a new first-floor gallery.

“Stories on Money” explores the museum’s vast numismatic collections from seven vantage points. The main section shows what money looked like in Colonial America and at pivotal times, including the Gold Rush, Great Depression and in the current era. Visitors will compare the coin designs of the 19th century with those produced during the renaissance of American coinage in the early 20th century. The section called “The Power of Liberty,” presents an array of coins from the United States and the world depicting Liberty, the feminine personification of freedom; coins with real and mythological women are also featured.

“American currency is a reflection and a record of our history,” said Brent D. Glass, director of the museum. “This display illuminates history in fresh and unexpected ways and will allow visitors to think of how money tells stories about different historical periods.”

“Stories on Money” was made possible through the generosity of the Numismatic Guaranty Corporation of America, Numismatic Conservation Services and Monaco Rare Coins.

“Having this wonderful space at the museum is very meaningful to the entire community of numismatists, and we are very proud to be a part of it. ‘Stories on Money’ is an especially fitting exhibition since it illustrates the close interplay between coins as objects and the personal history of their use,” said Mark Salzberg, chairman of sponsoring organizations Numismatic Guaranty Corporation and Numismatic Conservation Services. (more…)

A new exhibition at the National Museum of American History invites visitors to explore the development and meaning behind American coinage and currency. “Stories on Money” demonstrates the interplay among people, money and history, from the earliest times to the present day. The display of coins and other related objects will open June 12 in a new first-floor gallery.

“Stories on Money” explores the museum’s vast numismatic collections from seven vantage points. The main section shows what money looked like in Colonial America and at pivotal times, including the Gold Rush, Great Depression and in the current era. Visitors will compare the coin designs of the 19th century with those produced during the renaissance of American coinage in the early 20th century. The section called “The Power of Liberty,” presents an array of coins from the United States and the world depicting Liberty, the feminine personification of freedom; coins with real and mythological women are also featured.

“American currency is a reflection and a record of our history,” said Brent D. Glass, director of the museum. “This display illuminates history in fresh and unexpected ways and will allow visitors to think of how money tells stories about different historical periods.”

“Stories on Money” was made possible through the generosity of the Numismatic Guaranty Corporation of America, Numismatic Conservation Services and Monaco Rare Coins.

“Having this wonderful space at the museum is very meaningful to the entire community of numismatists, and we are very proud to be a part of it. ‘Stories on Money’ is an especially fitting exhibition since it illustrates the close interplay between coins as objects and the personal history of their use,” said Mark Salzberg, chairman of sponsoring organizations Numismatic Guaranty Corporation and Numismatic Conservation Services. (more…)

By Len Ratzman from The California Numismatist Spring 2009 Vol.6 No. 1

Like so many rewarding discoveries, this one started out with a simple search on the Internet for the Smithsonian Institute’s Web site: info@si.edu. In all probability, I was never going to make it the 3,000 miles from LA to Washington, DC to visit the Smithsonian’s coin collections, so I decided that the next best thing was viewing my favorite buffalo nickels on the institution’s Web site.

The first mild surprise came when I learned that the coin collections weren’t housed at the Smithsonian proper at all, but rather in the National Museum of American History’s Kenneth E. Behring Center.

The second surprise/disappointment came when I first started surfing the Web in 2007 only to learn that the building housing the collections was closed from 2006 to November, 2008, for renovation.

Right on schedule the opening occurred, and keying in http://americanhistory.si.edu/collections in December of last year brought me to the starting point that had been unavailable for two years.

Once the page is displayed, there are two boxes you need to fill out before you finally get to the “goodies.” The first box entitled Keyword I filled with (no surprise) “buffalo nickels”. The box below it (defaulting to “All Subjects”) has to be modified by clicking on the pull-down arrow which displays a menu containing our ultimate goal – “Coins and Currency.” By clicking on Go, the next screen will finally display various photographs of some of the collection’s coins.

It was probably naive to hope that every coin in the collection would be registered and available for viewing. When only the 1913 raised-mound buffalo was displayed, the crusader in me predictably triggered the motivation to try to determine why the entire collection wasn’t displayed, coin-by-coin. Was the collection even complete?

After a series of forwarded e-mails, I finally heard from the senior curator of numismatics at the National Museum of Natural History, Mr. Richard Doty. It should be noted here that without Mr. Doty’s informative e-mail responses over the next few weeks, none of this article’s contents would have been possible. His perseverance and patience with my flood of questions should be recognized and gratefully noted. (more…)