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ifih 



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Fig. 3. — A View of the Patent Office Building, Washington, D.C. (from Gleason's Pictorial 



Drawing-Room Companion. 1853). 



that e\cn includccl 500 phister c\isting.s of meclals diicl 

 seals.'* The cxhiljits featurecl a scattering of numis- 

 matic material, hut no particular area was c'e\"otcci to 

 a general numismatic displax . 1 he Institute helped 

 to create a pulilic t)pinion fa\orahle to the establish- 

 ir.ent of a natioiKtl museum as an idea worth\- of con- 

 sideration 1)\' the L'nited .States (Jovernment. It lailecl, 

 howe\er, to secure puMic recognition, ancl it lost 

 impetus after the .Smithsonian Institution was estal)- 

 lished. The transfer of its collections to the Smith- 

 .sonian commenced in 18.58 liut was not completed 

 until 1883. 



\\ e ha\e rather detailed information .iliout the 

 scope of the Institute's numismatic collections and the 

 \arious accretions ol coins, paper currencies, and 

 medals, as well as numismatic puhlieations. This in- 

 formation may be found in the four Hulletms published 

 by the National Institute from 1841 to 184t). These 

 \olumes record donations of more than 2,800 nu- 

 mismatic items recei\ed Ironi about se\ent\ donors 

 (Appendix IV A). 



'Ibid., p. 347. 



The exhibits arranged by the National Institute 

 featurecl a scattering of numismatic material. .\o 

 particular area was de\oted to a general displa\ of 

 coins or paper monew the entire museum being set 

 up m.iinh in the style of a cabinet of curiosities. 

 X'aluable information about some of the numismatic 

 displa\s around 1852 ma\ L)e found in a manuscript 

 catalog pre|)ared b\ John \'arden and preser\ed in 

 the Smithsonian Archives (Appendix I\' B). 



.\ more comprehensive account, at least in some 

 respects, is given in a guidebook to the National 

 Institute publishecl in 1855 b\ .\lfred Hunter, listing 

 nuniisin.ttic items on view in the "large and mag- 

 nificent hall" (fig. 4) (.\])pcndix I\" C). 



On .August 10, 1846, an .'\ct of Congress estal)lislnng 

 the Smithsonian Institution was signed bv President 

 Polk, and on .May 1, 1847, the cornerstone of its first 

 building was laid on the Mall. In the earlv vears of 

 its existeiue and before an\' numismatic collections 

 were as.semiiled at the Institution, a Smithsonian 

 project was conceived that inchcates the expanding 

 interest in coins and med.ds during the first hall ol 

 the 19th centurv, C:harles Coffin Jevvett, wideK 



P.APER 31 : HISTORY OF THK N.\TIONAL NUMISMATIC COLLECTIONS 



