Pocket Change

Collectively branded as Pocket Change, the ANS publishes new content frequently on its blog, in The Planchet podcast, as well as videos. Back-issues of ANS Magazine are also available.

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 Hong Kong in December 1847 with a mixed crew of Chinese and British sailors. The vessel had been purchased surreptitiously by a conglomerate of enterprising English businessmen. It was placed under the command of Captain Alfred Kellett with the intention of carrying curiosities and merchandise to England and thereafter serving as a kind of floating museum. The avaricious Kellett neglected to tell the Chinese crew members that they were embarking on such an extended journey, and by the time the Keying…

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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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Freedom's First Con
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Freedom's First Con
By Matthew Wittman

Historians of the United States have traditionally shown little curiosity about American money in anything more than an abstract sense. In a…

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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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Fairbanks Infallible Coin Scale
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Fairbanks Infallible Coin Scale
By Matthew Wittman

This is the first in a new monthly series of short films that will explore some of the more intriguing…

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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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Introducing the ANS
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Introducing the ANS
By The American Numismatic Society

In case you missed it the first time around, here is a short film about the American Numismatic Society.

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Women On Twenties
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Women On Twenties
By Matthew Wittman

ANS.1980.67.17

Last week, I was quoted by the New Yorker in a piece on the campaign to replace Andrew Jackson on the $20…

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Profiles in Research: Hilary Becker
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Profiles in Research: Hilary Becker
By Matthew Wittman

Last week the ANS was visited by Hilary Becker, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Classics at the University…

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