Coins, Currency, and Medals

The museum possesses one of the largest and most diverse numismatic collections in the world. Its diverse holdings represent every inhabited continent and span more than three millennia. The collection includes coins, paper money, medals, tokens, commodity and alternative currencies, coin dies, printing plates, scales and weights, financial documents and apparatuses, credit cards, and objects that reflect established and emerging digital monetary technologies worldwide.

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1976-09-19
writer
Midura, Edmund
original artist
Gasparro, Frank
ID Number
2009.0005.031
catalog number
2009.0005.031
accession number
2009.0005
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1977
depicted (sitter),United States 31rst Mint; Director, 1969-1977
Brooks, Mary
depicted (sitter)
Gasparro, Frank
maker
Gasparro, Frank
author
Ganz, David L.
ID Number
2009.0005.033
catalog number
2009.0005.033
accession number
2009.0005
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1978-05
original artist
Gasparro, Frank
ID Number
2009.0005.034
catalog number
2009.0005.034
accession number
2009.0005
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1990
designer
Gasparro, Frank
ID Number
2009.0005.108
accession number
2009.0005
catalog number
2009.0005.108
Gasparro drew with marker on a photograph over the image of a plaster galvano (model,) indicating propsed changes to the coin design. In the next phase, Gasparro would add detail to Libety's hair, a crown, and a collar.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Gasparro drew with marker on a photograph over the image of a plaster galvano (model,) indicating propsed changes to the coin design. In the next phase, Gasparro would add detail to Libety's hair, a crown, and a collar.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1975-1990
artist
Gasparro, Frank
ID Number
2009.0005.107
accession number
2009.0005
catalog number
2009.0005.107
The technology of Gasparro's time allowed him to work on multiple copies of the same image without having to redraw the image every time.
Description (Brief)
The technology of Gasparro's time allowed him to work on multiple copies of the same image without having to redraw the image every time. Here Gasparro not only added marks with pencil on the Phrygian cap (Liberty cap) but also removed marks by painting over them in white-out fluid. The process was limitless, and the drawing was complete only after it matched his vision.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1975-1990
artist
Gasparro, Frank
ID Number
2009.0005.100
accession number
2009.0005
catalog number
2009.0005.100
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1975-1990
artist
Gasparro, Frank
ID Number
2009.0005.086
accession number
2009.0005
catalog number
2009.0005.086
Gasparro used the photocopy as an intermediary step from sketch to completed drawing. By painting with correction fluid (white out) he took away unnecessary marks and lines and made a more comprehensive drawing.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Gasparro used the photocopy as an intermediary step from sketch to completed drawing. By painting with correction fluid (white out) he took away unnecessary marks and lines and made a more comprehensive drawing.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1975-1990
artist
Gasparro, Frank
ID Number
2009.0005.099
accession number
2009.0005
catalog number
2009.0005.099
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1965-1990
artist
Gasparro, Frank
ID Number
2009.0005.076
accession number
2009.0005
catalog number
2009.0005.076
To keep his skills sharp as an artist, Gasparro was always drawing. Every scrap of paper became a canvas to test out a new coin design.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
To keep his skills sharp as an artist, Gasparro was always drawing. Every scrap of paper became a canvas to test out a new coin design.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1977
artist
Gasparro, Frank
ID Number
2009.0005.036
catalog number
2009.0005.036
accession number
2009.0005
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1990-12-12
Associated Name
Gasparro, Frank
journalist
Gilkes, Paul A.
ID Number
2009.0005.030
catalog number
2009.0005.030
accession number
2009.0005
With a few quick pencil marks, Frank Gasparro's idea is transformed from a thought to a visual representation for the obverse of the Lincoln Memorial cent.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
With a few quick pencil marks, Frank Gasparro's idea is transformed from a thought to a visual representation for the obverse of the Lincoln Memorial cent.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1958
artist
Gasparro, Frank
ID Number
2009.0005.011
catalog number
2009.0005.011
accession number
2009.0005
Each drawing makes a change. In this variation of the proposed reverse image for a United States dollar coin, an eagle perched on a rock with its wings spread, holding an olive branch in its beak.
Description (Brief)
Each drawing makes a change. In this variation of the proposed reverse image for a United States dollar coin, an eagle perched on a rock with its wings spread, holding an olive branch in its beak. The eagle appears to burst through the rays of the sun in the background.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1965-1990
artist
Gasparro, Frank
ID Number
2009.0005.059
accession number
2009.0005
catalog number
2009.0005.059
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1965-1990
artist
Gasparro, Frank
ID Number
2009.0005.068
accession number
2009.0005
catalog number
2009.0005.068
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1975
maker
Gasparro, Frank
ID Number
2009.0005.044
catalog number
2009.0005.044
accession number
2009.0005
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1977
artist
Gasparro, Frank
ID Number
2009.0005.003
accession number
2009.0005
catalog number
2009.0005.003
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1975-1990
artist
Gasparro, Frank
ID Number
2009.0005.103
accession number
2009.0005
catalog number
2009.0005.103
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1977
Associated Name
Gasparro, Frank
original artist
Gasparro, Frank
maker
Gasparro, Frank
ID Number
2009.0005.022
catalog number
2009.0005.022
accession number
2009.0005
The collection: The Art of Frank Gasparro offers a rare opportunity to follow the process of a twentieth century commercial artist as he developed coin designs from rough sketches to fine plaster models, to the coins that jingle in our pockets daily.
Description (Brief)
The collection: The Art of Frank Gasparro offers a rare opportunity to follow the process of a twentieth century commercial artist as he developed coin designs from rough sketches to fine plaster models, to the coins that jingle in our pockets daily. Frank Gasparro was the tenth United States Mint Chief Engraver; perhaps most recognized for his design of the Lincoln Memorial on the reverse side of the cent that replaced the previous design, two ears of wheat. Douglas Martin of The New York Times quoted Christina Hansen (Gasparro’s daughter) in Gasparro’s obituary, “Frank Gasparro, 92, of Mint; Art Is on 100 Billion Pennies," October 3, 2001, “…he originally aspired to make sculptures like those of Rodin and Michelangelo, but came to take pride in his billions of lowly pennies. He was known to show cashiers the reverse side of a penny and announce that he had designed it.”
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1977
depicted (sitter)
Gasparro, Frank
original artist
Gasparro, Frank
ID Number
2009.0005.024
catalog number
2009.0005.024
accession number
2009.0005
This image may have been one Frank Gasparro showed to get approval from the Mint to create the Lincoln Memorial cent.
Description (Brief)
This image may have been one Frank Gasparro showed to get approval from the Mint to create the Lincoln Memorial cent. The fine detail in this drawing includes a miniscule statue of Abraham Lincoln, wreathes and boughs decorating the monument, and carefully executed lines showing perspective on the steps and in the columns. The inclusion of Gasparro's signature (on the bottom right corner of the image) shows us that Gasparro felt this drawing was more important than many of his multitude of drawings.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1958
artist
Gasparro, Frank
ID Number
2009.0005.013
catalog number
2009.0005.013
accession number
2009.0005
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1977
original artist
Gasparro, Frank
ID Number
2009.0005.023
catalog number
2009.0005.023
accession number
2009.0005
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1960
artist
Gasparro, Frank
ID Number
2009.0005.008
catalog number
2009.0005.008
accession number
2009.0005
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1958
artist
Gasparro, Frank
ID Number
2009.0005.018
catalog number
2009.0005.018
accession number
2009.0005
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1965-1990
artist
Gasparro, Frank
ID Number
2009.0005.069
accession number
2009.0005
catalog number
2009.0005.069

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