National Numismatic Collection

The National Numismatic Collection is comprised of approximately 1.6 million objects and is thought to be the largest collection of money and transactional objects in the world. Its diverse holdings represent every inhabited continent and span more than three millennia.

The collection has grown from a few thousand objects in the mid-19th century to its present size through donations from public institutions and private collections.

The National Numismatic Collection is unrivaled in its holdings of American material. It is the U.S. monetary system's collection of record and includes the extraordinary collections of the U.S. Mint, Treasury, and Bureau of Engraving and Printing.

A small portion of the National Numismatic Collection is available here. The National Numismatic Collection is currently working to develop digitization initiatives in order to make the national collection more accessible to the public.

One (1) cent coinUnited States, 1857Obverse Image: Left-facing Liberty with braided hair wearing a coronet. 13 stars along coin edge.Obverse Text: LIBERTY / 1857Reverse Image: Wreath.Reverse Text: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA / ONE CENT
Description (Brief)
One (1) cent coin
United States, 1857
Obverse Image: Left-facing Liberty with braided hair wearing a coronet. 13 stars along coin edge.
Obverse Text: LIBERTY / 1857
Reverse Image: Wreath.
Reverse Text: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA / ONE CENT
date made
1857
mint
United States Mint
designer
Gobrecht, Christian
ID Number
1985.0441.0548
catalog number
1985.0441.0548
accession number
1985.0441
One (1) cent coinUnited States, 1857Obverse Image: Flying eagle.Obverse Text: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA / 1857Reverse Image: Wreath of wheat, corn, cotton, and tobacco.Reverse Text: ONE CENT
Description (Brief)
One (1) cent coin
United States, 1857
Obverse Image: Flying eagle.
Obverse Text: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA / 1857
Reverse Image: Wreath of wheat, corn, cotton, and tobacco.
Reverse Text: ONE CENT
date made
1857
mint
United States Mint
designer
Longacre, James Barton
ID Number
1979.1263.00138
catalog number
1979.1263.00138
accession number
1979.1263
Kellogg & Co. was one of the last private coiners to appear in San Francisco, but its double eagles were well made and well engraved.
Description
Kellogg & Co. was one of the last private coiners to appear in San Francisco, but its double eagles were well made and well engraved. One of those responsible for the artwork was Ferdinand Gruner, another Central European emigre who may have also been responsible for some of the fractional gold coinage of the decade of the 1850s.
Kellogg & Co. was an offshoot of a larger firm, Moffat & Co. John Glover Kellogg had served as Moffat's cashier, while the other principal, G. F. Richter, had been its assayer.
Perhaps emboldened by public acceptance of their twenty-dollar coins, Kellogg & Co. put plans into motion to produce a fifty-dollar piece. Eleven coins, all proofs, survive to bear testimony to this idea. But no business strikes resulted, even though a competitor, Wass, Molitor & Co., did succeed in circulating such pieces during that same year.
date made
1855
mint
Kellogg and Company
ID Number
NU.68.159.1149
accession number
283645
catalog number
68.159.1149

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