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.

One (1) 10 dollar coin, proofUnited States, 1795Obverse Image: Liberty wearing a cap, facing right.
Description (Brief)
One (1) 10 dollar coin, proof
United States, 1795
Obverse Image: Liberty wearing a cap, facing right. 15 stars around.
Obverse Text: LIBERTY / 1795
Reverse Image: Small eagle perched on a palm branch with wings outstretched, holding a wreath aloft in its beak.
Reverse Text: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1795
mint
United States Mint
designer
Scot, Robert
ID Number
NU.68.159.0262
accession number
283645
catalog number
68.159.0262
One (1) cent coin, proofUnited States, 1823Obverse Image: Left-facing Liberty wearing a coronet.
Description (Brief)
One (1) cent coin, proof
United States, 1823
Obverse Image: Left-facing Liberty wearing a coronet. 13 stars along coin edge.
Obverse Text: LIBERTY / 1823
Reverse Image: Wreath.
Reverse Text: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA / ONE CENT
General Information: 1823 over 1822.
Description
Robert Scot created these designs, which remained in use between 1816 and 1835.
Cents of this type are likely to have been seen by almost every collector for they are among the most common of early American coins. But this coin is not common. The year 1823 is one of the scarcer dates in the cent series. In addition, this coin is an "overdate." It was created from an earlier die (for 1822 cents) that was softened, redated for the current year, hardened, and put back into service. Overdates are quite common among early American coins, as a fledgling United States Mint tried to cut corners wherever it could.
Finally, this coin is a "proof." It was struck on a highly polished planchet (a disk of metal cut and prepared for striking as a coin) under far more exacting standards than ordinary coins. It has been estimated that only two other proof 1823/2 cents exist.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1823
mint
U.S. Mint, Philadelphia
designer
Scot, Robert
ID Number
1985.0441.0192
catalog number
1985.0441.0192
accession number
1985.0441
Once a new national government had been established under a new Constitution, attention naturally turned to ways of proclaiming national identity.
Description
Once a new national government had been established under a new Constitution, attention naturally turned to ways of proclaiming national identity. A new, national coinage was one way of doing so, especially if it featured patriotic new images, rather than the endless sequence of crowned monarchs and coats of arms adorning the coinage of Old Europe.
A U. S Mint Act was passed in 1792, and work was quickly underway. Designs were chosen-a depiction of Liberty for obverses, an eagle, or the value within a wreath, for reverses. The first of the new coins, copper cents and half cents, appeared early the following year. By 1794, mint designers were working to create a silver dollar, the flagship of the new denominations. But they first made a trial piece, in copper.
Robert Scot created the dies for this design, a Liberty head with flowing hair for the dollar's obverse; an eagle within a simple wreath for the reverse. The new dies to be used in producing silver dollars were tested with a striking in copper. Copper would took a good impression, and would allow Scot and his associates to see whether the dies were cut deeply enough and would therefore be capable of producing the detail wanted on the final silver product.
Only one piece, this coin, was struck in copper, and it is a unique national treasure.
date made
1794
mint
U.S. Mint, Philadelphia
designer
Scot, Robert
ID Number
1987.0910.01
accession number
1987.0910
catalog number
1987.0910.0001
The first silver dollars-and the first silver half dollars-were delivered on the same day, October 15, 1794.
Description
The first silver dollars-and the first silver half dollars-were delivered on the same day, October 15, 1794. Chief coiner Henry Voigt was responsible for 5,300 half dollars that day, and they apparently went into commerce as soon as they were released.
The dollars were another matter. Precisely 1,758 of them were coined on the fifteenth, and they were immediately delivered to Mint Director David Rittenhouse for distribution to dignitaries as souvenirs.
The VIPs were not impressed with what they saw. The dollars were struck on the largest press the mint possessed, but the machine was originally intended for cents and half dollars. The only way it had proved adequate for striking the copper pattern was by striking the piece twice.
The impressions it gave with a single blow were weak, a situation not helped by the fact that the obverse die was damaged early on and had to be polished down along one part of its circumference. This resulted in its making an even weaker impression. So the new federal dollar was not a brilliant success. But it was a first-and sometimes that's success enough.
Precisely 1,758 of these silver dollars, the first ever minted for circulation by the United States, were coined on October 15, 1794. All were immediately delivered to the Mint Director for distribution to dignitaries as souvenirs. The largest press the mint possessed still was not big enough to give a strong impression with a single blow, hence the weak relief on these coins.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1794
mint
U.S. Mint, Philadelphia
obverse designer
Scot, Robert
reverse designer
Scot, Robert
ID Number
1979.1263.00334
accession number
1979.1263
collector/donor number
CM01510
catalog number
1979.1263.00334
Employees at the Mint continued to strike 1804 dollars illegally through the late 1870s.
Description
Employees at the Mint continued to strike 1804 dollars illegally through the late 1870s. It is thought that around half a dozen were created, some for sale, perhaps in European auctions, to give them an air of plausibility; others for trade, to acquire rare coins that the Mint Cabinet lacked. Six of these coins, called "class three" dollars, to distinguish them from the 1834 "class two" dollars, have been traced.
The Smithsonian's class three 1804 dollar has a checkered history. It was initially the property of Mint Director H. R. Linderman and was probably struck to his order. However, when it appeared in his estate, his widow came up with the story that he bought it on time payments from a coin dealer.
