Coins, Currency, and Medals

$100,000 U.S. Gold Certificate

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.

Topic: Numismatics

1 Continental Dollar, United States, 1776

The Continental Dollar was the first pattern struck for the United States of America. Most specimens were minted in pewter, but also known are three in silver and a dozen or so in brass. It is thought that the distinctive designs were suggested by Benjamin Franklin.
Description
The Continental Dollar was the first pattern struck for the United States of America. Most specimens were minted in pewter, but also known are three in silver and a dozen or so in brass. It is thought that the distinctive designs were suggested by Benjamin Franklin. The reverse design, featuring linked rings, was a plea for insurgent unity, something that the philosopher-scientist constantly brought to people's attention.
The obverse sundial motif with its Latin motto ("Fugio") is also characteristic of Franklin. The design is a rebus, and its component parts may be read as "time flies, so mind your business." This and other pewter specimens were apparently struck for the inspection of members of Congress, who would have to pass enabling legislation before the coinage could proceed.
Elisha Gallaudet, a New York engraver, was the person responsible for translating Franklin's concepts into metal. It is thought that he struck the coins at a makeshift private mint in Freehold, New Jersey. Earlier issues of Continental currency had included a bill worth a dollar. This practice was suspended in the spring of 1776, apparently because the Congress intended for a new, one-dollar coin to take its place.
Based on the Spanish-American piece of eight, the new Continental dollar was to serve as the linchpin of the entire monetary arrangement. The plan failed. The patriots were unable to obtain sufficient silver for the coinage, and by the time the enabling legislation had been passed, the value of Continental currency had begun its descent, emerging as almost worthless only a few years later. Tying a bullion coin to a depreciating currency was obviously a mistake.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1776
maker
Gallaudet, Elisha
ID Number
1991.0009.0104
catalog number
1991.0009.0104
accession number
1991.0009

20 Dollars, United States, 1854-S

One (1) 20 dollar coinUnited States, 1854Obverse Image: Liberty wearing a coronet and facing left. 13 stars around.Obverse Text: LIBERTY / 1854Reverse Image: Heraldic eagle with wings outstretched clutching arrows and branch in talons, shield over chest.
Description (Brief)
One (1) 20 dollar coin
United States, 1854
Obverse Image: Liberty wearing a coronet and facing left. 13 stars around.
Obverse Text: LIBERTY / 1854
Reverse Image: Heraldic eagle with wings outstretched clutching arrows and branch in talons, shield over chest. Scrolls on either side of eagle, ring of 13 stars above eagle's head, rays of sun above stars.
Reverse Text: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA / TWENTY D. / E PLURIBUS UNUM / S
Description
The sheer size of the California gold strike altered the nature of American numismatics. It was not only that mintage figures dramatically increased; the actual range of denominations increased as well.
Prior to 1849, there had been three gold coins: the quarter eagle, half eagle, and eagle (or $2.50, $5.00, and $10.00 coins). By 1854, three more had been added, a dollar, a three-dollar piece, and a double eagle, or twenty-dollar coin.
Artist James Barton Longacre designed all three of the new coins. The double eagle was the most popular. For its obverse, Longacre employed a simple head of Liberty, wearing a coronet. Stars surrounded the head of the goddess, and the date appeared below. The reverse depicted a somewhat ornate representation of an eagle, a "glory" of stars and rays above, the national motto to either side.
In 1854, the United States created a new branch mint in San Francisco to deal with the fruits of the gold rush. It was intended to replace a whole galaxy of private California mints that had created a variety of local coins.
This double eagle was the first coin the new federal mint struck. Below the eagle, each coin from the new branch Mint bore a distinctive small "S." This distinguished the coin from ones struck in Philadelphia, which had no such mark, and ones struck at New Orleans, which had an "O."
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1854
mint
U.S. Mint, San Francisco
maker
Longacre, James Barton
ID Number
1985.0441.0488
accession number
1985.0441
catalog number
1985.0441.0488

