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.

Place: United States

20 Dollars, Confederate States of America, 1861

Between the winter of 1860 and the spring of 1861, eleven Southern states broke away from the United States to form a new country, the Confederate States of America (CSA).
Description
Between the winter of 1860 and the spring of 1861, eleven Southern states broke away from the United States to form a new country, the Confederate States of America (CSA). As a fledgling nation, the Confederacy faced two obstacles: to create a sense of national unity and to arm its troops to wage a modern war. Money connected both issues—it would celebrate the new nation and finance the war. On March 9, 1861, the CSA authorized a national currency.
Between 1861 and 1865, the new government issued Confederate currency on eight separate occasions. Each issuance pumped millions of dollars into circulation. Counterfeiters added to the deluge with freshly made fakes. The result was a staggering amount of paper money and massive inflation. The CSA responded to the problem by recalling, cancelling, and burning old notes to remove them from circulation. The first official recall on February 17th, 1864, came after two years of less harsh—but unsuccessful—efforts to reduce the volume of currency in circulation.
The problem of what to do with all of the recalled money fell to the Confederate Treasury Department, which enlisted the help of banks and depositories. Historian and numismatist Douglas Ball identified three primary strategies used to cancel currency. Machine-powered circular punches were preferred by the Treasury, while banks canceled currency by striking it with bank hammers, which left two x-shaped slices on the note. Depositories also used bank hammers, but sometimes opted to cut the notes with scissors, leaving two small triangles along the bottom edge.
Once cancelled, all notes were sent to the Confederate Treasury in Richmond, Virginia, to be burned. Some notes escaped destruction. At war’s end, the Union Army confiscated the notes along with Confederate government records to investigate a possible connection between the Confederacy and President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination.
Today, researchers examine Confederate Currency seeking clues about the economic, social, and technological underpinnings of the South during the Civil War. Smithsonian curator and historian Richard Doty has discovered physical evidence of some of the extraordinary measures people undertook to keep their money in circulation. Stitches, postage stamps, pieces of newsprint, and even fragments of love letters were used to reinforce torn notes.
The careful repair of Confederate currency was done for reasons that had nothing to do with simple economics. Money has always been seen as an emblem of sovereignty. So if people simply allowed their money to disintegrate –and some must have been tempted in that direction, as the value of their money had shrunk almost to the vanishing point by the final months of the war– what did that say about their belief in the Cause?
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1861
maker
Hoyer & Ludwig
ID Number
1998.0063.0329
accession number
1998.0063
catalog number
1998.0063.0329
serial number
13134

