Feingold, Ellen
Curator of the National Numismatic Collection
Feingold, Ellen
Curator of the National Numismatic Collection
I am the curator of the National Numismatic Collection (NNC), a global collection of approximately 1.6 million objects spanning more than 4,000 years of human history.
My areas of expertise include:
- History of money and monetary objects
- History of counterfeiting and forgery
- Imperial and global history, focusing on mechanisms of colonial rule and the process of decolonization
- History of the common law and legal institutions
- Preservation Through Circulation: Ukraine's Enduring Statehood and Heritage, 2024 - present
- Really BIG Money, 2022 - present
- The Value of Money, 2015 - present, including Ukraine's Distinct History, 2022 - present
- Women on Money, 2016 - 2019
Positions
- Curator of the National Numismatic Collection , National Museum of American History 2014 -
- Project Curator: Money in Africa , The British Museum 2012 - 2013
Geographic Focus
- Global Transnational Region
Background And Education
Education And Training
- D.Phil. in Modern History, Oxford University , Merton College 2007 - 2012
- M.Sc. in Economic and Social History, Oxford University , St. Antony's College 2006 - 2007
- B.A. in History, University of Wisconsin-Madison 2001 - 2005
Professional Biography
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I received my DPhil in History from the University of Oxford and began my career as a Project Curator for the Money in Africa Project at the British Museum in 2013. For the last 10 years I have served as curator of the Smithsonian's National Numismatic Collection and curated a variety of Smithsonian exhibitions including The Value of Money, Really BIG Money, Women on Money, and Ukraine's Distinct History. My research interests include the history of money and monetary objects, counterfeiting and forgery, and legal institutions and the administration of justice. I am passionate about making the history of money relevant and accessible to everyone.
Learn more about some of my favorite topics here:“Museum exhibit focuses on largest crypto seizure in U.S. History,” CBS News, Dec 2024
"Ancient Coins to a $3.6 Billion Laptop" TRM Talks, November 2024
"Bitcoin Bank Heist" Sidedoor, 2024
"Jim the Penman" Sidedoor, 2024
"How does the economy work? (and other important money questions)" Million Bazillion, 2024
"Face Value" Sidedoor, 2024
"Why do countries have different currencies?" Million Bazillion, 2023
"On the Money" Portraits and Sidedoor, 2021
Marketplace, NPR, 2021
Crypto Decoded, NOVA on PBS, 2021
Awards And Honors
- Elvira Clain-Stefanelli Memorial Award, conferred by American Numismatics Association , 2021
Research And Grants
Co-principal Investigator On
- Money and Exchange in South Africa awarded by London School of Economics and Political Science 2021 - 2022
- Money and Exchange in West Africa awarded by London School of Economics and Political Science 2019 - 2020
Publications
Selected Publications
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Article
- Feingold, Ellen R. 2024. "A Federal Agent’s Laptop Held the Keys to Seize $3.6 Billion in Stolen Bitcoin. Here’s How It Ended Up at the Smithsonian." Smithsonian Magazine, 2024
- Feingold, Ellen R. 2024. "A Federal Agent’s Laptop Held the Keys to Seize $3.6 Billion in Stolen Bitcoin. Here’s How It Ended Up at the Smithsonian." Smithsonian Magazine, Nov 18, 2024, Washington. 2024
- Feingold, Ellen, Frederick-Frost, Kristin, Liebhold, Peter, Lord, Alexandra, Ott, Katherine, Perry, Tony, Saha, Abeer, Sherman, Roger, and Wallace, Hal. 2023. "These Objects Tell the Story of Human-Driven Climate Change." Smithsonian Magazine, Jun 24, 2023, Washington, DC. 2023
- Feingold, Ellen R. 2022. "How Medieval Money Shaped Ukraine's Modern Identity." Smithsonian Magazine, Washington, DC. 2022
- Feingold, Ellen R., Pfisterer, Abby, Serrano,Orlando R., Jr., and Weicksel, Sarah. 2022. "Working Together: New Approaches to a History Exhibition for Children." AHA Perspectives on History, 2022
- Feingold, Ellen. 2021. "A Harriet Tubman $20? That's Just the Beginning." Politico Magazine, Feb 15, 2021, 2021