5 Dollars, United States, 1838

One (1) 5 dollar coinUnited States, 1838Obverse Image: Left-facing Liberty head with curled hair and wearing headband.
Description (Brief)
One (1) 5 dollar coin
United States, 1838
Obverse Image: Left-facing Liberty head with curled hair and wearing headband. 13 stars along coin edge.
Obverse Text: LIBERTY / 1838 / C
Reverse Image: 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.
Reverse Text: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA / 5 D.
Description
To process the gold and silver being mined in new locations, the federal government passed legislation to open three new branch mints in 1835: in Charlotte, North Carolina; Dahlonega, Georgia; and New Orleans, Louisiana. The first two would only strike coins from local gold. The third would mint coins from silver as well as from gold, because those two metals were pouring into the Crescent City from Latin America.
All three branch facilities opened their doors in 1838. The New Orleans Mint was a success from the very beginning. The other two suffered growing pains but finally reached full production in the 1850s. All three closed during the Civil War, but New Orleans eventually reopened in 1879 and remained a major player in the country's monetary system until the first decade of the twentieth century. Charlotte and Dahlonega stayed closed.
A way was sought to distinguish the products of these new mints from those of the original one. Philadelphia had never marked its coins-there had been no need, with no other coiners in existence. But now a way was devised to show which coins came from where.
A mint mark, consisting of a single letter, would be placed on each of the products of the branch Mints-an O for New Orleans, a D for Dahlonega, and a C for Charlotte. The mint marks briefly appeared on the coins' obverse, but then they were relegated to the reverse, where they remained.
Collectors call the 1838 Charlotte half eagle a "one-year type": coins of this design with the obverse mint mark were only struck during that single year. There were about seventeen thousand of them, compared with over a quarter million at Philadelphia.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1838
mint
U.S. Mint, Charlotte
designer
Kneass, William
ID Number
1984.1046.0372
accession number
1984.1046
catalog number
1984.1046.0372

1 Dollar, Confederate States of America, 1862

Dated December 2, 1862, this note was almost completely worn out by the time someone got around to strengthening it with a piece of newspaper. Why would they have bothered?
Description
Dated December 2, 1862, this note was almost completely worn out by the time someone got around to strengthening it with a piece of newspaper. Why would they have bothered? We know that the repair was done in 1864, because the newspaper fragment mentions Andrew Johnson, who had been chosen to be Abraham Lincoln's running mate in the upcoming Northern elections.
By 1864, a Confederate dollar bill was worth very much less than a dollar, because most people could see the bleakness of Southern prospects. But money was money, and beyond its value as a means of exchange, it represented the hopes and dreams of an aspiring nation. Apparently, this bill mattered enough for someone to go to the trouble of patching it up and sending it on its way.
But look closely: they used a Northern newspaper. If such a publication were common enough to be recycled in this way, then matters were dire indeed. Night was closing in on the Confederacy, and on its money. Both were departing the realm of real events, moving into the realm of legend.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1863
1862
date made
gre 1862
maker
Confederate States of America
ID Number
1998.0063.0047
catalog number
1998.0063.0047
accession number
1998.0063
serial number
111--3

10 Dollars, Confederate States of America, 1863

Postage stamps must have seemed heaven-sent to the would-be restorer of Confederate money-they came with their own glue! But there was a problem.
Description
Postage stamps must have seemed heaven-sent to the would-be restorer of Confederate money-they came with their own glue! But there was a problem. Stamps were meant to move the mails and therefore had a small but definite value as useful objects.
The Confederacy got around part of the problem during the first summer of the war. Prior to that time, "provisional" postal issues had been produced by a range of cities and towns. But now the government at Richmond was able to issue official Confederate stamps. That put the provisionals out of business, and it also meant that Yankee postage stamps (which had sometimes continued in use in the absence of anything else) could be declared null and void for postage.
They still came in handy for reinforcing money. That's what the blue Federal stamp is doing on the back of this note. The green one is a Confederate issue. One can conjecture that it was either damaged and rendered unfit for postage or had become virtually worthless as inflation worsened later in the war.
But glue was glue. The old stamp got a new use, and the bill it strengthened a new lease on life. Someone added a straight pin, taking no chances. The gentleman at lower right is R. M. T. Hunter, sometime senator and secretary of state. The note was called in and canceled later in the war, which explains the hole.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1863
engraver
Keatinge & Ball
ID Number
1998.0063.0046
catalog number
1998.0063.0046
accession number
1998.0063
serial number
2728