10 Dollars, Confederate States of America, 1863

One (1) ten dollar Confederate States of America paper currency. Richard, Virginia;"Lithod. by Evans & Cogswell", "Engraved by Keatinge & Ball, Columbia, S.C.";Front Center Image: State Capitol at Columbia, S.C.;Front Right Image: R.M.T.
Description
One (1) ten dollar Confederate States of America paper currency. Richard, Virginia;
"Lithod. by Evans & Cogswell", "Engraved by Keatinge & Ball, Columbia, S.C.";
Front Center Image: State Capitol at Columbia, S.C.;
Front Right Image: R.M.T. Hunter;
"1st Series", Plate Letter "A", CSA Serial "No. 70000", "June 1863" in red;
Back Image: Ten "X"s inside medallions in an x-formation;
Back Text: "Ten Dollars" on banner Above and Below "X"s;
Punch Canceled.
Between the winter of 1860 and the spring of 1861, eleven Southern states broke away from the United States to form a new country, the Confederate States of America (CSA). As a fledgling nation, the Confederacy faced two obstacles: to create a sense of national unity and to arm its troops to wage a modern war. Money connected both issues—it would celebrate the new nation and finance the war. On March 9, 1861, the CSA authorized a national currency.
Between 1861 and 1865, the new government issued Confederate currency on eight separate occasions. Each issuance pumped millions of dollars into circulation. Counterfeiters added to the deluge with freshly made fakes. The result was a staggering amount of paper money and massive inflation. The CSA responded to the problem by recalling, cancelling, and burning old notes to remove them from circulation. The first official recall on February 17th, 1864, came after two years of less harsh—but unsuccessful—efforts to reduce the volume of currency in circulation.
The problem of what to do with all of the recalled money fell to the Confederate Treasury Department, which enlisted the help of banks and depositories. Historian and numismatist Douglas Ball identified three primary strategies used to cancel currency. Machine-powered circular punches were preferred by the Treasury, while banks canceled currency by striking it with bank hammers, which left two x-shaped slices on the note. Depositories also used bank hammers, but sometimes opted to cut the notes with scissors, leaving two small triangles along the bottom edge.
Once cancelled, all notes were sent to the Confederate Treasury in Richmond, Virginia, to be burned. Some notes escaped destruction. At war’s end, the Union Army confiscated the notes along with Confederate government records to investigate a possible connection between the Confederacy and President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination.
Today, researchers examine Confederate Currency seeking clues about the economic, social, and technological underpinnings of the South during the Civil War. Smithsonian curator and historian Richard Doty has discovered physical evidence of some of the extraordinary measures people undertook to keep their money in circulation. Stitches, postage stamps, pieces of newsprint, and even fragments of love letters were used to reinforce torn notes.
The careful repair of Confederate currency was done for reasons that had nothing to do with simple economics. Money has always been seen as an emblem of sovereignty. So if people simply allowed their money to disintegrate –and some must have been tempted in that direction, as the value of their money had shrunk almost to the vanishing point by the final months of the war– what did that say about their belief in the Cause?
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1863
ID Number
1998.0063.0172
accession number
1998.0063
catalog number
1998.0063.0172

5 Dollars, Confederate States of America, 1863

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
Apr. 6, 1863
date made
1863
ID Number
1998.0063.0132
serial number
21252
accession number
1998.0063
catalog number
1998.0063.0132

Townsend Test Check, Brewster, WA 1937

This one dollar check from the First National Bank of Brewster, Washington, was paid to the order of “Prosperity” by Dorwin D. Holland, treasurer of Brewster’s Townsend Test Fund, on January 25, 1937.
Description
This one dollar check from the First National Bank of Brewster, Washington, was paid to the order of “Prosperity” by Dorwin D. Holland, treasurer of Brewster’s Townsend Test Fund, on January 25, 1937. David Silva Sampson was chosen by Brewster’s Townsend Club to spend 200 dollars in checks to test Townsend’s Pension Plan. The check was spent like a dollar note; each merchant would pay a two cent tax to go toward the pension’s kitty. Each time the note was spent, the note was signed on the back by the seller. This note passed through twelve hands before stopping with Nettie Whitinger on February 8, 1937. While Townsend’s plan was never adopted, other tests were funded in Chelan, Washington, and Bergenfield, New Jersey. The tests were not favorable toward Townsend’s plan, as local news reports blamed souvenir seekers for taking the checks out of circulation, ending that note’s chance to be used and taxed.
The United States was in the middle of the Great Depression in the 1930s and many people saw a need for old-age pension plans to help the working elderly retire comfortably, which would then open up new jobs for younger workers. Francis Townsend, a Californian physician, proposed a plan that gave 200 dollars a month to every citizen sixty years and older, believing that would stimulate the economy and jolt America out of the Depression. Under the Townsend Plan, the pensioner must be retired and have a crime-free past in order to receive the money, which must be spent locally during the month it was issued. The pension would be funded by a 2% tax paid by the seller in transactions involving the pension money. While the plan could never fund its promised output, well-organized seniors exerted mounting political pressure for some sort of economic security, prompting President Franklin D. Roosevelt to urge the passing of the Social Security Act in 1935.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1937
ID Number
1979.1263.00002
accession number
1979.1263
catalog number
1979.1263.00002
serial number
H41

food coupons

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1997 B
1997
depicted (sitter)
Jefferson, Thomas
maker
U.S. Bank Note Company
ID Number
2010.0019.081
accession number
2010.0019
catalog number
2010.0019.081
serial number
C70581382X

