US Mint and Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition

During the American Numismatic Association’s World’s Fair of Money in Los Angeles, the United States Mint and Smithsonian Institution announced their plans to develop a traveling numismatic exhibition. The display would draw upon the Smithsonian’s National Numismatic Collection and the United States Mint’s Heritage Assets.

Dr. Brent Class, a director of the Museum said:

The partnership with the United States Mint supports the museum’s mission to explore American history. The study of coins and currency provides a window into American identity and what it means to be an American.

Some preliminary details of the exhibition have already been provided. The exhibition will be approximately 2,500 square feet and will be displayed in several museums across the country over a two-to-three year time span. It will feature coins, medals and other treasured objects from both the museum’s National Numismatic Collection and the United States Mint’s Heritage Assets. The exhibition may also include interactive exhibits and discussion of the cutting-edge technology used at the United States Mint to design and produce new coins and medals.

The Smithsonian’s National Numismatic Collection is among the finest numismatic collections in the world. Its holdings of United States coins and currency are unparalleled. The collection consists of approximately 1.6 million objects, including around one million paper currency items and 600,000 coins, tokens and medals. Chronologically, the collection stretches from antiquity to the present, and includes specimens from nations around the world, with the bulk of the materials from the United States.

the United States Mint’s Heritage Assets chronicle more than 200 years of the history of the agency and its role in the heritage of our Nation. These natural and historical assets perfectly complement the holdings of the National Numismatic Collection. Together, they will show the public how coins are designed and produced, including new innovations of digital engraving and high-speed automated manufacturing, as well as the historic value of numismatics.