On the way from Maine to Florida, I Stopped in DC for an hour to check out their "Stories on Money" exhibit at the National Museum of American History. The last time I hav visited the exhibit was still under construction, so I was really excited to look at it. Overall, I think they did a great job. There was actaully more interest than I would have suspected and I overheard many visitors first gasping in amazement at the really cool stuff, like the large half unions and the 100,000 bill and going on to read and learn about the coins or notes. Also overheard were things like, "Dont we have one of those in the jar at home" when seeing the steel cents. Overall, I think the exhibit is pretty productive for expanding the hobby. Here are pictures of the outside of the exhibit. At only 7 cases, it is pretty small, considering the size of the NNC, but it does look promising that there will be a much larger exhibit in the coming years. Here is the video that was played at the entrance. I find the video interesting and beautiful. [video=youtube;IEV5zPXrjSE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEV5zPXrjSE[/video] The first case displayed early coins of America and the foreign coins that circulated. Their colonial coins I found very fascinating. The second case displayed the first official attempts at a coinage. I found the unstruck copper cent planchet interesting. The third case focused on the gold coins of the world and US, including the exciting territorial coinage. The fourth case displayed a small typeset of US paper currency and coins. The fifth case traced the evolution of coinage from ancient times to credit cards. This would have been a good coin week exhibit. The sixth case was about the display of liberty on coins throughout the world. I didn't get a picture of it, but there was a Libertas Americana medal that was pretty sweet. The final case was a case of rarities. It was pretty sweet standing before $50+ million of coins. In addition to the display cases, each was accompanied by a touch screen that allowed viewers to zoom in and look at each coin closer. There was also a display where people could vote to keep or get rid of the penny. Thanks for reading!
Very cool. I've always wanted to see the exhibit and I think I will when I visit my friend in DC this fall. How long does it take to walk though the whole thing?
Although I'm sure that they are well protected, it kills me to see the legends set displayed like that. That is nearly $100 Million in coins and they are just sitting there on pegs. They could at least put them in an air tite.
This exhibit, if you just want to look at the coins, could take 5-10 min. But if you want to "study" the coins and appreciate them, I spent an hour and still left wanting more! I have seen the rest of the museu though on other occasions, and believe it could be done in 4-7 hrs, depending on busyness and how much you want to actually learn.
I went to D.C. with my son's scout troop last summer and this was one of my favorite areas! Really loved it. Did you see the 74 aluminum cent? I like Lincolns and that is one of my favorites.