10 Dollars

One (1) ten dollar Confederate States of America paper currency. Richmond, Virginia;"Lithod. by Evans & Cogswell", "Engraved by Keatinge & Ball, Columbia, S.C.";Front Center Image: State Capitol at Columbia, S.C.;Front Right Image: R.M.T. Hunter;Plate Letter "H", CSA Serial "No.
Description
One (1) ten dollar Confederate States of America paper currency. Richmond, Virginia;
"Lithod. by Evans & Cogswell", "Engraved by Keatinge & Ball, Columbia, S.C.";
Front Center Image: State Capitol at Columbia, S.C.;
Front Right Image: R.M.T. Hunter;
Plate Letter "H", CSA Serial "No. 32085", "January 1864" in red;
Back Image: Ten "X"s inside medallions in an x-formation;
Back Text: "Ten Dollars" on banner Above and Below "X"s;
Punch Canceled.
Between the winter of 1860 and the spring of 1861, eleven Southern states broke away from the United States to form a new country, the Confederate States of America (CSA). As a fledgling nation, the Confederacy faced two obstacles: to create a sense of national unity and to arm its troops to wage a modern war. Money connected both issues—it would celebrate the new nation and finance the war. On March 9, 1861, the CSA authorized a national currency.
Between 1861 and 1865, the new government issued Confederate currency on eight separate occasions. Each issuance pumped millions of dollars into circulation. Counterfeiters added to the deluge with freshly made fakes. The result was a staggering amount of paper money and massive inflation. The CSA responded to the problem by recalling, cancelling, and burning old notes to remove them from circulation. The first official recall on February 17th, 1864, came after two years of less harsh—but unsuccessful—efforts to reduce the volume of currency in circulation.
The problem of what to do with all of the recalled money fell to the Confederate Treasury Department, which enlisted the help of banks and depositories. Historian and numismatist Douglas Ball identified three primary strategies used to cancel currency. Machine-powered circular punches were preferred by the Treasury, while banks canceled currency by striking it with bank hammers, which left two x-shaped slices on the note. Depositories also used bank hammers, but sometimes opted to cut the notes with scissors, leaving two small triangles along the bottom edge.
Once cancelled, all notes were sent to the Confederate Treasury in Richmond, Virginia, to be burned. Some notes escaped destruction. At war’s end, the Union Army confiscated the notes along with Confederate government records to investigate a possible connection between the Confederacy and President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination.
Today, researchers examine Confederate Currency seeking clues about the economic, social, and technological underpinnings of the South during the Civil War. Smithsonian curator and historian Richard Doty has discovered physical evidence of some of the extraordinary measures people undertook to keep their money in circulation. Stitches, postage stamps, pieces of newsprint, and even fragments of love letters were used to reinforce torn notes.
The careful repair of Confederate currency was done for reasons that had nothing to do with simple economics. Money has always been seen as an emblem of sovereignty. So if people simply allowed their money to disintegrate –and some must have been tempted in that direction, as the value of their money had shrunk almost to the vanishing point by the final months of the war– what did that say about their belief in the Cause?
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1863
ID Number
1998.0063.0183
accession number
1998.0063
catalog number
1998.0063.0183

10 Dollars, Confederate States of America, 1861

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
Sept. 2, 1861
date made
1861
maker
B. Duncan
ID Number
1998.0063.0142
serial number
31364
accession number
1998.0063
catalog number
1998.0063.0142

3 Dollars

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1861-10-21
ID Number
2008.0108.0015
accession number
2008.0108

