Pocket Change Uncategorized

The Pulitzer Medal
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The Pulitzer Medal
By Matthew Wittman

The Pulitzer Prize(s) have been awarded annually since 1917 for excellence in journalism, arts, and letters. They are the legacy of the Hungarian-born American newspaper publisher Joseph Pulizter (1847-1911), and the 2015 winners were announced yesterday for what are now twenty-one separate categories. Although the Pulitzer medal has come to symbolize the program, the only winner that actually receives a medal is the organization that receives the award for “disinterested and meritorious” Public Service, which this year went to Charleston’s The Post and Courier newspaper. The other awardees receive a certificate and ten-thousand dollars, which must be some consolation.

The medal was designed by the noted American…

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Victor David Brenner's Lincoln Plaster
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Victor David Brenner's Lincoln Plaster
By Matthew Wittman

Today marks the 150th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s (1809-1865) assassination. He was shot by John Wilkes Booth at Ford’s Theatre during…

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The Myth of Appomattox
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The Myth of Appomattox
By Matthew Wittman

Library of Congress

The 150th anniversary of the surrender of General Robert E. Lee’s Confederate army at Appomattox was commemorated in New York…

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Duke's Cigarette Card Coins
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Duke's Cigarette Card Coins
By Matthew Wittman

The New York Public Library has launched a new website for its ample collection of digital images. There is a variety…

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Chinese Junk Keying Medals
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Chinese Junk Keying Medals
By Matthew Wittman

The Chinese Junk “Keying” (N. Currier, 1847) Hand-colored Lithograph | Met

The Keying was a three-masted Chinese trading junk that sailed from…

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Hotten's Numismatic Slang
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Hotten's Numismatic Slang
By Matthew Wittman

John Camden Hotten (1832-1873) was one of the liveliest characters in British letters during the mid-nineteenth century. A bibliophile and…

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Brooklyn Pennies
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Brooklyn Pennies
By Gilles Bransbourg

Back in 2012 as the American Numismatic was preparing its “Signs of Inflation” exhibition, we came to realize that the…

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Vincent van Gogh Centenary Medal
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Vincent van Gogh Centenary Medal
By Matthew Wittman

Self-Portrait (1887) Art Institute of Chicago

Vincent Willem van Gogh was born on this date in 1853 near Breda in the…

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Numismatic Folk Art
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Numismatic Folk Art
By Matthew Wittman

Last evening was the opening for a new exhibition called “When the Curtain Never Comes Down” at the American Folk…

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Mysteries from the Vault: A Bronze Key
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Mysteries from the Vault: A Bronze Key
By Matthew Wittman

With close to a million objects in the American Numismatic Society’s collections, the curatorial team occasionally comes across items that…

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Ask a Curator: Heaviest?
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Ask a Curator: Heaviest?
By David Yoon

This post is part of an ongoing series that seeks to answer your questions about our collections. If there’s something you would…

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Cutting Down Old Hickory
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Cutting Down Old Hickory
By Matthew Wittman

Following on my post last week about the campaign to replace Andrew Jackson on the twenty-dollar bill, Gail Collins had a…

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