5 Dollars, Confederate States of America, 1862

Like the fledgling United States during the American Revolution, the Confederacy struggled to keep its money in existence during the American Civil War, 1861-1865. Coinage had never been all that plentiful in the states that now made up the Southern Confederacy.
Description
Like the fledgling United States during the American Revolution, the Confederacy struggled to keep its money in existence during the American Civil War, 1861-1865. Coinage had never been all that plentiful in the states that now made up the Southern Confederacy. It was a debtor area, with coinage flowing out for purchase of manufactured goods about as quickly as it flowed in from the sale of agricultural ones.
And just as during the Revolution, a new nation lacking precious metals must issue paper money to support a war. The Confederacy was even more dependent on paper currency than had been an earlier generation of patriots. During the 85 years between 1776 and 1861, the proportion of people tied to a monetary economy had grown, even in the agricultural South.
There, a bewildering variety of authorities now began to issue currency-the new central government, the Confederate States of America; the individual states; cities and towns; private banks both old and new; and even private citizens.
This object tells us something about popular attitudes of the day. As with Continental and state notes in the 1770s, there was an almost superstitious aversion to allowing Confederate notes to fall to pieces. So they would be sewn together, or more frequently glued back together, reinforced with any stray bits of paper deemed fit for the job. This five-dollar bill was reinforced with part of a low-value (ten-cent) note from Mississippi. Specialists call this sort of minor currency "scrip," and it played an essential role on the lower end of the monetary scale during the early and middle phases of the war.
By the way, that's Confederate Treasury Secretary C. G. Memminger peeking out from behind the fold at lower-right.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1862
date made
gre 1862
engraver
Keatinge & Ball
ID Number
1998.0063.0043
catalog number
1998.0063.0043
accession number
1998.0063
serial number
157353

5 Dollars, Confederate States of America, 1863

Most Confederate notes bore a single issue date. Those created in 1863 bore two-the official date of the issue, April 6, 1863, and the actual month when the notes were placed in circulation, ranging from April 1863 to February 1864.
Description
Most Confederate notes bore a single issue date. Those created in 1863 bore two-the official date of the issue, April 6, 1863, and the actual month when the notes were placed in circulation, ranging from April 1863 to February 1864. The official date was part of the basic design. The actual date was applied in red, ordinarily towards the right-hand margin. The greater precision was probably intended to create a greater accountability as to how much currency was being issued, and when.
But the paper used to create new currency wasn't any better than that used to create the old. And a society that roughly handled its paper money but had no more durable alternatives was likely to continue having problems holding things together. An amazing range of discarded paper objects was put into service.
Glue was slapped onto everything from old telegrams to a playbill for a performance of the Hunchback of Notre Dame at some forgotten theater. Out-of-date letters were always popular, particularly if they had writing on both sides of the sheet. And so William Perryman's letter home was recycled by a friend, or a relative, to keep this particular Confederate five in circulation a few turns longer.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1863
engraver
Keatinge & Ball
ID Number
1998.0063.0045
catalog number
1998.0063.0045
accession number
1998.0063
serial number
36663

Souvenir Spoon

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1903
ID Number
DL.63.0212
catalog number
63.0212
accession number
243466

BankAmericard; Virginia -- Good thru 10/71

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
unknown
maker
unknown
ID Number
1985.0823.04
catalog number
1985.0823.04
accession number
1985.0823

1 Pine Tree Shilling, United States, 1652

One (1) pine tree shilling coinMassachusetts, 1652Obverse Image: Pine tree.Obverse Text: MASATHVSETS / INReverse Image: N/AReverse Text: NEW ENGLAND / AN DOM / 1652 XIIAs early as 1650, the colony of Massachusetts Bay was a commercial success.
Description (Brief)
One (1) pine tree shilling coin
Massachusetts, 1652
Obverse Image: Pine tree.
Obverse Text: MASATHVSETS / IN
Reverse Image: N/A
Reverse Text: NEW ENGLAND / AN DOM / 1652 XII
Description
As early as 1650, the colony of Massachusetts Bay was a commercial success. But an inadequate supply of money put its future development in jeopardy. England was not inclined to send gold and silver coins to the colonies, for they were in short supply in the mother country.
Taking matters into their own hands, Boston authorities allowed two settlers, John Hull and Robert Sanderson, to set up a mint in the capital in 1652. The two were soon striking silver coinage-shillings, sixpences, and threepences. Nearly all of the new coins bore the same date: 1652.
This was the origin of America's most famous colonial coin, the pine tree shilling. The name comes from the tree found on the obverse. It may symbolize one of the Bay Colony's prime exports, pine trees for ships' masts. Massachusetts coinage not only circulated within that colony, but was generally accepted throughout the Northeast, becoming a monetary standard in its own right.
Why the 1652 date? Some believe that it was intended to commemorate the founding of the Massachusetts mint, which did occur in 1652. Others believe the choice was a reflection of larger political events. Coinage was a prerogative of the King. In theory, these colonists had no right to strike their own coins, no matter how great their need.
But in 1652, there was no king. King Charles had been beheaded three years previously, and England was a republic. The people in Massachusetts may have cleverly decided to put that date on their coinage so that they could deny any illegality when and if the monarchy were reestablished.
This "1652" shilling is likely to have been minted around 1670. In 1682, the Hull/Sanderson mint closed after closer royal scrutiny of the operation.
date on coin
1652
date made
1667 - 1674
maker
Massachusetts Bay Colony
ID Number
1982.0798.0009
catalog number
1982.0798.0009
accession number
1982.0798
catalog number
82.48.09

