Coins, Currency, and Medals
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.
274,634
Page 1 of 13732
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Briefly Answered
- Description
- A poster that answers commonly asked questions in the Free Silver/ Gold Standard argument.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- associated date
- 1896
- associated person
- Bryan, William Jennings
- associated institution
- Republican National Party
- associated person
- McKinley, William
- ID Number
- PL.227739.1896.F18
- catalog number
- 227739.1896.F18
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Birch Cent, United States, Pattern, 1792
- Description
- United States Mint, Philadelphia. Obverse: Head of Liberty with flowing hair facing right, date below. Reverse: Denomination in wreath, fraction (1/100) below. This design has been traditionally ascribed to a British artist named William Russell Birch. Patterns with these designs were struck towards the end of 1792. By the time the cent entered formal production, however, its weight and size had been reduced, and another artist was brought in to design the coin.
- [reference no. Judd 4]
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1792
- maker
- U.S. Mint
- ID Number
- 1993.0532.0001
- accession number
- 1993.0532
- catalog number
- 1993.0532.0001
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Diners' Club Credit Card, United States, 1955
- Description
- Diner's Club was one of the earliest issuers of credit cards beginning in 1950. The convenience and security they came to represent transformed payment methods and later blossomed into one of the primary mechanisms for purchasing goods and services for customers. They also became a device for tracking spending patterns for consumers interested in managing their personal finances.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1955
- founder of diner's club
- McNamara, Frank
- Schneider, Ralph
- issuing authority
- Diner's Club of America
- ID Number
- NU.72.66.20
- accession number
- 301409
- catalog number
- 72.66.20
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Diners Club of Canada Credit Card -- Expires November 30, 1959 (Specimen)
- Location
- Currently on loan
- Date made
- 1959
- issuing authority
- Diner's Club of Canada
- ID Number
- NU.72.66.64
- accession number
- 301409
- catalog number
- 72.66.64
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Diners Club of France North American Section Credit Card -- Expires January 31, 1957 (Specimen)
- Location
- Currently on loan
- Date made
- 1957
- issuing authority
- Diner's Club of France
- ID Number
- NU.72.66.73
- accession number
- 301409
- catalog number
- 72.66.73
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Diners Club of Germany Credit Card -- Expires September 30, 1956 (Specimen)
- Location
- Currently on loan
- Date made
- 1957
- issuing authority
- Diner's Club of Germany
- ID Number
- NU.72.66.74
- accession number
- 301409
- catalog number
- 72.66.74
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Diners Club of Spain Credit Card -- Expires September 30, 1956 (Specimen)
- Location
- Currently on loan
- Date made
- 1956
- issuing authority
- Diner's Club of Spain
- ID Number
- NU.72.66.80
- accession number
- 301409
- catalog number
- 72.66.80
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Diners Club International Credit Card -- Expires 4/83
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1983
- associated dates
- 1981 - 1983 04
- user
- Clain-Stefanelli, Vladimir
- issuing authority
- Diner's Club International
- ID Number
- 1992.0050.0005
- accession number
- 1992.0050
- catalog number
- 1992.0050.0005
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
cutters, cookie, set of
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1976
- ID Number
- 1983.0711.31
- accession number
- 1983.0711
- catalog number
- 1983.0711.31
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
10 Dollars, Baldwin & Co., United States, 1850
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1850
- maker
- Baldwin & Company
- Baldwin & Company
- ID Number
- 1985.0441.2198
- accession number
- 1985.0441
- catalog number
- 1985.0441.2198
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
20 Dollars, United States, 1854-S
- 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
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Gold Nugget
- Description
- This small piece of yellow metal is believed to be the first piece of gold discovered in 1848 at Sutter's Mill in California, launching the gold rush.
- James Marshall was superintending the construction of a sawmill for Col. John Sutter on the morning of January 24, 1848, on the South Fork of the American River at Coloma, California, when he saw something glittering in the water of the mill's tailrace. According to Sutter's diary, Marshall stooped down to pick it up and "found that it was a thin scale of what appeared to be pure gold." Marshall bit the metal as a test for gold.
