So, this week’s stop may seem like a bit of a backtrack, as we travel north from Williamsburg, but in this case the virtual road trip was real, as I spent last weekend in a very hot and muggy Washington, DC, visiting my husband, Scott, who is working for a couple of weeks in the nation’s capital. He was a good sport when I told him we needed to make a stop at the National Museum of American History to check out the new coin exhibit.
Now a couple of years ago we took our two daughters to Washington for the obligatory sight-seeing tour in which we walked about 10 miles in one day visiting just about every monument (except that oddly distant Jefferson Memorial) as well as the Capitol, the National Archives, the National Gallery, the Museum of Natural History and the American History Museum. I dutifully dragged them all to the lower level to show them the tiny room of coins that at the time was the only numismatic display in the place. They were not too impressed, at least not until I told them how much “value” was actually contained in that small room.
This time we made our way into the blessedly cool interior, checked the directory and once again headed to the lower level. There we found the same small room that we had visited previously. I was confused — I thought there was a whole new exhibit. But wait; in looking around I noticed that many if not most of the “big-boy” coins were not there. Finally I saw a sign that directed us to another exhibit, this one on the other side of the same level.
So we found the new exhibit in the “Gallery of Numismatics,” and went in with the goal of taking a couple of pictures for this blog and making a quick exit. But it turns out that this more extensive display in a much bigger room is really pretty interesting and quite busy. Scott, who probably ignores about 89% of the coin talk that he hears in our house, asked if that “really rare nickel that there are only five of” was in the display, so we found it. I pointed out other very rare issues that I knew about from my years with B&M, ANR, Stack’s and SBG, told him about the Lilly Collection and why so many of the coins were from that source and even found some items that were donated by the Stack family over the years.
Once we had left the Gallery of Numismatics we did check out some of the other exhibits that were new since our last visit. As always, the National Museum of American History did not disappoint. (www.americanhistory.si.edu)
An additional numismatic attraction:
Bureau of Engraving and Printing: If you want to continue your numismatic tour, what better way than by a visit and tour at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing (www.moneyfactory.gov). And, it’s nicely located about halfway between the American History Museum and that oddly distant Jefferson Memorial. On a hot day it’s good to have an air-conditioned break on that trek!