1 Dollar, Norfolk, Nebraska, 1933

During the Great Depression of the 1930s, regular money was withheld from circulation.
Description
During the Great Depression of the 1930s, regular money was withheld from circulation. Spending was curtailed, available cash was hidden, and, by the fall of 1932, runs on banks across the country were leading to "bank holidays" in state after state.
By the beginning of 1933, bank closures were becoming commonplace. Indeed, the new president, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, ordered a national bank holiday, during which time an army of examiners fanned out and checked the solvency of banks across the Republic. They certified the sound ones and closed the unsound ones. If people were hoarding money, and banks were locked up, how did buying and selling go on?
The brief answer is that local institutions supplied their own money. Towns and counties, factories and unemployment agencies, a fish processor in Massachusetts, and a college in California all created money for their communities. Emergency issues came from all of the forty-eight states, plus the territories of Hawaii and Alaska and the District of Columbia. The new money was mostly made of paper, but issues in leather, wood, tinfoil, and other materials also appeared.
In the Midwest, an idea first developed in Austria and Germany was tried in a number of places, including Norfolk, Nebraska. This Norfolk note bears simple designs, but the idea behind it was sophisticated. The city fathers reasoned that money would only be useful if it stayed in circulation.
And the best way to ensure that would be to require affixing small stamps to the back of the note, dated by hand. If they weren't added on a regular basis, the bill became irredeemable. The authorities also added pleas for circulation on the top and bottom margins of the note. From the stamps' use, the plan worked.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1933
maker
Town of Norfolk, Nebraska
signatory
King, M. E.
Miller, Rowan
issuing authority
Norfolk Scrip Committee
ID Number
1992.0061.0148
catalog number
1992.0061.0148
accession number
1992.0061
catalog number
92.61.148
serial number
862

Pismo Beach, California, 1 Dollar, 1933 (clamshell)

When the Depression and resulting banking crisis hit their community, the residents of the coastal town of Pismo Beach, California picked an unusual but logical medium of exchange.
Description
When the Depression and resulting banking crisis hit their community, the residents of the coastal town of Pismo Beach, California picked an unusual but logical medium of exchange. The pismo is a species of clam with a very thick shell, then found in large numbers along the California coast and prized as a food.
A town named after the bivalves suggests an adequate supply of their shells. Perhaps with tongue in cheek, the merchants and officials of Pismo Beach (who were often the same people) decided to make the best of a bad situation, and to make the humble clam shell into an object of trade. This they did. The Chamber of Commerce and no fewer than eleven merchants issued clamshell scrip.
Each piece was numbered, and each piece was signed on the front and on the back. As with the stamp notes of the Midwest, it was necessary to sign each clamshell on the back in order to keep it in circulation. No formal requirements may have existed, but informal pressure certainly would have endorsed the practice.
Restwell Cabins issued "notes" in three denominations: twenty-five cents, fifty cents, and one dollar. The larger the amount, the larger the shell. The issue may have been partly intended as a spoof, or for sale to tourists, in the manner of German notgeld around 1920. Redemption would never be a problem because collectors would want to keep these pieces in their cabinets or trade them with their friends.
But it was also intended partly as a real, if unique, circulating medium. The Restwell Cabins issue bore the motto, "IN GOD WE TRUST." Each piece was numbered, and each was signed on the front and on the back. This specimen is dated March 8, 1933. This was in the middle of Roosevelt's national banking holiday, and it is exactly the time when we might expect to see people take money into their own hands.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1933
date on object
1933-03-08
maker
Restwell Cabins
ID Number
1979.1263.00468
accession number
1979.1263
catalog number
79.112.OC102B
collector/donor number
OC102