10 Dollars

Between the winter of 1860 and the spring of 1861, eleven Southern states broke away from the United States to form a new country, the Confederate States of America (CSA).
Description
Between the winter of 1860 and the spring of 1861, eleven Southern states broke away from the United States to form a new country, the Confederate States of America (CSA). As a fledgling nation, the Confederacy faced two obstacles: to create a sense of national unity and to arm its troops to wage a modern war. Money connected both issues—it would celebrate the new nation and finance the war. On March 9, 1861, the CSA authorized a national currency.
Between 1861 and 1865, the new government issued Confederate currency on eight separate occasions. Each issuance pumped millions of dollars into circulation. Counterfeiters added to the deluge with freshly made fakes. The result was a staggering amount of paper money and massive inflation. The CSA responded to the problem by recalling, cancelling, and burning old notes to remove them from circulation. The first official recall on February 17th, 1864, came after two years of less harsh—but unsuccessful—efforts to reduce the volume of currency in circulation.
The problem of what to do with all of the recalled money fell to the Confederate Treasury Department, which enlisted the help of banks and depositories. Historian and numismatist Douglas Ball identified three primary strategies used to cancel currency. Machine-powered circular punches were preferred by the Treasury, while banks canceled currency by striking it with bank hammers, which left two x-shaped slices on the note. Depositories also used bank hammers, but sometimes opted to cut the notes with scissors, leaving two small triangles along the bottom edge.
Once cancelled, all notes were sent to the Confederate Treasury in Richmond, Virginia, to be burned. Some notes escaped destruction. At war’s end, the Union Army confiscated the notes along with Confederate government records to investigate a possible connection between the Confederacy and President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination.
Today, researchers examine Confederate Currency seeking clues about the economic, social, and technological underpinnings of the South during the Civil War. Smithsonian curator and historian Richard Doty has discovered physical evidence of some of the extraordinary measures people undertook to keep their money in circulation. Stitches, postage stamps, pieces of newsprint, and even fragments of love letters were used to reinforce torn notes.
The careful repair of Confederate currency was done for reasons that had nothing to do with simple economics. Money has always been seen as an emblem of sovereignty. So if people simply allowed their money to disintegrate –and some must have been tempted in that direction, as the value of their money had shrunk almost to the vanishing point by the final months of the war– what did that say about their belief in the Cause?
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1863
ID Number
1998.0063.0476
accession number
1998.0063
catalog number
1998.0063.0476

10 Dollars

Between the winter of 1860 and the spring of 1861, eleven Southern states broke away from the United States to form a new country, the Confederate States of America (CSA).
Description
Between the winter of 1860 and the spring of 1861, eleven Southern states broke away from the United States to form a new country, the Confederate States of America (CSA). As a fledgling nation, the Confederacy faced two obstacles: to create a sense of national unity and to arm its troops to wage a modern war. Money connected both issues—it would celebrate the new nation and finance the war. On March 9, 1861, the CSA authorized a national currency.
Between 1861 and 1865, the new government issued Confederate currency on eight separate occasions. Each issuance pumped millions of dollars into circulation. Counterfeiters added to the deluge with freshly made fakes. The result was a staggering amount of paper money and massive inflation. The CSA responded to the problem by recalling, cancelling, and burning old notes to remove them from circulation. The first official recall on February 17th, 1864, came after two years of less harsh—but unsuccessful—efforts to reduce the volume of currency in circulation.
The problem of what to do with all of the recalled money fell to the Confederate Treasury Department, which enlisted the help of banks and depositories. Historian and numismatist Douglas Ball identified three primary strategies used to cancel currency. Machine-powered circular punches were preferred by the Treasury, while banks canceled currency by striking it with bank hammers, which left two x-shaped slices on the note. Depositories also used bank hammers, but sometimes opted to cut the notes with scissors, leaving two small triangles along the bottom edge.
Once cancelled, all notes were sent to the Confederate Treasury in Richmond, Virginia, to be burned. Some notes escaped destruction. At war’s end, the Union Army confiscated the notes along with Confederate government records to investigate a possible connection between the Confederacy and President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination.
Today, researchers examine Confederate Currency seeking clues about the economic, social, and technological underpinnings of the South during the Civil War. Smithsonian curator and historian Richard Doty has discovered physical evidence of some of the extraordinary measures people undertook to keep their money in circulation. Stitches, postage stamps, pieces of newsprint, and even fragments of love letters were used to reinforce torn notes.
The careful repair of Confederate currency was done for reasons that had nothing to do with simple economics. Money has always been seen as an emblem of sovereignty. So if people simply allowed their money to disintegrate –and some must have been tempted in that direction, as the value of their money had shrunk almost to the vanishing point by the final months of the war– what did that say about their belief in the Cause?
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1863
ID Number
1998.0063.0449
accession number
1998.0063
catalog number
1998.0063.0449

