Education

The National Numismatic Collection is dedicated to inspiring and educating a new generation of coin and currency enthusiasts.

Numismatics Discovery Cart

During your visit to the museum we hope you will enjoy the Numismatics Discovery Cart outside The Value of Money exhibition.

Access to the cart is subject to docent availability.

Currency or Counterfeit?

Description:

This hands-on cart will encourage visitors to think like collectors and hone their observation skills as they use sight, smell, touch, and hearing to distinguish counterfeit coins and banknotes from genuine currency, and learn about the ways in which artisans, experts, and even criminals have innovated new ways to make and fake currency from colonial America to the present day.

Visitors engaging with this cart will:

- use their sense of sight, smell, touch, and hearing to observe coins and notes like numismatists, including getting hands-on experience with tools of the trade

- identify different strategies to determine if notes and coins are counterfeit or genuine

- learn numismatic terminology including obverse, reverse, edge, die, and strike

From the blog

Large stone shaped like a donut, with a hollow center. One side has cracked and broken away from the rest of the stone.

A sculpture made from one dollar bill(s). It is complex with interwoven triangles that give it a spiked sort of appearance.

Learning Lab

Learning Lab enables you to search the Smithsonian collections, create and personalize your own collections, and share them as you wish. It is an excellent resource for teachers, students, and anyone with an interest in learning.

Groups created by NNC staff: