Figure 1.
Gold coin necklace, United States, twentieth century. Donated by Estate of Doris M. Brixey.
The story of money is a global one. For thousands of years, communities around the world have designated objects to represent value and facilitate transactions. Objects that at first seem to have no relationship to one another—tiny metal coins, massive stones, and colorful seashells—have become associated through their use as money, connecting them and the communities that used them through this shared aspect of human history.
The practice of collecting monetary objects, both by individuals and by museums, has brought together a vast range of material and created “money collections,” with which local and national histories can be compared in the context of wider global histories. The National Numismatic Collection, the Smithsonian Institution’s collection of money, is one of those collections. Composed of approximately one and a half million objects, its holdings represent every inhabited continent and span more than 2,600 years.
The National Numismatic Collection’s vault contains the objects many would expect to find in a money collection—namely, metal coins and paper notes. But it also holds other forms of money and objects that are related to the history of money and exchange. Coin dies and molds, sketches, plasters, and printing plates are part of the collection and capture the history of the production processes for creating coins and notes. The collection also includes official financial documents and apparatuses, such as bonds, personal checks and banking materials, and historic correspondence relating to the American financial system, as well as financial ephemera and temporary currencies. These objects are housed with a remarkable range of commodity or “traditional” currencies such as wampum, bricks of tea, bars of salt, animal pelts, and feathers. Twentieth- and twenty-first-century innovations, such as credit cards and readers, are also among the holdings, reflecting the new and rapidly changing technologies of money. Jewelry made from money (Figure 1), art and commemorative medals, orders, and decorations are part of this collection too. Although medals are not money, they have historically been included in the field of numismatics because of their similarity to coins in their size, metal composition, and design.1 Medals also offer opportunities to make connections between monetary objects and sculptural art and design as well as political and social history.
The bulk of this diverse collection was acquired by the Smithsonian after 1950, but numismatic objects have been part of the institution since its establishment in 1846. Over the last century and a half, the collection has grown from a few thousand objects in its early years to about a million and a half today. The development of this collection can be traced alongside the growth of the Smithsonian Institution’s other collections and buildings. Monetary objects and medals were initially housed with and considered part of the Smithsonian’s broader history collections in the National Mall’s famous red brick building, the Smithsonian Institution Building, also known as “the Castle.”2 In the early 1880s, these objects were moved to the National Museum Building (now called the Arts and Industries Building), which was constructed to house the Smithsonian’s acquisition of materials from the 1876 Centennial Exposition held in Philadelphia.3 The numismatic collection remained there for nearly a century until the completion of the Museum of History and Technology in 1964. Perfectly placed in this new museum with a focus on both history and technology—the pillars of numismatics—the international collection found its permanent home. In 1980, however, the museum was renamed the National Museum of American History and became the foremost institution in the nation dedicated to exploring and understanding the American experience. Since then, some have wondered how useful an international collection of money can be to a museum about American history.
The Value of Money exhibition celebrates the value of having a geographically and chronologically diverse numismatic collection in the National Museum of American History. It demonstrates the power of using monetary objects to explore American history and its connections to global histories of exchange, cultural interaction and expression, political change, and innovation. By integrating American objects with objects from around the world spanning nearly three millennia, the exhibition uses money as a vehicle to engage with not only the American experience but also the human experience. It embraces the world cultures and practices that have made monetary objects at once so diverse and so similar.
This new exhibition continues a long tradition of galleries and displays featuring the Smithsonian’s numismatic treasures. The small numismatic collection of the nineteenth century was first shown in the Castle and later, intermittently, in the National Museum Building in traditional numismatic style with displays organized by country or region, metal, and denomination.4 Donations of foreign coins from officials, such as President Ulysses S. Grant’s collection of Japanese coins, and from private individuals, such as George B. Glover’s collection of East Asian coins, allowed curators to feature beautiful and rare international material from an early stage.
In 1914, the Smithsonian installed its first major numismatic gallery, showing more than 6,000 coins, medals, and tokens—a significant portion of the collection at the time.5 The numismatic display was then substantially enhanced through the addition of many objects that arrived with the historic transfer of the Philadelphia Mint’s collection in 1923. Totaling more than 18,300 pieces, the Mint’s collection included patterns, proofs, private gold issues from the Gold Rush era, and rare ancient and modern coins from America, Europe (Figure 2), Latin America, and elsewhere, as well as medals and decorations.6 This transfer nearly doubled the size of the Smithsonian’s numismatic holdings and gave it some of America’s rarest coins.
Figure 2.
One sovereign coin, England, 1558–1603. Transfer from U.S. Mint.