1 Dollar, United States, 2000

date made
2000
designer
Goodacre, Glenna
ID Number
2008.0108.0034
accession number
2008.0108
catalog number
2008.0108.0034

50 cents

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
maker
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Bureau of Engraving and Printing
ID Number
2010.0019.117
accession number
2010.0019
catalog number
2010.0019.117

food coupons

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1961-1969
maker
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Bureau of Engraving and Printing
ID Number
2010.0019.072
accession number
2010.0019
catalog number
2010.0019.072
serial number
A0000000B

EBT (Electronic Benefit Transfer)

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
2009-06
ID Number
2010.0019.170
accession number
2010.0019
catalog number
2010.0019.170
serial number
0039

5 Dollars, Confederate States of America, 1863

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
Apr. 6, 1863
date made
1863
ID Number
1998.0063.0102
serial number
18732
accession number
1998.0063
catalog number
1998.0063.0102

5 Dollars, Confederate States of America, 1862

Between the winter of 1860 and the spring of 1861, eleven Southern states broke away from the United States to form a new country, the Confederate States of America (CSA).
Description
Between the winter of 1860 and the spring of 1861, eleven Southern states broke away from the United States to form a new country, the Confederate States of America (CSA). As a fledgling nation, the Confederacy faced two obstacles: to create a sense of national unity and to arm its troops to wage a modern war. Money connected both issues—it would celebrate the new nation and finance the war. On March 9, 1861, the CSA authorized a national currency.
Between 1861 and 1865, the new government issued Confederate currency on eight separate occasions. Each issuance pumped millions of dollars into circulation. Counterfeiters added to the deluge with freshly made fakes. The result was a staggering amount of paper money and massive inflation. The CSA responded to the problem by recalling, cancelling, and burning old notes to remove them from circulation. The first official recall on February 17th, 1864, came after two years of less harsh—but unsuccessful—efforts to reduce the volume of currency in circulation.
The problem of what to do with all of the recalled money fell to the Confederate Treasury Department, which enlisted the help of banks and depositories. Historian and numismatist Douglas Ball identified three primary strategies used to cancel currency. Machine-powered circular punches were preferred by the Treasury, while banks canceled currency by striking it with bank hammers, which left two x-shaped slices on the note. Depositories also used bank hammers, but sometimes opted to cut the notes with scissors, leaving two small triangles along the bottom edge.
Once cancelled, all notes were sent to the Confederate Treasury in Richmond, Virginia, to be burned. Some notes escaped destruction. At war’s end, the Union Army confiscated the notes along with Confederate government records to investigate a possible connection between the Confederacy and President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination.
Today, researchers examine Confederate Currency seeking clues about the economic, social, and technological underpinnings of the South during the Civil War. Smithsonian curator and historian Richard Doty has discovered physical evidence of some of the extraordinary measures people undertook to keep their money in circulation. Stitches, postage stamps, pieces of newsprint, and even fragments of love letters were used to reinforce torn notes.
The careful repair of Confederate currency was done for reasons that had nothing to do with simple economics. Money has always been seen as an emblem of sovereignty. So if people simply allowed their money to disintegrate –and some must have been tempted in that direction, as the value of their money had shrunk almost to the vanishing point by the final months of the war– what did that say about their belief in the Cause?
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1862
ID Number
1998.0063.0665
catalog number
1998.0063.0665
accession number
1998.0063