5 Cents, United States, 1913

One (1) 5 cent coinUnited States, 1913Obverse Image: Left-facing Liberty wearing a coronet.
Description (Brief)
One (1) 5 cent coin
United States, 1913
Obverse Image: Left-facing Liberty wearing a coronet. 13 stars along edge.
Obverse Text: LIBERTY / 1913
Reverse Image: Wreath of wheat, cotton, and corn.
Reverse Text: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA / E PLURIBUS UNUM / V / CENTS
General Information: This coin is from the King Farouk Collection, and is also known as the King Farouk V Nickel.
Description
Some rarities are accidental, like the 1927 Denver double eagle. Others are contrived, beginning their lives as scams. The 1913 Liberty head five-cent piece, or nickel, falls into this category. Were it not for that date, even an advanced collector would hardly give it a second thought. But the date is different, and a very clever set of circumstances ensured that the coins bearing it became memorable, twentieth-century legends.
The first Liberty head nickels were struck in 1883, their designer the prolific if uninspired Charles E. Barber. Millions were made over the next three decades. The design was to be retired at the end of 1912, and that is when things began to become interesting. Despite orders to the contrary, five new Liberty head nickels were struck clandestinely, presumably at the beginning of 1913.
Spirited out of the Mint, they came into the possession of one Samuel W. Brown, of North Tonawanda, New York. He eventually became the town's mayor, but earlier had served as Storekeeper of the Mint. At the end of 1919, he placed an advertisement in the Numismatist, offering to pay $500 each for 1913 Liberty head nickels. Later he raised the offer to $600.
He already had all the coins, so what was he up to? He was making a legend, preparatory to making a profit! He displayed the coins at the following ANA convention (August 1920), finally selling the pieces to a Philadelphia dealer a few years later.
At this point, San Antonio coin dealer B. Max Mehl entered the picture, also making offers to buy any 1913 Liberty nickels. That did it: everyone from ten-year-old boys to sophisticated collectors began checking their change, hoping to come across another 1913. No one ever did, but the coin's legendary status was assured.
date made
1913
mint
U.S. Mint, Philadelphia
designer
Barber, Charles
ID Number
1977.1199.0001
accession number
1977.1199
catalog number
77.49.01

1 Dollar, United States, 1794

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

20 Dollars, United States, 1907

One (1) 20 dollar coinUnited States, 1907Obverse Image: Full-length Liberty holding a torch in her right hand and olive branch in left.
Description (Brief)
One (1) 20 dollar coin
United States, 1907
Obverse Image: Full-length Liberty holding a torch in her right hand and olive branch in left. Capitol Dome in lower left; rays of sun in background; stars around rim.
Obverse Text: LIBERTY / 1907
Reverse Image: Eagle flying through rays of sun.
Reverse Text: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA / TWENTY DOLLARS
Edge: E PLURIBUS UNUM divided by stars.
Description
In 1905, President Theodore Roosevelt asked sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens to lead an effort to redesign American coinage. Saint-Gaudens developed a design for what many consider the most beautiful American coin ever conceived. Unfortunately, the coin required multiple strikes to produce, even when its ultra-high relief design was reduced to a lower relief.
Deciding how to modify the coin so it could be produced in large quantities with a single strike in a high speed press was left to the Mint's Chief Engraver, Charles E. Barber. In effect, he told President Roosevelt to make a choice. He could have artistry in small quantities or mediocrity in large amounts.
If he chose the first, Americans would have beautiful money that few would ever see. If he opted for the second, Americans would have as much money as they needed, even though it might be merely pretty rather than beautiful. Roosevelt likely felt he had little choice: the purpose of coinage is commercial first, anything else second. And so one can imagine him being upset, but accepting low relief to facilitate an increase in production.
The first of the redesigned coins was struck in December 1907. It was easily distinguished from earlier versions: not only was there a radical difference in the coins' relief, but even the date had been altered. Saint-Gaudens's ultra high relief and Hering's high relief coins bore the date in Roman numerals (MCMVII). Barber's version featured Arabic numerals (1907). Thus amended, the new double eagles would continue to be struck through the beginning of 1933.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1907
designer
Saint-Gaudens, Augustus
mint
U.S. Mint, Philadelphia
ID Number
1985.0441.1266
catalog number
1985.0441.1266
accession number
1985.0441

