About the Exhibit
Numismatics! Selections from the MPM Collection is made up of four sections: Wisconsin Exonumia, US Coins, World Coins and Traditional Money.
Wisconsin Exonumia – See a rich collection of local coins and medals, including merchant-made business tokens and a set of coins from 1846, the year of Milwaukee's incorporation.
US Coins – A wealth of different coins illustrate our changing national culture, from liberty heads with varying ethnic features to an 1877 Trade Dollar "recrafted" by a folk artist.
World Coins – Nations past and present are represented through their coinage, including an abundance from the German States and Austro-Hungarian Empire, immigrants from which played a large role in shaping early Milwaukee.
Traditional Money – From 5th Century Chinese Knife Money to cowrie shells used as money in West Africa and the southwest Pacific, this section illustrates the use of locally produced, implied-value objects as an early form of currency.