Dwight N. Manley Numismatic Library located in Colorado Springs is dedicated to numismatics, the study of currency, and it is the largest lending library of its kind. The American Numismatic Association (ANA) owns the collection which exists in the same building as the Edward C. Rochette Money Museum and ANA headquarters. When Amy Bahlenhorst, Research Analyst, and I began chatting with the Library Manager, Akio Lis, it was immediately clear that we had a lot to learn about all that this expansive field includes. We started with the basics: The library holds materials related to coins, paper money, tokens and medals. But that just led to more questions: Which historical time periods and civilizations are included? What types of publications are there? Who does the library serve? And what exactly counts as a token? We received answers to all these initial questions and everything else we could think to ask throughout our tour. We even learned how a collection item recently disproved a long-accepted historical claim regarding who really designed the Purple Heart medal. And we are excited to share it all in this Colorful Colorado Libraries post…

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