10 Dollars, Pattern, United States, 1907

One (1) 10 dollar coin, patternUnited States, 1907Obverse Image: Left-facing Liberty wearing a feather headdress, 13 stars along top edge of coin.Obverse Text: LIBERTY / 1907Reverse Image: Eagle with wings folded standing on top of a bundle of arrows and branch.Reverse Text: UNIT
Description (Brief)
One (1) 10 dollar coin, pattern
United States, 1907
Obverse Image: Left-facing Liberty wearing a feather headdress, 13 stars along top edge of coin.
Obverse Text: LIBERTY / 1907
Reverse Image: Eagle with wings folded standing on top of a bundle of arrows and branch.
Reverse Text: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA / E PLURIBUS UNUM / TEN DOLLARS
Description
In 1905 President Theodore Roosevelt asked sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens to lead an effort to redesign American coinage. Saint-Gaudens developed a design that many consider the most beautiful American coin ever conceived. In addition to this $20 coin, Saint-Gaudens also redesigned this $10 coin, or eagle. Although the design has always been considered subordinate to his design for the $20 coin, it deserves close scrutiny. It bears witness to the labors of a gifted artist, working in ill health and under great pressure, and creating beauty almost at his final moment.
Saint-Gaudens was working against time and knew it. By the time he turned his attention to the ten-dollar coin, he was already gravely ill, with only a few months to live. So he recycled some earlier ideas. He reused a head of Victory that he had originally created for the Sherman Monument in New York City, adding a war bonnet. The result was fanciful, and Saint-Gaudens's logical equation of Liberty with a Native American was no more convincing than Longacre's version on the Indian Head cent.
But from an artistic point of view, it worked. The eagle on the reverse was also recycled, this time from President Roosevelt's inaugural medal. The coin shown here was struck in modest quantity-about thirty-two thousand pieces. However, all but forty-two were ultimately melted down.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1907
mint
U.S. Mint, Philadelphia
designer
Saint-Gaudens, Augustus
ID Number
1985.0441.2097
catalog number
1985.0441.2097
accession number
1985.0441

20 Dollars, Ultra High Relief Pattern, United States, 1907

One (1) 20 dollar coin, ultra high relief patternUnited States, 1907Obverse Image: Full-length Liberty holding a torch in her right hand and olive branch in left.
Description (Brief)
One (1) 20 dollar coin, ultra high relief pattern
United States, 1907
Obverse Image: Full-length Liberty holding a torch in her right hand and olive branch in left. Capitol Dome in lower left; rays of sun in background; stars around rim.
Obverse Text: LIBERTY / MCMVII
Reverse Image: Eagle flying through rays of sun.
Reverse Text: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA / TWENTY DOLLARS
Edge: E PLURIBUS UNUM divided by stars.
Description
In 1905, President Theodore Roosevelt asked sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens to redesign American coinage. As Saint-Gaudens began work on the project, there was never any possibility that he would restrict himself to well-traveled artistic paths. Playing it safe was against his nature and that of the president for whom he toiled.
As a result of Saint-Gaudens's vision and Roosevelt's persistence, Americans got their most beautiful double eagle, one of the most artistic pieces of money ever struck. Instead of a head or a static, seated goddess, Saint-Gaudens's Lady Liberty strides towards us, the dawn at her back. She represents the morning of the Republic, full of possibilities and hope.
She bears a torch in her right hand, an olive branch in her left: offerings of freedom and peace. The law said that Saint-Gaudens had to use an eagle for his reverse design, and so he did. But what an eagle! Nothing like it had ever been seen before. The naturalistic bird, in such high relief that it threatens to soar out of the circular space that seeks to enclose it, is all movement and grace.
Saint-Gaudens and his patron surely knew that this coin was impossible to make in mass quantities. The high relief came at a high price: it took nine blows from the hydraulic coining press to strike each one. Charles E. Barber, the Mint's chief engraver, strenuously objected out of jealousy, but he had a point.
This is no way to make money for mass circulation. But to Roosevelt and Saint-Gaudens, the chief engraver and other critics lacked vision. This ultra-high relief double eagle was intended to show what artistry and technology could do when afforded the chance. Fewer than two dozen of the ultra-high relief coins were minted, in February and March of 1907.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1907
mint
U.S. Mint, Philadelphia
designer
Saint-Gaudens, Augustus
ID Number
1985.0441.2098
catalog number
1985.0441.2098
accession number
1985.0441

1 Dollar, United States, 1794

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

20 Dollars, Pattern, United States, 1907

Someone once observed that a giraffe was a horse designed by a committee.
Description
Someone once observed that a giraffe was a horse designed by a committee. The same might be said of this coin: what had seemed a good idea around a table in the boardroom proved to be an interesting but spectacular flop as it neared production.
The coin resulted from a project that President Theodore Roosevelt began in 1905 to redesign American coinage. He commissioned sculptor August Saint-Gaudens to create the new designs, and Saint-Gaudens developed a plan for an ultra-high relief $20 coin. The coin here, which appears to have been struck early in 1907, followed Saint-Gaudens' basic designs, but there the similarities ended.
This experimental coin contained twenty dollars' worth of gold, but it was squeezed into a coin the width of a ten-dollar piece. The discrepancy was handled by making the patterns much thicker than ordinary coins. Staff at the Mint wondered whether it was possible to decrease the diameter to have the best of both worlds: a coin in glorious high relief that didn't take quite as many blows of the press to create. The experiment failed. Although the patterns were unacceptable for commerce, word of their existence leaked out to the collecting community. An exasperated Mint Director wanted them called in and melted down. Somehow two escaped. Both are in the Smithsonian Collection.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1907
mint
U.S. Mint, Philadelphia
designer
Saint-Gaudens, Augustus
ID Number
1985.0441.2100
catalog number
1985.0441.2100
accession number
1985.0441