- In June of 1848, Colonel Sutter presented Marshall's first-find scale of gold to Capt. Joseph L. Folsom, U.S. Army Assistant Quartermaster at Monterey. Folsom had journeyed to Northern California to verify the gold claim for the U.S. Government.
- The gold samples then traveled with U.S. Army Lt. Lucien Loeser by ship to Panama, across the isthmus by horseback, by ship to New Orleans, and overland to Washington. A letter of transmittal from Folsom that accompanied the packet lists Specimen #1 as "the first piece of gold ever discovered in this Northern part of Upper California found by J. W. Marshall at the Saw Mill of John A. Sutter."
- By August of 1848, as evidence of the find, this piece and other samples of California gold had arrived in Washington, D.C., for delivery to President James K. Polk and for preservation at the National Institute. Within weeks, President Polk formally declared to Congress that gold had been discovered in California.
- In 1861, the National Institute and its geological specimens, including this gold and the letter, entered the collections of the Smithsonian Institution. The Marshall Nugget remains in the collections as evidence of the discovery of gold in California.
- Date made
- 1848
- Associated Date
- 1848
- referenced
- Sutter, John
- Polk, President James K.
- Loesser, Lucian
- ID Number
- CL.135(1861).01
- accession number
- 135
- catalog number
- 135(1861).01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Diners Club Credit Card -- Expires April 30, 1952 (Specimen)
- Location
- Currently on loan
- Date made
- 1952
- maker
- Diner's Club of America
- issuing authority
- Diner's Club of America
- ID Number
- NU.72.66.2
- accession number
- 301409
- catalog number
- 72.66.2
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Diners Club Credit Card -- Expires Nov. 30, 1963
- Location
- Currently on loan
- Date made
- Expiration date 11/1/1963
- date made
- 1963
- issuing authority
- Diner's Club of America
- ID Number
- NU.72.66.93
- catalog number
- 72.66.93
- accession number
- 301409
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Olympic Gold medal won by Bobby Morrow at the 1956 Olympic Games
- Description (Brief)
- Gold medal won by American sprinter Bobby Morrow (b. 1935) in the 1956 Olympic games held in Melbourne, Australia.
- That year the native Texan was named as Sports Illustrated Magazine's "Athlete of the Year." He won three gold medals at the Melbourne games, individually in the 100 and 200 meter dashes and as part of the 4x100 meter relay team. He was the first man to win two individual gold medals for the U.S. since Jesse Owens in 1936.
- The 1956 Summer Olympics Games, also known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad were held in Melbourne, Australia and included 72 countries, 2,939 men and 376 women athletes participating. Known as the ‘Friendly Games’, these were the first to be contested in the Southern Hemisphere and were held in November due to Australia’s seasonal differences. Many countries boycotted the Games due to various political situations throughout the globe although the East and West Germany teams competed as one. Australia dominated the swimming events while the US took the most gold in track and field with Bobby Morrow winning three golds. The Soviet Union won the medal count with 98 with the United States coming in second with 74.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1956
- user
- Morrow, Bobby
- ID Number
- 1979.0619.01
- accession number
- 1979.0619
- catalog number
- 1979.0619.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
10 Dollars, Pacific Company, United States, 1849
- Description
- Produced by the Pacific Company, California. Obverse: Liberty cap within stars and rays, denomination below. Reverse: Eagle, company name, date. The pieces bearing the name of the Pacific Company have a somewhat complex history. A consortium bearing that name came to San Francisco in September 1849, but the members almost immediately fell out with each other. The firm disbanded the following month, and it has been conjectured that the dies for its coinage were sold to another coiner, Broderick & Kohler. That group in turn may have used the dies for five dollar as well as ten dollar gold pieces to strike a few examples of each. This is one of four pieces known for the ten dollar piece.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1849
- maker
- Pacific Company
- Pacific Company
- ID Number
- 1985.0441.2212
- accession number
- 1985.0441
- catalog number
- 1985.0441.2212
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
10 Dollars, California-Cincinnati Mining & Trading Co., United States, 1849
- Description
- This obscure company had a few five- and ten-dollar gold pieces struck for it sometime during the last third of 1849. Broderick & Kohler (who also coined for the Miners Bank and the Pacific Company), were probably responsible for the manufacture of this issue. The dies were likely made in Cincinnati, so that part of the firm's name was accurate.
