Historical Artifacts and 古币

Historical Artifacts

The Artifact Collection holds more than 2,000 objects that represent several centuries of American history. Highlights include the pen Abraham Lincoln used to sign the Emancipation Proclamation; a windowsill from a Harvard detention house, signed by students confined for bad behavior in the early 19th century; the swords of William Prescott and John Linzee who fought at the Battle of Bunker Hill; George Washington’s epaulettes; and a 银 urn made by Paul Revere in the neoclassical style he adopted toward the end of the American Revolution. A late-17th-century chest of drawers later became known as the “the Witch Bureau” when an 1861 description recorded that “from the middle drawer…one of the Witches jumped out who was hung on Gallows Hill, 在塞勒姆.” The full range of artifacts at the Society encompasses examples of armor, 拐杖, 中国, clocks and pocket watches, 枪支, 家具, 珠宝, 粉角, political ephemera, 银, 和纺织品.

古币

The MHS numismatic collection consists of approximately 7,000 medals and tokens, 30个硬币, 400 buttons and ribbons, 和3,000 examples of paper money. The strengths of the collection are early colonial Massachusetts coinage, paper money circulating in Massachusetts in the colonial period, paper money and fiscal paper issued by the Continental Congress, obsolete bank notes and scrip issued in Massachusetts, and medals and tokens related to Massachusetts and to the Society's manuscript collections. Most of the coins and medals in the collection are described in Malcolm Storer's 古币 of Massachusetts (Boston, 1923), published as volume 76 of the MHS og体育官网.

How to Find Artifacts and 古币

With the exception of Revolutionary-era artifacts that are cataloged in 阿比盖尔, information about the artifact collection is available only at the MHS.  og体育官网 艺术馆长 for more information.

Viewing Artifacts and 古币

把工件 在线, experience the collections 在人, or visit the 在线 画廊 to view highlights of the collection. Artifacts not on display are available by appointment only.  og体育官网 艺术馆长 for more information.