20 Dollars, Pattern, United States, 1906

In 1905, President Theodore Roosevelt initiated a project to redesign American coinage and commissioned sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens to create the new designs.
Description
In 1905, President Theodore Roosevelt initiated a project to redesign American coinage and commissioned sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens to create the new designs. While the two had admirable goals, they committed the unpardonable bureaucratic sin--they had not "gone through channels." The Mint already had an artist, Charles E. Barber, and it would have been his job to redesign coinage if that was what the president wanted. Barber was unhappy with the president's new project, complained to anyone who'd listen, and finally decided to do something about it. He would design his own double eagle, and he would get it done before Saint-Gaudens completed his.
Barber was in an unusual hurry. His single surviving pattern double eagle, shown here, is unusual in American numismatics, and one of the least successful artistically. For the obverse, Barber featured a Liberty head with a Phrygian cap and a laurel wreath, inspired by contemporary French artists. For his reverse, he recycled some of his own earlier work. Back in 1891, he had created a pattern half dollar, the obverse of which had featured Liberty with a sword and a Liberty cap on a pole. Liberty was guarding an eagle, the symbol of America. Now, this old design appeared on the reverse of the new coin. Thus Barber's proposal had two Liberties, one on each side. Roosevelt was unimpressed. Saint-Gaudens went on with his work, and Barber continued to fume.
date made
1906
mint
U.S. Mint, Philadelphia
maker
Barber, Charles
ID Number
1985.0441.2095
catalog number
1985.0441.2095
accession number
1985.0441

20 Dollars, Pattern, United States, 1849

The California gold rush quickly gave the United States not one new gold coin, but two: a tiny gold dollar at the lower end of the monetary spectrum, and a large double eagle, or twenty-dollar coin, at the upper end.
Description
The California gold rush quickly gave the United States not one new gold coin, but two: a tiny gold dollar at the lower end of the monetary spectrum, and a large double eagle, or twenty-dollar coin, at the upper end. Why did Americans need more gold denominations?
So much gold was now coming out of California that it was actually lowering the value of that metal against silver. Bullion dealers began buying up silver dollars and half dollars for melting and export, for they were now worth more than face value as bullion. A Congressman from North Carolina had an idea: If gold dollars were struck, to pass at par with the silver ones, it might ease some of the pressure on silver coinage.
His bill was introduced late in January 1849. At the last minute, a provision was added for an entirely new coin, a double eagle. Thus amended, the bill became law on March 3, 1849. The production of gold dollars swung into action fairly quickly, and coinage had gotten under way by early May.
But the double eagles took longer. James B. Longacre, the artist selected to design the new large coin, encountered initial opposition from Mint officials, and it was late December before the first two pattern double eagles could be struck. One disappeared long ago, leaving this as the only surviving gold pattern from 1849.
date made
1849
mint
U.S. Mint, Philadelphia
obverse designer
Longacre, James Barton
reverse designer
Longacre, James Barton
ID Number
1986.0836.0064
catalog number
1986.0836.0064
accession number
1986.0836

1 Dollar, United States, 1804 (Class I)

The early dollars from the United States Mint were not instantly embraced by the public, which had become accustomed to the dollar's predecessor, the Spanish-American Piece of Eight.
Description
The early dollars from the United States Mint were not instantly embraced by the public, which had become accustomed to the dollar's predecessor, the Spanish-American Piece of Eight. That coin contained slightly more silver than its new competitor.
Then some entrepreneurs made an interesting discovery. They could buy American dollars, send them to the West Indies, and exchange them there at par for Spanish-American Pieces of Eight. Then they could bring the pesos home, turn them in to the Mint for melting, and make a profit by getting paid back in shiny new dollars.
When the scheme was uncovered, it resulted in a thirty-year halt in dollar production, beginning in 1805. Some 19,570 dollars were coined in 1804, before the halt began. Interestingly, they weren't dated 1804, but 1803, thus avoiding the production of new dies. Although a common, cost-cutting policy at the early United States Mint, this act led to confusion years later, and to three legendary coins included in this exhibition.
By the 1830s, American officials were actively exploring commercial opportunities elsewhere in the world. Seeking to influence foreign dignitaries, the Jackson administration instructed the Mint to create complete sets of specimen coins as gifts.
The Philadelphia coiners did so for most other denominations without difficulty. But what to do about the silver dollar? They knew that 1804 dollars had been struck, but there didn't seem to be any survivors. So in November 1834, they created eight new 1804-dated dollars for the gift sets (later termed "class one" 1804 dollars).
One of the eight became part of the set given to the Imam of Muscat, and another was sent to the King of Siam. And the other six? Within a few years, they escaped into private hands or entered circulation. And they became numismatic legends very quickly, for they had it all: mystery, intrigue, and tremendous rarity.
date made
1804
mint
U.S. Mint, Philadelphia
ID Number
1986.0836.0061
catalog number
1986.0836.0061
accession number
1986.0836

