A Compendium Of Numismatic Displays In Museums Around The World (Evergreen)

Ancients in the Archaeological Museum of Krakow

So I stumbled on a bunch of ancients playing dead objects in a museum. Most of the museum collection (including these coins) originates back to Polish-led archaeological expeditions between 1910 and 1914 and later on. Marvelous collection I must say.

A small contribution after visiting Ohio's only national park yesterday, Cuyahoga Valley National Park. This is one of America's most unusual national parks, as it's a patchwork of green spaces that snake through suburban areas in northeastern Ohio, following the path of the defunct Ohio and Erie Canal. The idea for this canal was first envisioned by Thomas Jefferson, in a letter to George Washington in 1789. The canal was begun in 1825, the year New York's Erie Canal opened, and it was completed in 1832, opening up the first continuous trade route by water from the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River.

At the northwest corner of the park, the former Gleason's Tavern gave refreshment to ship captains or passengers who were "locking through," (i.e. stopped at a lock in the canal). This building now serves as a museum of the canal. The original structure dates to the 1820s, but a "new" wing was added around 1853, the date being determined by these coins found in a privy that was sealed over during construction of the new wing (a reminder to us all to check your pockets after you stand up ):


The silver three-cent piece is also used as a
"please touch" icon for young visitors to the museum:


Of course there are boxed year sets of National Park quarters for sale in the gift shop, but cheapskate that I am, I was drawn to this token that set me back all of a buck and a quarter:

Those a exactly the sorts of additions to this thread that I had envisioned. Including these two recent posts, we have visited and provided numismatic information on 51 museums and places of note (some doubles). Here is the comprehensive list, along with the page number as a handy guide:

Thread Page             Museum name                                     Location
1                       Budapest History Museum                         Hungary
1                       Edinborough National Museum of Scotland         Scotland
1                       Culloden Battlefield                            Scotland
1                       Glenfinnan Monument Visitor Center              Scotland
1                       Toledo Museum of Art                            Ohio USA
1                       Museum of Antiquity in Basel                    Switzerland
1                       City of Prague Museum                           Czech Republic
1                       Smithsonian American History Museum             Washington DC USA
2                       Old US Mint at New Orleans                      Louisiana USA
4                       Hammer Museum of Los Angeles                    California USA
4                       Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Airport              Georgia USA
4                       Jordan Archaeological Museum in Amman           Jordan
4                       Jerusalem Archaelogical Park                    Israel
4                       La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona                 Spain
5                       Figueres Dali Theatre and Museum                Spain
5                       Prado Museum                                    Spain
5                       Ethnological Museum of Barcelona                Spain
5                       National Geographic Museum                      Washington DC USA
5                       Smithsonian American History Museum             Washington DC USA
5                       Peabody Hotel                                   Tennessee USA
5                       Museum of Banking                               Luxembourg
5                       Museum of the City of Luxembourg                Luxembourg
5                       Museum of Vietnamese History                    Vietnam
6                       Graceland                                       Tennessee USA
6                       Archaelogical Museum in Antalya                 Turkey
6                       Bullock Texas State History Museum              Texas USA
6                       Museum of Archaeology of Arlon                  Belgium
7                       Cologne Roman Germanic Museum                   Germany
7                       Karples Manuscript Library of Buffalo           New York USA
7                       National art Museum of Catalonia                Spain
7                       Madrid National Archaeological Museum           Spain
7                       Harper's Ferry                                  West Virgina USA
7                       Michael C. Carlos Museum                        Georgia USA
7                       Swiss National Museum                           Switzerland
8                       Bogata Numismatic Museum                        Columbia
8                       The British Museum of London                    UK
8                       Colchester Town Museum                          UK
8                       Museum of Fine Art in Lyon                      France
8                       Nimes Museum of the Romans                      France
8                       Curtius Museum in Liege                         Belgium
8                       Smithsonian American History Museum             Washington DC USA
8                       The Mint Museum in Sydney                       Australia
8                       Teylers Museum                                  Netherlands
8                       Ljubljana Castle Museum                         Slovenia
9                       National Museum of Slovenia                     Slovenia
9                       Constance Archaeological Museum                 Germany
9                       Rose Garden Museum of Constance                 Germany
9                       Zurich Art Museum                               Switzerland
9                       Madrid National Archaeological Museum           Spain
10                      Archaeological Museum of Krakow                 Poland
10                      Cuyahoga Valley National Park                   Ohio USA

There are only a few exhibits of interest for the travelling numismatist at the Houston (TX) Museum of Fine Art. However, these exhibits are rock stars and make the trip well worth it. Non-flash photography is permitted. All of the signage is in English, but many also include Spanish translations.

