Money Museum

1892 Barber Half Dollar Object # 117 ANA 2023.4.145

After nearly 55 years of the Seated Liberty design, Mint Director Edward O. Leech sought fresh ideas for America’s silver coinage. He created a public competition with the promise of $500 to the winning design. Ironically, the Mint’s Chief Engraver, Charles E. Barber, won the competition with a design that drew on longstanding American numismatic traditions, including the Phrygian cap, laurel wreath, and heraldic eagle reverse.

Though often criticized as uninspired, the Barber design experienced a resurgence of collector support in the 20th century as coin boards and albums encouraged date-and-mint collecting across the dime, quarter, and half dollar series. Half dollars, however, saw consistently lower mintages, as larger numbers of small denominations were more necessary.

🚩 American Numismatic Milestone: 1892 marked the debut of the Columbian half dollar, issued for the World’s Columbian Exposition. Featuring Christopher Columbus rather than allegorical Liberty, it was the first official U.S. commemorative coin – a striking contrast to the workhorse circulating half dollar struck the very same year.

Follow along each week day as we spotlight one American coin, token, or note for every year of our nation’s independence.🪙 🇺🇸

Explore the collection so far:
https://www.money.org/money-museum/america250/

1891 $1000 Silver Certificate, Face Proof Object # 116 ANA 1978.285.3

This striking proof captures the artistry and experimentation behind America’s large-size paper money. Proofs like this served as presentation and testing pieces.

Unlike modern U.S. currency, which largely reserves portrait space for presidents and founding figures, 19th-century paper money featured a broader cast of government officials. This note depicts William L. Marcy, who served as Secretary of War under President Polk and later as Secretary of State, during which time he negotiated the Gadsden Purchase, expanding U.S. territory in the Southwest. At left stands the allegorical figure Columbia, the female personification of the United States, a common national symbol on paper money (in contrast to Liberty’s prominence on coinage) before presidential portraiture became dominant.

As a silver certificate, this note represented a claim on silver dollars rather than circulating silver itself – a reminder that even high-denomination currency was once explicitly tied to precious metal. Paper money was just a substitute for coinage.

🪙 ANA Founding Fact: In 1891, Dr. George F. Heath and a group of fellow collectors founded the American Numismatic Association, creating a national organization dedicated to connecting, educating, and advocating for the growing numismatic community.

Follow along each week day as we spotlight one American coin, token, or note for every year of our nation’s independence.🪙 🇺🇸

Explore the collection so far:
https://www.money.org/money-museum/america250/

Explore our virtual exhibits to learn more about the history of our nation and the world as seen through money! 🪙

https://bit.ly/4xrVHBu

Money Museum in Colorado Springs Find general information, hours, location, and admission prices for the Edward C. Rochette Money Museum in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Explore virtual online exhibits, 360° VR museum tours and more!

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1890 $1 Treasury Notes, Series 1890 Uncut Sheet Object # 115 ANA 1987.126.772

This striking Treasury Note, sometimes nicknamed a “Coin Note,” occupied a unique place in America’s monetary system. Unlike gold certificates (redeemable only in gold) or silver certificates (redeemable only in silver), Treasury Notes of 1890 could be redeemed in either metal, giving them unusual flexibility in an era still wrestling with the nation’s monetary standard.

The front features Edwin M. Stanton, Lincoln’s formidable Secretary of War, while the reverse presents a lavishly engraved ONE, which served both artistic and anti-counterfeiting purposes. This is an example of an uncut sheet, revealing how notes were printed. Treasury Note sheets were generally cut before circulation by workers at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. (Whereas National Bank Note sheets were cut by the issuing banks after officer signatures were added.) Uncut sheets usually survived because they were retained as specimens, souvenirs, institutional records, or collector pieces rather than spent.

💬 At what point does a printed sheet become money: when it is designed, printed, cut, signed or spent?

Follow along each week day as we spotlight one American coin, token, or note for every year of our nation’s independence.🪙 🇺🇸

Explore the collection so far:
https://www.money.org/money-museum/america250/

1889 Indian Princess Dollar Object # 114 ANA 2020.8.1

Authorized in 1849, the gold dollar debuted alongside the $20 double eagle – a dramatic pair created to absorb the flood of California gold. Together, they marked the smallest and largest gold coins ever produced by the United States for circulation.

This later “Indian Princess” type, introduced in 1856, resembles John Longacre’s $3 gold design with Liberty bedecked in a fanciful feathered headdress. The ostrich feathers reflected popular fashions among the upper classes, but the Indigenous representation was neither geographically nor historically accurate. In the 19th century, however, such imagery helped Americans distinguish their national symbols from European models.