10 Dollars, United States, 1838

One (1) 10 dollar coinUnited States, 1838Obverse Image: Left facing Liberty with hair tied in a bun and wearing a coronet.
Description (Brief)
One (1) 10 dollar coin
United States, 1838
Obverse Image: Left facing Liberty with hair tied in a bun and wearing a coronet. 13 stars around.
Obverse Text: LIBERTY / 1838
Reverse Image: Eagle with wings outstretched clutching arrows and branch in talons, shield over chest.
Reverse Text: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA / TEN D.
Description
The gold British sovereigns that James Smithson bequeathed to the United States were melted down and re-struck as American coins. Some of the gold went into the reissue of the ten-dollar piece, or eagle. There were other factors at work, of course, including two Acts of Congress that reduced the weight and fineness of all United States gold coins, in an effort to keep them in circulation.
The resumption of eagle coinage was ordered in July 1838, and between seven and eight thousand of the coins, the first eagles struck since 1804, were minted at the beginning of December. Smithson's legacy played a role: the knowledge that a massive amount of bullion was on its way across the Atlantic fostered the decision to resume the eagle, the largest existing American denomination.
Christian Gobrecht was responsible for the designs on the resumed eagle coinage. His left-facing Liberty sported a coronet (there is a copper cent, also by Gobrecht, with a nearly identical arrangement), while the rounded tip of the truncation points to the "1" in the date.
A simple eagle with shield appears on the reverse. The obverse design was modified slightly in 1839, the truncation now being centered above the date. A handful of proofs, specimen coins of record or for VIPs, was also struck. Three have been reliably reported, and a fourth is rumored.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1838
mint
U.S. Mint, Philadelphia
designer
Gobrecht, Christian
ID Number
1985.0441.0292
catalog number
1985.0441.0292
accession number
1985.0441

20 Dollars, United States, 1908 (Matte Proof)

One (1) 20 dollar coin, matte proofUnited States, 1908Obverse Image: Full-length Liberty holding a torch in her right hand and olive branch in left.
Description (Brief)
One (1) 20 dollar coin, matte proof
United States, 1908
Obverse Image: Full-length Liberty holding a torch in her right hand and olive branch in left. Capitol Dome in lower left; rays of sun in background; stars around rim.
Obverse Text: LIBERTY / 1908
Reverse Image: Eagle flying through rays of sun.
Reverse Text: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA / TWENTY DOLLARS
Edge: E PLURIBUS UNUM divided by stars.
Description
In 1905 President Theodore Roosevelt asked sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens to lead an effort to redesign American coinage. Saint-Gaudens developed a design that many consider the most beautiful American coin ever conceived. The Mint's Chief Engraver, Charles E. Barber, opposed the project, but ultimately developed a low-relief version of the Saint-Gaudens design that became the standard American $20 coin.
Barber was not averse to experimentation. He simply believed it had to be kept within fairly close bounds, and under the Mint's control. It would also help if there was profit involved. Instead of experimenting with relief, Barber tried modifying the finish of the Saint-Gaudens coin design. In one test, a "Roman Gold" finish was devised, imparting a glowing, golden surface to coins that would otherwise have a slight reddish sheen about them, from the copper added to the mixture to make the coins wear better.
No records of how this special finish was applied have survived; but a good guess would be that a light layer of pure gold dust was applied to both surfaces of the coin blank before striking. The force of the press would bond the dust to the blank as the blank was coined. In another test that yielded the coin shown here, Barber developed a "Matte" finish. In this case, the coin was likely struck first (more than once, in order to fully bring up what relief there was), and then "pickled," or etched in dilute acid.
The result was a coin of a vaguely medallic appearance, without all the work entailed in multiple striking. In addition to testing a concept, this experiment was directed at producing a few specialized coins that could be sold to collectors at inflated prices.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1908
mint
U.S. Mint, Philadelphia
designer
Saint-Gaudens, Augustus
ID Number
1985.0441.1285
catalog number
1985.0441.1285
accession number
1985.0441

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