Because the roots of the Smithsonian Institution's 

 numismatic collections reach back to the beginnina; 

 of cultural acti\ity and museum life in the District 

 of Columijia, a summary of these origins is in order. 

 As early as 1816 "The Columbian Institute for the 

 Promotion of Arts and Sciences" was active in 

 Washington and on May 20, 1818, it was granted a 

 charter from Congress. During the two decades of 

 its existence, its interests often .seemed directed toward 



Fig. 2. — British Sovereign, 1838, fror 

 original Smithsonian deposit. 



the 



natural histor>- and especially mineralogy and botany, 

 but its endeavors were actually quite general in 

 scope. .•\n interesting numismatic sidelight on the 

 Institute is that among its founders was Thomas 

 Law (1756-1834). He came from a prominent English 

 family and, after a distinguished career in India, 

 moved to the United States in 1793 where he soon 

 became one of the most active citizens of Washington. 

 He was keenly interested in economics and was an 

 ardent proponent of a national paper currency. 

 Whenever there was occasion — in publications, at 

 public meetings, and particularly at meetings of the 

 Columl)ian Institute — he expounded his ideas for a 

 "uniform, permanently secure currency," describing 

 the advantages of the system he championed. The 

 president and directors of the Columbian Institute 

 ordered the publication of one of his addresses, showing 

 the interest they were taking in Law's proposals and 

 extolling his preoccupations which were so akin to 

 the modern concept of numismatics. 



It can be assumed that the Columbian Institute's 

 small numismatic collection was kept in the Intitute's 

 cabinet. (.Additional information is pre.sentec' in 

 Appendix II.} Insofar as is known, the pui)lic was 

 ne\er in\itcd to \iew the displays. \\'hen the charter 

 for the Columbian Institute expired in 1838, associ- 

 ates "were invited to become members of the Na- 



tional Institution, antl to deposit in its cabinet their 

 effects, books, and papers." '' 



The National Institution for the Promotion of 

 Science, or the Xational Institute as it was later 

 called, was organized on May 15, 1840, under the 

 leac'ership of Joel Roljcrts Poinsett of .South Carolina, 

 Secretary ol \\ ,ir under President Martin \'an Buren. 

 Its purpose was to establish a national museum with 

 tl'.e idea that, later, it would be entrusted with the 

 administration of Smithson's bequest. 



The distinction of being first to offer public ex- 

 hi!)its featuring numismatic objects, however, goes to 

 John V'arden, an enterprising private citizen of 

 Washington, D.C. He opened a small museum ad- 

 joining his 5th Street home, in 1836, with displays 

 consisting of some 500 "curiousities," and he kept a 

 record of the museum's numismatic collections. In 

 December 1839 \'arden made arrangements for a 

 larger museum in the Masonic Hall at 4\i and D 

 Streets. In 1840 the "Washington Museum" or 

 "Washington City Museum" was \isited by repre- 

 sentatives of the Xational Institute who came to 

 examine the exhii)itions and negotiate concerning 

 their acquisition. .An agreement was apparently 

 reached since \'arden sold his collections to the 

 Institute for SI, 500 in June 1840. The curator of the 

 .Xational Institute, Dr. Henry King, had the entire 

 in\entory of \"arden's museum installed in the X'a- 

 tional Gallery Hall at the L'nited States Patent 

 Office. X'arden accompanied the collections as an 

 "assistant, who is also a good mechanic and ar- 

 ranger ... at SI. 50 per day." " A brief account of 

 the records from \'arden's museum and excerpts of 

 clata of numismatic interest are given in Appendix III. 



Thus, the National Institute took over the collections 

 assembled b\' the Columbian Institute and by John 

 \'arden. For four \ears following its organization in 

 1840, the Xational Institute was exceedingly acti\e 

 and prosperous. In rooms made available at the Patent 

 Office Building (fig. 3) it gathered, under the name of 

 the "Xational Cabinet of Curiosities,'" a nucleus for a 

 national museum. 



.-\ report of the Committee of the Xational Institute 

 dated Januar\ 1, 1842, indicates numismatic lioldings 



'' BuUelin oj the Proceedings oj the .Xational Institution for the 

 Promotion oJ Science, Washington, 1841, vol. 1, p. 94; G. Brown 

 GooDK, "The Genesis of the National Museum," p. 274 in 

 Report oj the U.S. .Vational .Museum . . . 1891 (Washington. 

 1892). In fact, the history of some of the objects in the National 

 Museum may be traced back to the cabinet of the Columbian 

 Institute. 



' Ibid., p. 349. 



Bl'M.ETIN 229: CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THF MUSEUM OF HISTORY .^ND TECHNOLOGY 



