DIGITIZING THE NATIONAL NUMISMATIC COLLECTION

Many of you are familiar with the Smithsonian’s National Numismatic Collection (NNC), but have had limited access to the treasures it holds. Since 2015, the staff of the NNC have been working diligently to share this rich and diverse collection online in order to make it a public resource for research and education.

We are proud to announce that over the past six years we have added over 320,000 new numismatic records and images to the National Museum of American History’s online database. The new records include the famous collections of Josiah K. Lilly Jr., Grand Duke George Mikhailovich, Paul A. Straub, and many others accessible via the links below:

• 6,128 coins from the Josiah K. Lilly Jr. Collection
• 5,754coins from the Paul A. Straub Collection
• 13,678coins and medals from the Grand Duke George Mikhailovich Collection
• 8,000 East Asian coins
• 5,800Chinese banknotes
• 880West African currency objects
• 274,340proof sheets from the Bureau of Engraving and Printing
• 6,000pieces of German notgeld
• 119Comitia Americana medals

The NNC is now in the process of digitizing the South African currency collection, which will be available online in 2021. We intend to continue our digitization efforts until we have digitized the entirety of the NNC.

The NNC would like to thank the Friends of the National Numismatic Collection, Jeff Garrett, Michael Chou, the Howard F. Bowker family, John Adams, Andrew Shiva, the London School of Economics, and the Smithsonian Institution for their generous support of the projects above. If you wish to support these efforts to invest in the collection’s future and cultivate the next generation of numismatists please consider joining the Friends of the Nationl Numismatic Collection.

To watch a video of the mass digitization process, see:
Smithsonian Mass Digitization: National Museum of American History, National Numismatic Collection (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RV-QaSmGUjc&feature=youtu.be)

For more information on the collection (and links to images), see:
The Collection : Recent digitization initiatives (https://americanhistory.si.edu/national-numismatic-collection/collection)

For more on the Friends of the National Numismatic Collection, see:
https://americanhistory.si.edu/giving/friends-of-numismatics

To read earlier E-Sylum articles, see:
SMITHSONIAN DIGITIZES 270,000 BEP CERTIFIED PROOFS (https://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v18n48a05.html)
SMITHSONIAN'S RAPID CAPTURE DIGITIZATION (https://www.coinbooks.org/v20/esylum_v20n07a05.html)

	NBS (coinbooks.org) Web