The addition of the Mint’s collection was a watershed for numismatics at the Smithsonian. It helped to raise the numismatic collection’s profile, and in 1948, numismatics became a separate division with a dedicated curator, Stuart Mosher.7 Committed to building the national collection, Mosher cultivated relationships with private collectors, not only acquiring their collections but also working with them to fill gaps in the national collection. During Mosher’s tenure, Paul A. Straub (Figure 3), an avid collector of gold and silver coins from fourteenth- to twentieth-century Europe, donated his personal collection of approximately 5,650 coins to the Smithsonian.8 Even after this generous gift, he continued to work with Mosher to acquire coins that would enhance the Smithsonian’s European holdings. His donations helped bring the Smithsonian’s collection “competitively into the field of international numismatics” by adding the kinds of materials held in the famous coin cabinets of London, Paris, and Berlin.9
Figure 3.
Collector and donor Paul A. Straub.
Mosher’s commitment to his work greatly enhanced the numismatic collection, but the dedication of his successors, Vladimir Clain-Stefanelli and Elvira Clain-Stefanelli, to developing the size, diversity, and strength of the collection made it one of the largest and most diverse numismatic collections in the world. The arrival of this husband and wife team at the Smithsonian in the mid-1950s marked a turning point in the development and display of the collection.
The Clain-Stefanellis regarded money as a central and enduring feature of human history, one which could be traced from an evolutionary perspective. This point of view shaped the way in which they curated the Hall of Monetary History and Medallic Art, installed in the Museum of History and Technology in 1964 (Figure 4). This hall, which was redesigned in the early 1970s, became the core of the Smithsonian’s numismatic display for more than 40 years.10 It emphasized “the numismatic contribution to history, economic theory and practice, and the development of art” over time.11 The Clain-Stefanellis structured the exhibit around chronology as well as specific historical periods and topics like the Reformation and the Confederacy.
Figure 4.
The Hall of Monetary History and Medallic Art at the Museum of History and Technology.
The display was refreshed and enhanced over time by the enormous quantity of new material donated by individual collectors and institutions during the second half of the twentieth century. The sheer numbers are impressive—growing the collection from around 64,000 objects to around 900,000 objects during the Clain-Stefanellis’ tenure—but the quality and rarity of some of the material is awe-inspiring.12 A full list of significant acquisitions is too lengthy to include here, but it will suffice to note that a great deal of the material for which the National Numismatic Collection is now known was collected by the Clain-Stefanellis (Figure 5).13 Some of the highlights include Catherine Bullowa’s donation of 21,000 objects, including many world coins; Mortimer Neinken’s donation of a wide variety of ancient coins and more than 100,000 international notes; Willis du Pont’s donation of the Georgii Mikhailovich Collection of approximately 11,400 Russian coins and medals, thought to be the strongest outside of Russia; R. Henry Norweb and Emery May Norweb’s collection of rare American and English coins and tokens (Figure 6); the Stack family’s donations of approximately 62,000 American and international coins, tokens, medals, notes, and alternative currencies; and Alfred Bloomingdale’s donation of early credit cards and original cartoons about consumer credit. Among this impressive list, the 1968 acquisition of the Josiah K. Lilly Jr. Collection of 6,125 gold coins stands out not only because it significantly enhanced the American and international gold coin holdings (Figure 7) but also because it became a key feature of the Smithsonian’s numismatic display. The Clain-Stefanellis’ display of Lilly’s gold (Figure 8) is remembered by many American numismatists today as the source of inspiration for their personal collections.14
Figure 5.
Vladimir Clain-Stefanelli (left) and Elvira Clain-Stefanelli (right) receiving a donation of Austrian notgeld from Sol Kaplan (middle) in 1966.
Figure 6.
Five cent “Liberty Head Nickel” coin, United States, 1913. Donated by R. Henry Norweb.
Figure 7.
Twenty dollar “Ultra High Relief Double Eagle” coin, United States, 1907. Donated by Estate of Josiah K. Lilly Jr.
Figure 8.
The Josiah K. Lilly Jr. Collection of gold coins on display.