Despite the Mint’s advances, the tiny gold dollar posed production challenges. Its small size and high relief made it difficult to strike clearly and awkward to use. Enlarged in 1854 and later modified with lower relief, the denomination never became truly practical. The year 1889 marked its final issue.

💬 Can you think of other examples of American currency that stretched the Mint’s manufacturing limitations?

Follow along each week day as we spotlight one American coin, token, or note for every year of our nation’s independence.🪙 🇺🇸

Explore the collection so far:
https://www.money.org/money-museum/america250/

1888 Three-Cent Nickel Object # 113 ANA 1987.18.189

By 1888, the three-cent nickel was nearing the end of its useful life. When first introduced in 1865, more than 11 million were struck to relieve the severe shortage of small change following the Civil War. By contrast, this year’s mintage was just 35,501 – a dramatic reflection of changing economic needs.

Several forces contributed to the denomination’s decline. Silver coins had returned to circulation, reducing the need for substitution nickel coinage, while changing postal rates removed one of the three-cent denomination’s most practical uses: stamps. Once the Post Office shifted away from rates based on three-cent increments, the coin’s relevance faded. Congress officially ended both the three-cent nickel and its silver predecessor in 1890, along with the $1 and $3 gold coins.

🪙ANA Founding Fact: In 1888, Dr. George F. Heath published the first issue of The Numismatist, aiming to connect coin collectors across the country. Just three years later, that same vision inspired the American Numismatic Association, founded in 1891.

Follow along each week day as we spotlight one American coin, token, or note for every year of our nation’s independence.🪙 🇺🇸

Explore the collection so far:
https://www.money.org/money-museum/america250/

On This Day in History – June 10, 1909: The Lincoln Cent Begins Production 🪙

On June 10, 1909, the Philadelphia Mint officially began striking the iconic Lincoln Wheat Cent. The coin made numismatic history as the first circulating U.S. coin to feature a real historical figure—a U.S. president. It also famously displayed designer Victor David Brenner's initials (V.D.B.) on the reverse, which sparked controversy and were quickly removed due to public outcry.

To commemorate this milestone in Lincoln cent history, explore the Money Museum's virtual exhibit featuring some of the finest known examples of the legendary 1943 and 1944 Lincoln cents from the Edward C. Rochette Money Museum Collection. Discover the fascinating story behind these famous rarities and see why they remain among the most sought-after coins in American numismatics.

🔎 Learn more:
https://bit.ly/3QiXJD8

1887 Postal Note, “Fee Three Cent,” Type V Object # 112 ANA 1993.3.8

This postal note represents an early federal experiment in everyday money transfers for average Americans. Designed by the Homer Lee Bank Note Company and produced by the American Bank Note Company, postal notes allowed Americans to send small sums of money through the U.S. Post Office. For a fee of just three cents, up to five dollars could be transferred across the country.

Created after the discontinuation of fractional currency, the system met a growing need for secure, low-cost payments to distant family, business, and creditors. Earlier notes required the sender to name the exact office where payment would be made. However, this later type could be redeemed at larger designated Money Order Offices, making the system more flexible.

Modeled partly on American Express money orders, postal notes undercut the private competition’s five-cent fee. Most were issued for modest sums – the 1884 average was just $2.01 – making this likely sample or test-use example of one cent especially unusual.

💬 Why would the federal government directly compete with private companies like American Express in the money-transfer business?

Follow along each week day as we spotlight one American coin, token, or note for every year of our nation’s independence.🪙 🇺🇸

Explore the collection so far:
https://www.money.org/money-museum/america250/

1886 $5 Silver Certificate, Series 1886 Object # 111 ANA 1987.126.179

This striking silver certificate reflects the evolving relationship between paper money and precious metal. Featuring recently deceased President Ulysses S. Grant on the front, the reverse visually reinforces the note’s purpose: images of the Morgan dollar remind users that this note was redeemable for its face value in silver coin.

Silver certificates emerged from the political fallout of the Bland-Allison Act, which required the federal government to purchase large quantities of western silver. Earlier certificates primarily served banks as proof of deposited silver holdings, but the 1886 series brought silver-backed paper directly into public circulation. Lightweight and convenient, these notes allowed Americans to spend “silver” without carrying heavy coinage, while millions of actual Morgan dollars remained stacked in Treasury vaults for decades.

The reverse also includes an early appearance of the motto, “In God We Trust,” long before it became mandatory on paper currency (1957).

💬 Can you think of other examples where U.S. paper money visually referenced coinage to reinforce denomination or redemption?

Follow along each week day as we spotlight one American coin, token, or note for every year of our nation’s independence.🪙 🇺🇸

Explore the collection so far:
https://www.money.org/money-museum/america250/