Monetary objects are powerful sources for exploring the past. The Value of Money connects American history to global histories of exchange, cultural interaction and expression, political change, and innovation through objects from the Smithsonian Institution’s National Numismatic Collection. T

Monetary objects are powerful sources for exploring the past. The Value of Money connects American history to global histories of exchange, cultural interaction and expression, political change, and innovation through objects from the Smithsonian Institution’s National Numismatic Collection. T

General Information: Commemorative coin made by the US Mint for Breast Cancer Awareness. Coin is gold with a pink hue. This is the first gold coin with a pink hue that the U.S. Mint has issued.This commemorative coin was minted by the United States Mint for a fundraising program for the Breast Cance

“They had just arrived in a foreign country and the small girl’s mother was sent away. Ernest and Mimi Hausner fled their home in Vienna in 1938, when little Evelyn was just a toddler. Nazi Germany had annexed Austria, putting the lives of Jews like the Hausners at risk. They made it to England

This is one of the first models of Liberty cast in the United States. Often described as the American Committee Model, this statuette was produced in the tens of thousands. It was sold to subscribers to finance the construction of a pedestal for the full-size statue in New York Harbor.

This ambrotype portrait of Mea-to-sa-bi-tchi-a, or Smutty Bear, a Yankton Dakota, is among the first photographic images of Native Americans. Smutty Bear was part of a large Native American delegation that came to Washington, D.C., during the winter of 1857–58. Under duress, members of the dele

In this episode of the History Explorer podcast series, Richard Doty, senior curator of the National Numismatics Collection, shares the story of the "Richmond Hoard," an enormous collection of Confederate currency obtained by the museum and explains what currency meant to life in the South a

This Sharps rifle was made especially for John Brown, though it bears no maker’s mark or number. Brown carried this weapon on his Kansas campaign in 1856 and later presented it to Charles Blair of Collinsville, Connecticut. In 1857, Brown contracted Blair to forge pikes for the clandestine slav

Physical Description Handwriting on paper attached to bamboo. Specific History Emilio Aguinaldo’s address to the Philippine people, bearing his seal. The paper is attached to a woven bamboo board. It was found one morning hanging on a fence in the town of Bugasou, P

In this episode of the History Explorer podcast series, numismatics curator Karen Lee discusses the history and meaning of the dollar, including unusual items that have been used to represent the dollar in the U.S., and discusses the value of studying money.  The teacher guide incl