First was an exceptional exhibit of African art, including hundreds of gold objects. Of particular interest to numismatists was a late 19th or early 20th Century Oshele (currency blade) from the Nkutshu or Ndengese tribes. At a couple feet tall, this "money" was used as a store and symbol of wealth rather than being used for transactions.





In the Art of the Islamic World exhibit, I saw what surely is among the most impressive coins ever minted. This gold 100 Muhurs weighs 1090 g and is roughly the size of a hockey puck sawn in half. It was struck in Lahore in 1048 AH (AD 1639) and mentions the name Emperor Shah Jahan (Mughal dominions, India). I have included a pic of the Emperor below, too.





These coins were struck as presentation pieces and this trend was begun by the son of the Mughal Emperor Akbar, Jahangir. According to the placard, the obv inscription on this piece reads:




The rev inscription is:

And post some pics here too please!

My visit to the US mint in Philadelphia.

On 11/29, I took the kids (young adults) to visit the US Mint in Philadelphia. We left early and found parking right in front of the Mint. The mint is located:

151 N. Independence Mall East, Philadelphia, PA 19106

It nearby several important sites such as the Liberty Bell, the Independence Visitors center, the Betsy Ross house and the Museum of the Revolutionary war.

Sadly no pictures are allowed, so this will have to be a descriptive tour.

Once you get in you have to go to metal detectors. You are not allowed to carry guns or cameras. The can even ask for ID of the adults so be prepared. After going to the metal detectors to the right is an escalator and the gift shop. I recommend you save the gift shop for last :)

Take the escalator to the first floor and you can see several artifacts from the previous 4 mints. They have some of the bullion boxes used to move gold and the press for some of the earliest coinage. They also have a short 6 minute video that tells about the initial discussion on creating a mint and the details of the first mint (it took 3 years to mint as many coins as are minted in 30 minutes now).

After seeing the video and the small displays you take an elevator to the top. From here you get to see all the processes that are done, from design (making the dies) to annealling, stamping and then the actual coinage process. Allthough there are coins all over the machinery they give no free samples. The tour leads to all process to the final area where they make the numismatic products including the proof and bullion coins. As you leave you get to see a large box in which the coins are shipped.

You then take the stairs down to the gift shop. While they have MANY touristy items, they also have almost every product the US Mint sells. The prices are the same and there is no tax. There were a few older products available (like 2014 and older ASE and quarters) that are available at good prices. Cheaper than what is currently on the US Mint, but the products are older. There are no limited release items other than those on the website, for example the American Innovation Dollar coins are out and they have several of the reverse proofs (limited mintage). Bring cash as you can spend a pretty penny.

The mint is opened most weeks days and in summer on Saturdays. If doing it again, I would recommend going on a busy day as when we were there the coinage process was not working.

Some helpful links:

https://www.usmint.gov/about/mint-t...-information

A download for the self guided tour:

https://www.usmint.gov/wordpress/wp...VERSION1.pdf

@hfj, nice "virtual tour"!

Did you get to some of the historical sites?

A little known tidbit of American History... Before the White House became the presidential residence in 1800, three other houses in New York and Philadelphia served this purpose. For most of the infancy of our new nation (1790-1800), the president lived in a mansion in the 500 block of Market Street in Philadelpha, just two blocks from the mint.

There is no longer a building there. The Federal government rented the house from Robert Morris Jr., and it was demolished in 1832. Think about it ... the original White House was a rental property!
When I last lived in the area, there was an interesting archaeological excavation in progress: https://www.nps.gov/articles/excava...ts-house.htm

State championship match is good stuff! Congrats and sobs.

Mmmm.. cheesesteaks. If you're back in that neighborhood near The Mint and Independence Park, check out Campo's: https://camposdeli.com/
I used to go there Saturdays with one of my sons.

At least five ladies in your life (those ASEs)... Nice