The Smithsonian's National Numismatic Collection (NNC) is America's collection of monetary and transactional objects. This diverse and expansive global collection contains objects that represent every inhabited continent and span more than three thousand years of human history.
The NNC is comprised of approximately 1.6 million objects including coins, paper money, medals, tokens, commodity and alternative currencies, coin dies, printing plates, scales and weights, financial documents and apparatuses, credit cards, and objects that reflect established and emerging digital monetary technologies.
The collection and its library are a national treasure and a public resource for research and education. Both are housed at the National Museum of American History and are available for consultation in our study room by appointment. A portion of the collection is also on display in the museum's numismatic exhibitions, The Value of Money and Really BIG Money, and is increasingly accessible through our online catalog.
The NNC is a center for rigorous numismatic and historical research that strives to develop innovative approaches to preservation, digitization, and display.