The National Currency Foundation

The National Currency Foundation (NCF), founded in 2011, is a non-profit educational operating foundation under IRS code . The Foundation's goal is to educate the general public about the history of United States paper currency, as well as the history of the United States through examples of currency and the people who created, signed, and distributed bank notes. Virtual exhibits and reference texts are prepared for all levels and for both the general public and numismatists. Current website exhibits include highlights from the United States Treasury Department Collection (courtesy of the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian Institution), and a complete State-Seal set of National Bank Notes highlighting the history of the signing bank officers. The NCF also maintains the National Bank Note Census and is serially publishing the Encyclopedia of National Bank Notes (by Peter Huntoon) electronically on the NCF website.
Educational Goals
The National Currency Foundation strives to increase public awareness of United States paper currency. While this may include a new awareness of modern currency used in daily transactions, the educational focus is on the various historical aspects involved with United States Bank Notes.
*Who are the people depicted on U.S. Bank Notes?
*Who are the Treasury officials who have signed U.S. Bank Notes?
*Who are the National Bank officers who signed National Bank Notes?
*How have these men and women impacted our history and development?
*What is the historical evolution of paper currency and banking in the United States?
The NCF exhibits/presents at least once per year at a major currency convention (e.g., International Paper Money Show) in the United States. In addition, the foundation sponsors special exhibits and education presentations and speakers at certain currency conventions. Exhibits and speaker presentations are always open (and free) to the general public. The NCF is also concerned with the dissemination of scholarly research to the public and within the field of numismatics.
Digitizing Bank Notes
The National Currency Foundation is engaged in a digitization project with the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. Since January, 2012, the NCF has been working to systematically organize, re-house, re-inventory, research and digitize thousands of United States Bank Notes from the Chase Manhattan Bank Museum and Treasury Department Collections.
NCF provides similar services to any non-profit organization (e.g., museums, state and local historical societies, academic institutions, foundations) seeking assistance in identifying, organizing, and/or digitizing their own collection of United States Bank Notes. Participating institutions must be willing to allow the NCF to curate virtual exhibits and make the images and information available to the public.
Virtual Exhibits
The National Currency Foundation's virtual exhibits provide the public with access to material that is rare to see in a physical display. Digitized notes from the Treasury Department Collection at the Smithsonian can be found in three different exhibits focusing on different aspects of United States Bank Notes:
* Treasury Collection Highlights: Part I is a nearly complete set of all notes (denomination x series) issued between 1861 and 1923.
* Portraits on U.S. Bank Notes provides images as well as demographic and basic biographical information for all 52 individuals depicted on U.S. paper currency.
* Treasury Department Signatures on U.S. Currency which (like the portrait exhibit) provides information about the Treasurers, Registers, and Secretaries of the Treasury who signed U.S. Bank Notes.
Two additional exhibits focus on U.S. National Bank Notes:
* Who's Who in the Cast: The Bankers who Signed National Bank Notes. This complete State-Seal Collection of Original/1875 Series and 1882 Brown Back Notes looks at the demographic and occupational history of 126 National Bank officers in the mid to late 1800's., and
* Highlights from a North Dakota Collection Highlights 30 National Bank Notes from a comprehensive state collection of over 400 notes.
New exhibits are in production and will eventually include Fractional, Confederate, and Obsolete currency, among others.

The Encyclopedia of National Bank Notes
The Encyclopedia of National Bank Notes (ENBN) is a comprehensive compilation of original articles written by Peter Huntoon and various co-authors. This work, which is currently over 2,500 pages (80+ chapters) in length, roughly triples the existing literature written by Huntoon on the subject of National Bank Notes. The scope of the Encyclopedia covers the 73-year span of the National Bank Act, covering both large and small size notes. Peter Huntoon, actively researching and writing about National Bank Notes since 1966, specializes in original research using data obtained at The National Archives, as well as the National Numismatic Collection's holding of the certified proofs from The Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Washington DC.
The National Bank Note Census
The National Bank Note Census (NBNC), in its current electronic format, is the product of decades of meticulous record-keeping by the pioneer researchers in National Bank Notes (i.e.,John Hickman, Louis van Belkum, Peter Huntoon, Don Kelly, and Martin Gengerke). NBNC provides tracking research, auction records, images, grades, and serial numbers for National Bank Notes to scholars, collectors, and dealers in the field. As of late December, 2012 the NBNC contained 369,392 notes (67,612 notes with images), and 179,083 auction records.

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