10 Dollars, Confederate States of America, 1862

Between the winter of 1860 and the spring of 1861, eleven Southern states broke away from the United States to form a new country, the Confederate States of America (CSA).
Description
Between the winter of 1860 and the spring of 1861, eleven Southern states broke away from the United States to form a new country, the Confederate States of America (CSA). As a fledgling nation, the Confederacy faced two obstacles: to create a sense of national unity and to arm its troops to wage a modern war. Money connected both issues—it would celebrate the new nation and finance the war. On March 9, 1861, the CSA authorized a national currency.
Between 1861 and 1865, the new government issued Confederate currency on eight separate occasions. Each issuance pumped millions of dollars into circulation. Counterfeiters added to the deluge with freshly made fakes. The result was a staggering amount of paper money and massive inflation. The CSA responded to the problem by recalling, cancelling, and burning old notes to remove them from circulation. The first official recall on February 17th, 1864, came after two years of less harsh—but unsuccessful—efforts to reduce the volume of currency in circulation.
The problem of what to do with all of the recalled money fell to the Confederate Treasury Department, which enlisted the help of banks and depositories. Historian and numismatist Douglas Ball identified three primary strategies used to cancel currency. Machine-powered circular punches were preferred by the Treasury, while banks canceled currency by striking it with bank hammers, which left two x-shaped slices on the note. Depositories also used bank hammers, but sometimes opted to cut the notes with scissors, leaving two small triangles along the bottom edge.
Once cancelled, all notes were sent to the Confederate Treasury in Richmond, Virginia, to be burned. Some notes escaped destruction. At war’s end, the Union Army confiscated the notes along with Confederate government records to investigate a possible connection between the Confederacy and President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination.
Today, researchers examine Confederate Currency seeking clues about the economic, social, and technological underpinnings of the South during the Civil War. Smithsonian curator and historian Richard Doty has discovered physical evidence of some of the extraordinary measures people undertook to keep their money in circulation. Stitches, postage stamps, pieces of newsprint, and even fragments of love letters were used to reinforce torn notes.
The careful repair of Confederate currency was done for reasons that had nothing to do with simple economics. Money has always been seen as an emblem of sovereignty. So if people simply allowed their money to disintegrate –and some must have been tempted in that direction, as the value of their money had shrunk almost to the vanishing point by the final months of the war– what did that say about their belief in the Cause?
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1862
ID Number
1998.0063.0699
accession number
1998.0063
catalog number
1998.0063.0699

5 Dollars, Confederate States of America, 1862

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
Dec. 2, 1862
date made
1862
ID Number
1998.0063.0085
serial number
157658
accession number
1998.0063
catalog number
1998.0063.0085

20 Dollars, Confederate States of America, 1861

Between the winter of 1860 and the spring of 1861, eleven Southern states broke away from the United States to form a new country, the Confederate States of America (CSA).
Description
Between the winter of 1860 and the spring of 1861, eleven Southern states broke away from the United States to form a new country, the Confederate States of America (CSA). As a fledgling nation, the Confederacy faced two obstacles: to create a sense of national unity and to arm its troops to wage a modern war. Money connected both issues—it would celebrate the new nation and finance the war. On March 9, 1861, the CSA authorized a national currency.
Between 1861 and 1865, the new government issued Confederate currency on eight separate occasions. Each issuance pumped millions of dollars into circulation. Counterfeiters added to the deluge with freshly made fakes. The result was a staggering amount of paper money and massive inflation. The CSA responded to the problem by recalling, cancelling, and burning old notes to remove them from circulation. The first official recall on February 17th, 1864, came after two years of less harsh—but unsuccessful—efforts to reduce the volume of currency in circulation.
The problem of what to do with all of the recalled money fell to the Confederate Treasury Department, which enlisted the help of banks and depositories. Historian and numismatist Douglas Ball identified three primary strategies used to cancel currency. Machine-powered circular punches were preferred by the Treasury, while banks canceled currency by striking it with bank hammers, which left two x-shaped slices on the note. Depositories also used bank hammers, but sometimes opted to cut the notes with scissors, leaving two small triangles along the bottom edge.
Once cancelled, all notes were sent to the Confederate Treasury in Richmond, Virginia, to be burned. Some notes escaped destruction. At war’s end, the Union Army confiscated the notes along with Confederate government records to investigate a possible connection between the Confederacy and President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination.
Today, researchers examine Confederate Currency seeking clues about the economic, social, and technological underpinnings of the South during the Civil War. Smithsonian curator and historian Richard Doty has discovered physical evidence of some of the extraordinary measures people undertook to keep their money in circulation. Stitches, postage stamps, pieces of newsprint, and even fragments of love letters were used to reinforce torn notes.
The careful repair of Confederate currency was done for reasons that had nothing to do with simple economics. Money has always been seen as an emblem of sovereignty. So if people simply allowed their money to disintegrate –and some must have been tempted in that direction, as the value of their money had shrunk almost to the vanishing point by the final months of the war– what did that say about their belief in the Cause?
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1861
maker
Hoyer & Ludwig
ID Number
1998.0063.0372
accession number
1998.0063
catalog number
1998.0063.0372
serial number
35747