- Feingold, Ellen, Fourie, Johan, and Gardner, Leigh. 2021. "A tale of paper and gold: The material history of money in South Africa." Economic History of Developing Regions, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/20780389.2021.1926232. 2021
- Feingold, Ellen and Gardner, Leigh. 2020. "Research-Led Digitization: Inverting the Usual Way of Thinking about Digitization." Perspectives on History, 58, (8). 2020
- Feingold, Ellen R. 2017. "International Currency Counterfeiting Schemes in Interwar West Africa." Journal of West African History, 3, (1) 77–101. 2017
- Feingold, Ellen R. 2016. "How the Redesign of U.S. Money Shows the Power of Protest." Smithsonian Magazine, 2016
- Feingold, Ellen R. 2016. "Women on Money." Financial History, (118) 20–23. 2016
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Blog Posting
- Moore, Geoffrey, Garcia, Julia Sytsma, Grant, Jordan, and Feingold, Ellen R. 2022. "Making Match the Money." National Museum of Natural History. Stories https://americanhistory.si.edu/explore/stories/making-match-money. 2022
- Feingold, Ellen R. 2022. "What can really BIG money teach us about our world?" National Museum of Natural History. Stories https://americanhistory.si.edu/explore/stories/what-can-really-big-money-teach. 2022
- Feingold, Ellen, Gloede, Jennifer, Pearce Seigerman, Emily, Wiggins, Kelsey, and York, Hillery. 2018. "One coin, two coin, old coin, new coin: Searching for Dr. Seuss in the National Numismatic Collection." O Say Can You See? Stories from the National Museum of American History Washington, DC: Smithsonian National Museum of American History. Mar 1, 2018. http://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/dr-seuss-coins;. 2018
- Feingold, Ellen. 2017. "Exploring connections between the U.S. and East Asia through the Howard F. Bowker Numismatic Collection." O Say Can You See? Stories from the National Museum of American History Washington, DC: Smithsonian National Museum of American History. Nov 8, 2017. http://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/east-asia-bowker-collection. 2017
- Feingold, Ellen R. 2016. "Art from money: Paper money origami." National Museum of Natural History. Stories https://americanhistory.si.edu/explore/stories/art-money-paper-money-origami. 2016
- Feingold, Ellen R. 2016. "What is innovation in money today?" National Museum of Natural History. Stories https://americanhistory.si.edu/explore/stories/what-innovation-money-today. 2016
- Feingold, Ellen R. 2016. "Women on money." National Museum of Natural History. Stories https://americanhistory.si.edu/explore/stories/women-money. 2016
- Feingold, Ellen R. 2015. "1.5 ton vault door to greet visitors in the new Gallery of Numismatics." National Museum of Natural History. Stories https://americanhistory.si.edu/explore/stories/15-ton-vault-door-greet-visitors-new-gallery-numismatics. 2015
- Feingold, Ellen R. 2015. "Collecting the present: Partnering with researchers to document new developments in money." National Museum of Natural History. Stories https://americanhistory.si.edu/explore/stories/collecting-present-partnering-researchers-document-new-developments-money. 2015
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Book
- Feingold, Ellen R. 2018. Colonial Justice and Decolonization in the High Court of Tanzania, 1920-1971. Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan. In Cambridge Imperial and Post-Colonial Studies (CIPCSS). (https://doi.org/2635-1633), https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69691-1. 2018
- Feingold, Ellen. 2015. The Value of Money. Washington DC: Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press. 2015
Activities
Responsible Collections Areas
- I actively collect objects that reflect the history of money globally, including contemporary currencies and new monetary technologies worldwide
Affiliation
Member Of
- American Historical Association Member 2013 -
- Georgetown University Affiliate of the African Studies Program, School of Foreign Service 2013 -
Contact
Location
- National Museum of American History Department
