Coins, Currency, and Medals - Overview
The Museum possesses one of the largest numismatic collections in the world. The collections include over 1 million objects, comprising coins, medals, decorations, and pieces of paper money. Among the many great rarities here are some of the world’s oldest coins, created 2,700 years ago. But the collection also includes the latest innovations in electronic monetary exchange, as well as beads, wampum, and other commodities once used as money. A special strength lies in artifacts that illustrate the development of money and medals in the United States. The American section includes many rare and significant coins, such as two of three known examples of the world's most valuable coin, the 1933 double eagle $20 gold piece.
"Coins, Currency, and Medals - Overview" showing 9 items.
United States, Twenty Dollars, 1930 S
- Description
- United States Mint, San Francisco. Obverse: Liberty striding towards the viewer, bearing olive branch and torch. Reverse: Eagle in flight above the sun. Only two dozen of these coins survive. The mintage was small to begin with--only 74,000 pieces--and virtually all of the production run went into the melting pot.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1930
- mint
- U.S. Mint, San Francisco
- ID Number
- 1985.0441.1587
- catalog number
- 1985.0441.1587
- accession number
- 1985.0441
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
United States, Ten Dollars, 1930 S
- Description
- United States Mint, San Francisco. Obverse: Head of Liberty facing left, with feathered headdress; stars above, date below. Reverse: Standing eagle facing left. Most of the run was melted. This is one of the finest survivors.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1930
- designer
- Saint-Gaudens, Augustus
- mint
- U.S. Mint, San Francisco
- ID Number
- 1985.0441.1588
- accession number
- 1985.0441
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
United States, Twenty Dollars, 1931 D
- Description
- United States Mint, Denver. Obverse: Liberty striding towards the viewer, bearing olive branch and torch. Reverse: Eagle in flight above the sun.
- As many as three dozen may have survived, a huge number by the standards of the day which saw most gold coins melted. However, few specimens match the Smithsonian's specimen in terms of condition.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1931
- mint
- U.S. Mint, Denver
- ID Number
- NU*283645.1008
- accession number
- 283645
- catalog number
- 68.159.0396
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
United States, Twenty Dollars, 1931
- Description
- United States Mint, Philadelphia. Obverse: Liberty striding towards the viewer, bearing olive branch and torch. Reverse: Eagle in flight above the sun.
- Perhaps twenty double eagles from this year produced at Philadelphia survived. This is one of the survivors.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1931
- mint
- U.S. Mint, Philadelphia
- ID Number
- NU*283645.1009
- accession number
- 283645
- catalog number
- 68.159.0395
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
United States, Ten Dollars, 1933
- Description
- United States Mint, Philadelphia. Obverse: Liberty striding towards the viewer, bearing olive branch and torch. Reverse: Eagle in flight above the sun.
- A few dozen of these coins were released into circulation at the beginning of 1933. Only a handful remain today, the rest were melted.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1933
- mint
- U.S. Mint, Philadelphia
- ID Number
- NU*283645.1012
- accession number
- 283645
- catalog number
- 68.159.0334
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
United States, 20 Dollars, 1932
- Description
- United States Mint, Philadelphia. Obverse: Liberty striding towards the viewer, bearing olive branch and torch. Reverse: Eagle in flight above the sun. About two dozen coins have survived from the 1932 double eagle mintage.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1932
- mint
- U.S. Mint, Philadelphia
- maker
- Saint-Gaudens, Augustus
- ID Number
- 1985.0441.1610
- accession number
- 1985.0441
- catalog number
- 1985.0441.1610
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
United States, 20 Dollars, 1933
- Description
- United States Mint, Philadelphia. Production of gold coinage was halted early in 1933 as the United States continued to move away from the gold standard. All double eagles struck in 1933 were not issued or authorized to be released to the public. Instead, they were supposed to be melted down and conveyed as bullion to Fort Knox. But all of the coins were not melted down. A handful were spirited away and kept in hiding for decades. One double eagle dated 1933 surfaced recently, and a complicated arrangement monetized it so that it could be sold at auction for millions of dollars.
- This coin and another 1933 double eagle transferred from the U.S. Mint to the Smithsonian were the only legally owned with that date until recently.
- The 1933 double eagle marks the end of the era in which the U.S. Congress authorized circulating gold coinage.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1933
- mint
- U.S. Mint, Philadelphia
- maker
- Saint-Gaudens, Augustus
- ID Number
- NU*39166.0001
- accession number
- 130752
- catalog number
- NU*39166.0001
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
United States, 20 Dollars, 1933
- Description
- United States Mint, Philadelphia. Production of gold coinage was halted early in 1933. All double eagles struck that years were not to be released to the public, but melted down and conveyed as bullion to Fort Knox. But all of the coins were not melted down: as seems inevitable under these circumstances, a handful was spirited away, kept in hiding for decades. One coin surfaced recently, and a complicated arrangement resulted in its being sold at auction for millions of dollars.
- The two coins seen here are the only other 1933 double eagles legally held. They were transferred from the U.S. Mint to the Smithsonian Institution.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1933
- mint
- U.S. Mint, Philadelphia
- maker
- Saint-Gaudens, Augustus
- ID Number
- NU*39166.0002
- catalog number
- NU*39166.0002
- accession number
- 130752
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Silver Dollar Launching Coin
- Description
- In the life of a ship, launching day is one of the most important. Mariners have long believed that a mishap during a vessel’s slide from land to water foretold disaster. If the transition went smoothly, however, it was cause for celebration. This silver dollar was given to shipwright Archie Green on such an occasion in 1942, after he and his fellow shipyard workers successfully launched a C3 cargo ship in San Francisco.
- Launching ceremonies include various rituals, some of which are rooted in maritime traditions. The vessel is officially named on this day, and though not fully completed, it is ready to be moved from the yard into the water, where the final outfitting will be done. The ship is first "christened" by breaking a bottle over the bow, an honor usually performed by a woman associated with the vessel, such as the ship owner’s wife or daughter. As the last of the holding blocks are removed, the ship is released into the water by the launching gang, the crew responsible for ensuring the launch’s success.
- Archie Green was born in Winnipeg, Canada, in 1917 and moved to Los Angeles with his parents in 1922. After graduating from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1939, he began to learn the shipbuilding trade at the San Francisco shipyards. When war broke out, he took part in the U.S. government-sponsored emergency shipbuilding program, which was established to offset the terrible losses of cargo ships by Nazi U-boats.
- Drawing from lessons learned during the First World War, shipbuilders developed plans for standardized, prefabricated vessels that could be constructed in any shipyard in the nation. The most famous of these were the Liberty and Victory ships, which transported supplies and troops to Allied positions across the world. A type C3 ship, such as the one associated with this coin, was another design that produced a general-purpose vessel able to carry any cargo, but could also be modified for specific uses. Between 1939 and 1947, 465 of these ships were built in American shipyards.
- Archie Green went on to earn a Ph.D. in folklore and devoted his scholarly and teaching career to workers’ culture and occupational traditions. He remained a member of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America until his death in 2009.
- date made
- 1923
- shipwright
- Green, Archie
- Archie Green's college
- University of California, Berkeley
- ID Number
- 1994.0296.01
- catalog number
- 1994.0296.01
- accession number
- 1994.0296
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center