Eventually this coin was purchased by Willis DuPont. It was stolen in the 1967 armed robbery of the DuPont Collection and retrieved early in 1982. It came to the Smithsonian Institution in 1994. It exhibits the weak strike on the central devices shared by the other members of class three.
date made
1804
issuing authority
United States Mint
mint
U.S. Mint, Philadelphia
obverse designer
Scot, Robert
reverse designer
Scot, Robert
obverse engraver
Eckstein, John
reverse engraver
Eckstein, John
ID Number
1994.0391.0001
catalog number
1994.0391.0001
accession number
1994.0391
United States Mint, Philadelphia. Obverse: Bust of Thomas Jefferson facing left. Reverse: Clasped hands, crossed peace pipe and hatchet above; PEACE/AND/FRIENDSHIP. This medal is hollow, consisting of two thin, embossed silver plates, one for each side of the medal.
Description
United States Mint, Philadelphia. Obverse: Bust of Thomas Jefferson facing left. Reverse: Clasped hands, crossed peace pipe and hatchet above; PEACE/AND/FRIENDSHIP. This medal is hollow, consisting of two thin, embossed silver plates, one for each side of the medal. The two were held together by a silver ring, running around the entire circumference of the piece. The medal was created in this fashion because the United States Mint lacked a coining press strong enough to strike heavy, solid medals. This medal accompanied Lewis and Clark on their epochal journey West.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1801
Associated Name
Jefferson, Thomas
mint
U.S. Mint, Philadelphia
obverse engraver
Scot, Robert
reverse engraver
Scot, Robert
ID Number
1990.0466.0001
catalog number
1990.0466.0001
accession number
1990.0466
One (1) 10 dollar coinUnited States, 1803Obverse Image: Liberty wearing a cap, facing right.
Description (Brief)
One (1) 10 dollar coin
United States, 1803
Obverse Image: Liberty wearing a cap, facing right. 13 stars around.
Obverse Text: LIBERTY / 1803
Reverse Image: Heraldic eagle with wings outstretched clutching arrows and branch in talons, shield over chest with vertical stripes on bottom part and horizontal stripes on top part, ribbon held in beak, 13 stars above eagle's head, 6 cloud-like shapes above stars.
Reverse Text: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA / E PLURIBUS UNUM
Description
This was designed by Robert Scot. Nearly nine thousand of these coins (whose reverse bears small stars rather than large ones) were coined during the second half of the year 1803. This coin may be the most perfectly preserved of them all.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1803
mint
U.S. Mint, Philadelphia
designer
Scot, Robert
ID Number
NU.68.159.0271
accession number
283645
catalog number
68.159.0271
One (1) 10 dollar coin, proofUnited States, 1798Obverse Image: Liberty wearing a cap, facing right.
Description (Brief)
One (1) 10 dollar coin, proof
United States, 1798
Obverse Image: Liberty wearing a cap, facing right. 13 stars around.
Obverse Text: LIBERTY / 1798
Reverse Image: Heraldic eagle with wings outstretched clutching arrows and branch in talons, shield over chest with vertical stripes on bottom part and horizontal stripes on top part, ribbon held in beak, 13 stars above eagle's head, 6 cloud-like shapes above stars.
Reverse Text: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA / E PLURIBUS UNUM
General Information: 1798 over 1797.
Description
Early eagles had numerous variations in the number and placement of obverse and reverse stars, details on the federal shield, and the date. This piece (with thirteen stars and a 1797 die redated to 1798) is one of the rarer varieties. About a dozen specimens are known including this one in the National Numismatic Collection.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1798
mint
U.S. Mint, Philadelphia
designer
Scot, Robert
ID Number
NU.68.159.0267
accession number
283645
catalog number
68.159.0267
One (1) 5 dollar coinUnited States, 1797Obverse Image: Capped bust of Liberty facing right.Obverse Text: LIBERTY / 1797Reverse Image: Heraldic eagle, clouds and stars above.Reverse Text: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA / E PLURIBUS UNUMAlthough dated 1797, this coin was probably minted
Description (Brief)
One (1) 5 dollar coin
United States, 1797
Obverse Image: Capped bust of Liberty facing right.
Obverse Text: LIBERTY / 1797
Reverse Image: Heraldic eagle, clouds and stars above.
Reverse Text: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA / E PLURIBUS UNUM
Description
Although dated 1797, this coin was probably minted in the following year. Early United States coins do not always bear the year in which they were struck. The annual visit of yellow fever to Philadelphia, and to the U.S. Mint there, imparted a disjointed quality to our early numismatics.
What is definitely known is that Robert Scot was responsible for the designs. His new, bellicose eagle is a direct reflection of increased national tensions with the British and French. This particular coin is unique.
date made
1797
mint
U.S. Mint, Philadelphia
obverse designer
Scot, Robert
obverse engraver
Scot, Robert
ID Number
NU.68.159.0158
accession number
283645
catalog number
68.159.0158
One (1) 5 dollar coinUnited States, 1803Obverse Image: Right-facing Liberty head with flowing hair wearing cap, 13 stars along coin edge.Obverse Text: LIBERTY / 1803Reverse Image: Heraldic eagle with wings outstretched clutching arrows and branch in talons, ribbon held in beak, s
Description (Brief)
One (1) 5 dollar coin
United States, 1803
Obverse Image: Right-facing Liberty head with flowing hair wearing cap, 13 stars along coin edge.
Obverse Text: LIBERTY / 1803
Reverse Image: Heraldic eagle with wings outstretched clutching arrows and branch in talons, ribbon held in beak, shield over chest with vertical stripes on bottom part and horizontal stripes on top part, 13 stars above head, 6 cloud like shapes above stars.
Reverse Text: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA / E PLURIBUS UNUM
General Information: 1803 over 1802.
Description
The Mint struck over 33,000 of these half eagles in 1803. All were made from dies originally dated 1802. This one is among the best preserved.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1803
mint
U.S. Mint, Philadelphia
designer
Scot, Robert
ID Number
NU.68.159.0164
accession number
283645
catalog number
68.159.0164

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