MONEY MUSEUMS IN THE U.S., PART ONE

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V26 2023 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 26, Number 49, December 3, 2023, Article 16

E-Sylum Feature Writer and American Numismatic Biographies author Pete Smith submitted this wonderful compilation of Money Museums in the United States, past and present. Thanks! Here's the first of two parts. An amazing list - while I was at least somewhat familiar with most of these, there are a number I'd missed or forgotten about. Very useful.

Have you visited any of the obsolete museums? Please share your experience with us. -Editor

The concept of a money museum is broadly applied here. It may be a building devoted entirely to that museum. It may be a small section of a larger museum or a numismatic division in a university library. It might be in the back room of a coin store. Some museums offer virtual exhibits and some may be entirely virtual.

Bank of California Gold Rush Museum. 400 California Street, San Francisco, California. Now known as Union Bank, Museum of the Money of the American West. [Currently Active]

Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. Currency Exhibit. 101 Market Street, San Francisco, California. Includes virtual exhibits.

Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. L A Fed Gallery, 950 South Grand Avenue, Los Angeles, California. [Tours currently suspended]

Old San Francisco Mint. Mission and Fifth, San Francisco, California. The building was opened as a museum in 1973 and closed in 1994. The San Francisco Museum and Historical Society occupied the building from 2003 to 2023.

Union Bank. 5th and Figueroa Streets, Los Angeles, California. N.A.S.C. Money Museum. Sponsored by the Numismatic Association of Southern California. Organized by Karl Brainard. Dedicated July 20, 1967. Moved to the Coast Federal Savings and Loan building in 1973; United California Bank UCB, Airport Century Bank in 1975. Ernest W. Hood, Curator. The assets were liquidated. [Closed]

American Numismatic Association, Edward C. Rochette Money Museum. Colorado Springs, Colorado. Opened in 1969. Richard A. Long, curator 1971-1973. Robert Hoge, curator 1981-2001. Douglas Mudd, Curator. [Currently Active]

Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, Denver Branch. Denver Money Museum. 1060 16th Street, Denver, Colorado. [Closed until further notice.]

Connecticut State Library. The Mitchelson Collection. 231 Capitol Avenue, Hartford, Connecticut. Donated in 1911. Image gallery of Connecticut Coppers is available on-line. Much more is on display. [Currently Active]

Yale University Art Gallery. 1111 Chapel Street, New Haven, Connecticut. Formerly the Yale Numismatic Collection, it was transferred from the University Library to the Yale University Art Gallery in 2001. The collection includes the C. W. Betts collection of medals relating to colonial America. Includes the Bela Lyon Pratt Gallery of Numismatics. [Open]

Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of American History, National Numismatic Collection. Washington, D.C. The building opened in January 1964. The numismatic exhibit closed in 2004 and was reopened in 2015. The collection includes an estimated 1.6 million items. [Currently Active}

Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, Jacksonville Branch. Monetary Museum. 800 Water Street, Jacksonville, Florida. [Virtual tour available]

Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, Miami Branch. Miami Monetary Museum. 9100 N. W. 36 th Street, Miami, Florida. [Currently Active]

Grover Criswell Coin Museum, 401 Crey Avenue, St. Petersburg Beach, Florida. Opened in November 1963. In 1964, thieves cut through the roof to loot the museum including gold coins on loan from Irving Moskovitz of Detroit. The museum was closed on July 1, 1966.

Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta Money Museum, Atlanta, Georgia. 1000 Peachtree Street N. E. Atlanta, Georgia. [Currently Active]

Chicago Historical Society. Northwest corner of Lincoln Park. Includes Columbian Exposition material. In 1920, the Chicago Historical Society purchased the collections of Charles Gunther. Henry Ripstra was curator in 1933.

Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago Money Museum, 601 N. Clark St., Chicago, Illinois. [Currently Active]

National Bank of Logansport, Money Museum. Fourth Street and Broadway, Logansport, Indiana. Created by the Logansport Coin Club. Opened April 19, 1971.

University of Notre Dame Libraries. Department of Special Collections. South Bend, Indiana. Robert H. Gore was a major donor. Louis Jordan, curator.

Higgins Museum, Okoboji, Iowa. Formed around the collection of William R. Higgins, Jr. Opened in 1978 with John Hickman, curator. Larry Adams curator 2007 to 2022. George Cuhaj, curator 2023. [Currently Active]

Colonial Trading Co., 41 Bromfield Street, Boston. They have the Money Museum of Boston on the second floor. [Currently Active]

Harvard, Fogg Museum. 32 Quincy Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts. In 1973, armed robbers overpowered a guard, gained access to the coin room, and took away a safe and loose coins with a value of $5 million. About 6000 Greek and Roman coins were taken. This was described at the time and the largest coin robbery in U. S. history.

Massachusetts Historical Society. Boston. Cornelius Vermeule, curator. Coins did not match the mission of the Society and were secured in bank vaults. Much of their collection, including the Mickley 1804 dollar, was sold through six Stack's auctions in 1970-1976.

National Bank of Detroit Money Museum medal

National Bank of Detroit Money Museum, Detroit, Michigan. Featuring the collection of Nate S. Shapero, Opened April 28, 1960, with Oscar H. Dodson as director; succeeded by Charles Hoskins.

Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, 1 Memorial Drive, Kansas City, Missouri. Includes the Harry S. Truman Collection on loan from the Truman Library. [Currently active]

Federal Reserve Bank of Saint Louis Economy Museum. Broadway and Locust Street. Opened in 2014, closed in March 2020, reopened in 2022.

Kansas City Museum. The Heart of America Coin Club gave money to the museum in 1957 to support a permanent exhibit of coinage. Joseph W. Schmandt donated a 1792 half disme to the Kansas City Museum about 1958. Following a recent inquiry, the museum could find no record of the collection.

Mercantile Bank Money Museum, St. Louis, Missouri. Featuring the collection of Eric P. Newman. Opened March 9, 1981. Gene Hessler, curator 1981-1988.The museum was hosted by an animated figure of Ben Franklin. [Closed]

Ralph Foster Museum at the School of the Ozarks at Point Lookout, Missouri. At one time they had a coin room. John Paul Butler, donor and curator. In December 1980, thieves unscrewed cases and took 76 gold coins with an estimated value of $1 million.

Truman Library. The original collection was donated to the Truman Presidential Library by John Snyder, Secretary of the Treasury in March, 1962. The collection was stolen in November 1962 and never recovered. Collectors donated coins to replace the collection which was presented to Truman on May 6, 1967.

Washington University, Kemper Arts Museum. Eric P. Newman Money Museum. Opened on October 25, 2006, with 3000 square feet of exhibit space. It featured Ben Franklin as a spokesmannequin. The museum was relocated in 2018 to the Olin Library and the Newman Tower of Collections and Exploration. At last report, Ben Franklin is sitting in a closet talking with himself.