In addition to the collections acquired from individuals, the Clain-Stefanellis acquired three major institutional collections. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing transferred its collection of record consisting of approximately 300,000 certified proofs of national bank notes and many other forms of paper money and tax stamps to the division between 1966 and 1980. In 1978, the U.S. Treasury also transferred its collection of paper money (Figures 9 and 10), which comprised 808 federal notes, many in pristine condition. That same year, The Chase Manhattan Bank donated its significant collection of approximately 24,000 objects, including coins, notes, banking materials, and a tremendous range of commodity money from cultures around the world (Figures 11 and 12).15 The collection was so vast and impressive that it had its own museum, called The Chase Manhattan Bank Money Museum, at Rockefeller Center in New York City, before it was donated to the Smithsonian. This gift gave the National Numismatic Collection some of the objects that are most popular with nonnumismatists, such as the famous stone money of the island of Yap and an extensive collection of personal checks from many of America’s presidents. The Clain-Stefanellis also initiated the acquisition of approximately 600,000 notes and related financial instruments issued by the Confederate States of America. This group of objects, often referred to as the “Richmond Hoard” because it was seized by Union authorities in Richmond, Virginia, at the end of the Civil War, was first transferred from the U.S. Treasury to the National Archives and then later to the Smithsonian in 1998.16
Figure 9.
One hundred thousand dollar gold certificate, United States, 1934. Donated by U.S. Department of the Treasury.
Figure 10.
One thousand dollar “Grand Watermelon” Treasury note, United States, 1890. Donated by U.S. Department of the Treasury.
Figure 11.
Copper cross, central and southern Africa, nineteenth century. Donated by The Chase Manhattan Bank.
Figure 12.
Coin tree mold, China, 1862–1874. Donated by The Chase Manhattan Bank.
In 1982, Vladimir Clain-Stefanelli passed away, and Elvira Clain-Stefanelli became the lead curator, continuing to collect and develop topical numismatic displays with her colleagues in the National Museum of American History until her retirement in 2000. Shortly after her retirement, in 2004 the National Museum of American History began a long-term renovation and revitalization of its displays, which involved taking down numerous exhibitions, including the Clain-Stefanellis’ hall. In the years that followed, Clain-Stefanelli’s successor and longstanding colleague, Richard Doty, installed two small numismatic displays, Legendary Coins and Currency in 2005 then Stories on Money in 2009, both focusing largely on American money. The latter particularly sought to highlight the relationship between American money and people, emphasizing Doty’s interest in the study of human relationships to monetary objects. These exhibitions helped galvanize the numismatic community to support the development of a larger gallery with up-to-date display techniques and the opportunity to show more of the vast collection.
The Value of Money reflects many generations of commitment to growing the National Numismatic Collection and a broad base of support for its display. It builds on previous approaches to numismatic display at the Smithsonian while also offering a new perspective on how the collection can be used to explore history. This approach to interpreting the collection emphasizes that monetary objects are objects of interaction. Through these objects, the relationships among individuals, communities, and governments and their citizens can be explored, and the geographic boundaries that have constrained display in the past can be crossed. Thus, money from the United States of America is paired with money from around the world to explore the relationships between peoples, places, and ideas.
The Value of Money exhibition is organized into five thematic sections reflected in this work by chapters. It begins with the origins of money, which explores the variety of forms of money and materials used to make monetary objects throughout history, highlighting that coins and notes have circulated alongside other forms of money for centuries. It suggests that the use of an object and the relationship people have to it, rather than its material form, are the essence of its function as money. The second chapter traces how twentieth- and twenty-first-century innovations in money, both digital and physical, are altering how people conduct commerce and the form of money they rely on. New technologies of money, from credit cards to cryptocurrencies, are diminishing some types of human interaction around transactions while also creating new connections and relationships across large geographic distances. Innovations in coins and notes, such as the creation of the euro and plastic notes, are shifting longstanding notions about who can issue currency and what materials make monetary objects secure enough to trust. The third chapter focuses on the political, social, and cultural messages money conveys through words and images placed on money and through currencies issued for specific circumstances. The ubiquity of money makes it both an effective means of communication for political leaders and a powerful means through which both cultural and political ideas and ideals of community, identity, and heritage can be conveyed and defined. The fourth chapter looks at the artistry of coins and notes. It explores how the addition of purposeful and symbolic art is used to convey the importance of money in society and to honor people, commemorate significant events, and inspire respect and loyalty to governments. The final chapter focuses on the allure of money to collectors. Among the many objects that are popular to collect, monetary objects, particularly coins, have a unique appeal. They invoke a feeling of connection to people and places from the past and symbolize moments in personal or general history. Few historic objects are at once so powerful and accessible. It is this rare quality that has inspired so many to build their own collections and, for some, to donate them to the National Numismatic Collection. This collection of collections has become a reservoir for building a new understanding of the history and passion of the practice of money collecting.
The objects in The Value of Money include some that have been at the heart of numismatic display at the Smithsonian since its early years and some that have emerged from the vault for the first time. By blending the familiar with the unfamiliar, the brand-new with the old, and the American with the international, The Value of Money aims to inspire people to look for the history behind money and see it in a global context.
