Their value isn't intrinsic: after all, they are merely two British gold sovereigns, with Queen Victoria as a teenager on one side, the royal coat of arms on the other. About the size of a nickel, they were worth only a pound sterling each a century and a half ago when they were in circulation. But to the Smithsonian, which keeps them in its National Numismatic Collection, (one toured the country in 1996 for the Smithsonian's 150th anniversary) they have long been heralded for more than their monetary value. And that's because they carry a very tenuous—some would even say doubtful—connection to James Smithson, the Smithsonian's founder.
The story begins in 1826 when Smithson, an Englishman, wrote his will. Born in 1765 and educated at Oxford, Smithson studied chemistry and mineralogy and became a notable amateur scientist. He chemically analyzed minerals and plants, and was the first to distinguish between zinc carbonate and zinc silicate, both then called calamine. Since 1832, zinc carbonate has been known as smithsonite. In 1787, only a year out of college, he was elected to the Royal Society of London "for Improving Natural Knowledge."
