## Currency Notes — National Numismatic Collection (Smithsonian)

## Source details

**Canonical URL:** [Currency Notes — National Numismatic Collection (Smithsonian)](https://www.imf.org/-/media/files/publications/fandd/article/2024/06/currency-notes-june24.pdf)

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### Collection overview
- The National Numismatic Collection (NNC) is "believed to be the world’s largest collection of its kind."
- The vault contains an estimated "1.6 million forms of physical money and transactional objects."
- Items in the collection "represent every inhabited continent, and they span more than 3,000 years of human history."
- The NNC is housed in the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History in Washington, DC.

### Representative artifacts (selected examples)
- A tiny electrum coin, "the size of a stud earring," from "7th–6th century BCE Lydia" (present-day Türkiye).
- A "2,000-year-old example of 'knife money,'" a bronze, knife-shaped piece from China.
- A "14th century Ming Dynasty–era banknote."
- Early banknotes from the American colonies with motifs and inscriptions including "'Tis Death to counterfeit'."
- Personal checks signed by early US presidents.
- A tire-size stone ring from the island of Yap (featured in the exhibition "The Value of Money").

### Cultural, political, and economic insights
- Currency items reveal insights into political history and cultural ideas related to "values, trust, artistic beauty, and collective identity."
- Quoted example: a "5th century BCE coin from ancient Greece" featuring an owl (representing Athens) and Athena, used to assert civic identity: "Athens is using the coins to say, 'This is who we are; this is our patron goddess.'"
- The "types and quality of materials used offer a glimpse into the economic health of past societies."

### Imagery and social context
- Obsolete US banknotes in the collection display diverse imagery beyond typical national symbols, including:
  - "symbols of industry, like shipbuilding and trains."
  - domestic scenes such as "a woman milking cows and a child snuggling bunnies."
  - imagery that is "respectful and thoughtful, and others that are degrading and inappropriate from our lens," including depictions of slavery and stereotypical images of indigenous communities.
- Curator Ellen Feingold emphasizes the range of portrayals and their changing acceptability over time: "You see images that are respectful and thoughtful, and others that are degrading and inappropriate from our lens."

### Accessibility, digitization, and exhibitions
- The NNC’s vault "is accessible to researchers by appointment."
- The collection "is being gradually digitized."
- Selected items are on public display in exhibitions including "The Value of Money" and "Really BIG Money" (an exhibition for children).

*melinda weir is on the staff of Finance & Development.*

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_Source: https://www.imf.org/-/media/files/publications/fandd/article/2024/06/currency-notes-june24.pdf_