20 Dollars, United States, 1881

One (1) 20 dollar coinUnited States, 1881Obverse Image: Liberty wearing a coronet and facing left. 13 stars around.Obverse Text: LIBERTY / 1881Reverse Image: Heraldic eagle with wings outstretched clutching arrows and branch in talons, shield over chest.
Description (Brief)
One (1) 20 dollar coin
United States, 1881
Obverse Image: Liberty wearing a coronet and facing left. 13 stars around.
Obverse Text: LIBERTY / 1881
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 above stars.
Reverse Text: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA / TWENTY DOLLARS / IN GOD WE TRUST / E PLURIBUS UNUM / S
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1881
designer
Longacre, James Barton
mint
U.S. Mint, San Francisco
ID Number
NU.68.159.1003
accession number
283645
catalog number
68.159.1003

food coupons

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1982 B
1982
maker
U.S. Bank Note Company
ID Number
2010.0019.024
catalog number
2010.0019.024
accession number
2010.0019
serial number
A03747155H

3/4 De Real

This ¾ real token was produced by the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut during the late 19th–century. Scovill was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer that is still in business today.
Description (Brief)
This ¾ real token was produced by the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut during the late 19th–century. Scovill was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer that is still in business today. Scovill is an important example of early American industrial manufacturing that adapted armory machines to mass-produce a variety of consumer goods including buttons, daguerreotype mats, medals, coins, and tokens.
Obverse: The legend reads: BELIN
Reverse: The legend reads: ¾ DeREAL
Location
Currently not on view
date made
late 19th century
maker
Scovill Manufacturing Company
ID Number
1981.0296.1661
catalog number
1981.0296.1661
accession number
1981.0296

Puerto Rican Token

The Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut produced this token around the late 19th–century. Scovill was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer that is still in business today.
Description (Brief)
The Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut produced this token around the late 19th–century. Scovill was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer that is still in business today. Scovill is an important example of early American industrial manufacturing that adapted armory machines to mass-produce a variety of consumer goods including buttons, daguerreotype mats, medals, and coins.
Obverse: The legend reads: QUINCALLA Y FERRETERIA/PONCE
Reverse: The legend reads: TRUJILLO Y SUBINA/ 10/ EL COMETA
Location
Currently not on view
date made
late 19th century
maker
Scovill Manufacturing Company
ID Number
1981.0296.1662
catalog number
1981.0296.1662
accession number
1981.0296

Missouri Single Mill Sales Tax Token

The Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut produced this sales tax token around 1935. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer and is still in business today.
Description (Brief)
The Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut produced this sales tax token around 1935. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer and is still in business today. Scovill was an early industrial American innovator, adapting armory manufacturing processes to mass-produce a variety of consumer goods including buttons, daguerreotype mats, medals, coins, and tokens. This token was used when the sales tax was less than a cent.
Obverse: Image of the state of Missouri, with “1” in the center. The legend reads: MISSOURI SALES TAX RECEIPT/ 1.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1935
maker
Scovill Manufacturing Company
ID Number
1981.0296.1549
accession number
1981.0296
catalog number
1981.0296.1549

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