I visited the National Numismatic Collection in Washington D.C. while my family was there for a wedding. It was AMAZING, the 1921 Peace and the Morgan they had there were the nicest I had ever seen! The Peace was nearly flawless and the Morgan was toned blue and purple and the luster might as well have been dripping all over the display case and the coin looked MS70. I also got to see priceless coins like all three varieties of the 1804 dollars, the 1907 high relief double eagle, and more! They blew my mind and I left practically drooling and being dragged out by the feet by my family because I would have never left. The only problem was the room was very dark and crowded, so I had my family form around a window and once they were close, I would move in to get the ideal view, but I had to basically stand on my head to see the coins in the dark. It was great to see all the coins there and learn about them. Have you been there?
Been there, wrote an article about it. Probably $30-$40 million in coins in one specific display case.
It is not very big, but I highly recommend seeing it, there are easily over $100 million in coins there
You are talking about the collection at the Smithsonian, right? If so, I saw it back in June and really, really enjoyed seeing it. I could have stayed and looked at it for a while longer but I was with my son's scout troop. I really enjoy Lincolns so I liked seeing the 1909svdb and the 1974 aluminum cent. Plus so many more!!! It was great!!
I haven't been to the Smithsonian in almost 20 years, but the last time I was there I remember seeing the coin display and thinking it was really cool. At that time they had the major rarities on display like the 1933 Double Eagle, the 1849 Double Eagle and one of the 1913 Liberty Nickels. But, I also remember a glass room that had tons of proof gold in various denominations and I'm pretty sure they had at least one example from each year. I don't think that display is there anymore though. The collection at the Smithsonian is pretty substantial, it's really unfortunate that only a very small portion of the collection is on display to the public. They have so many cool rarities and one of a kind pattern coins that are just sitting in the dark and stored in filing cabinets that only get to be seen by researchers or people with connections.
I'd love to visit. I can't help but think that if they made it a larger display, it would really be quite a draw for the area.
I was there a couple of months ago -- I agree it was a dark, small room. Loved seeing the 1913 V Nickel and the aluminum cent. Would love to see a bigger display. The Smithsonian has much more, but I can understand that their floorspace is at a premium.