- We know very little about this issue. We don't know how many fives and tens were struck, although it seems likely that most were melted down. The Broderick & Kohler operation was discredited once rumors of the debasement of some of its products began to circulate, and the simplest way of dealing with substandard coins was to melt them down and start over.
- We do know the following. The Cincinnati Mining & Trading Co. coins were struck by hand, in the time-honored manner of Antiquity. And we know that the coins' obverse and reverse designs represented a major departure from other people's money. The crude Liberty on the obverse bore a feather headdress, the first time this concept appeared on an American coin, while nothing else like the reverse eagle would be seen, anywhere, for decades.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1849
- maker
- Cincinnati Mining & Trading Company
- Cincinnati Mining & Trading Company
- ID Number
- 1985.0441.3000
- accession number
- 1985.0441
- catalog number
- 1985.0441.3000
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
100,000 Dollars, Gold Certificate, United States, 1934
- Description (Brief)
- One (1) 100,000 dollar note
- United States, 1934
- Obverse Image: Portrait of Woodrow Wilson.
- Obverse Text: 100,000 / THIS IS TO CERTIFY THAT THERE IS ON DEPOSIT IN THE TREASURY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS IN GOLD PAYABLE TO BEARER ON DEMAND AS AUTHORIZED BY LAW / GOLD CERTIFICATE / THIS CERTIFICATE IS LEGAL TENDER IN THE AMOUNT THEREOF IN PAYMENT OF ALL DEBTS AND DUES PUBLIC AND PRIVATE / WASHINGTON, D.C. / SERIES OF 1934 / A00020109A / WILSON
- Reverse Image: Decorative border in orange ink. Rays radiating from the center.
- Reverse Text: 100,000 / THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA / ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS
- Description
- The $100,000 bill is the highest denomination ever issued by the U.S. Federal Government. Printed in 1934, it was not intended for general use, but instead was used as an accounting device between branches of the Federal Reserve. It is illegal for a private individual to own this banknote.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1934
- depicted
- Wilson, Woodrow
- issuing authority
- Bureau of Engraving and Printing
- ID Number
- NU.78.5.807
- accession number
- 1978.0941
- catalog number
- 78.5.807
- serial number
- A00020109A
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Diners Club Credit Card -- Expires August 31, 1952 (Specimen)
- Location
- Currently on loan
- Date made
- 1952
- issuing authority
- Diner's Club of America
- ID Number
- NU.72.66.3
- accession number
- 301409
- catalog number
- 72.66.3
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Diners Club of Brazil Credit Card -- Expires January 31, 1957 (Specimen)
- Location
- Currently on loan
- Date made
- 1957
- issuing authority
- Diner's Club of Brazil
- ID Number
- NU.72.66.63
- accession number
- 301409
- catalog number
- 72.66.63
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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- Numismatics Rapid Capture Project 50001
- NNC-Certified Proofs-Silver Certificates-Face-box 592 345
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- certified proof 272879
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- Face 56555
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- paper money, canceled 477
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- confederate currency 194
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- Work and Industry: National Numismatic Collection 274579
- Numismatics Rapid Capture Project 50001
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- United States Double Eagle 150
- Art of Gasparro 115
- Josiah K. Lilly Jr. Collection 91
- National Museum of American History 84
- American Enterprise 60
- The Value of Money 56
- Russian Coins and Jetons 52
- Coins 48
- Legendary Coins 48
- Numismatics 48
- Russian Jetons 26
- Industry & Manufacturing 24
- Civil War 22
- Scovill Manufacturing Collection 21
- Work and Industry: Production and Manufacturing 21
- Celluloid 10
