Money makes the world go round, and it's helped keep the Colorado Springs-based American Numismatic Association going for more than acentury.

This year, the nonprofit organization that's devoted to the study of coins, paper currency, tokens, medals and other numismatics marks its 125th anniversary - a period that underscores the world's fascination with collectibles that are steeped in history and often reflect a country's culture and values, its officials say.

"It's just the passion of collecting and finding that treasure and studying it and learning about the history of how it was produced," said Kim Kiick, the association's executive director. "It's a wonderful hobby."

The Numismatic Association opened in 1967 at 818 N. Cascade Ave., just north of downtown and on the campus of Colorado College. The association leases the ground from the college for $1 a year, but owns its two-story building that houses its headquarters, the Edward C. Rochette Money Museum and the Dwight N. Manley library, Kiick said.

In Colorado Springs, the Numismatic Association museum's lower-level "history of money" exhibit includes displays of early Greek, Roman and Chinese coinage; paper money and coins from throughout U.S. history; examples of modern coinage from around the world; so-called "hobo nickels," in which the images of American Indians and buffaloes on nickels were transformed into miniature works of art; and even an explanation of counterfeiting.

The museum's first floor includes the Harry W. Bass Jr. gallery, where hundreds of rare gold coins collected by the late Texas oilman, ski resort developer and philanthropist are on display as part of a long-term loan from the Harry W. Bass Jr. Foundation. Bass created "one of the most complete U.S. gold coin collections ever assembled, including many one-of-a-kind specimens," according to the association.

The display includes the only complete collection of $3 U.S. gold pieces - including one minted in San Francisco in 1870 that's the only one of its kind in existence. The display also includes a complete collection of U.S. gold coin types of all periods and designs from 1795 to 1933 and a rare grouping of U.S. pattern coins - proposed designs of coins that may or may not have been adopted for general circulation.

"For the general public, it's amazing to see so many gold coins," said museum curator Douglas Mudd, the former collection manager of the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian Institution. "Most people forget that the U.S. did issue gold coins, because we haven't seen them for 70 or 80 years."

Other gee-whiz specimens on the museum's upper floor include a 1776 Continental dollar issued by the Continental Congress, a 1913 Liberty head nickel valued at $2 million and two of the 15 known 1804 dollars that are valued at a total of $6 million.

"You won't see that type of group anywhere else in the country on display right now," Mudd said. "It's pretty amazing to see it here in Colorado Springs."

Besides the museum, the association maintains what it says is the world's largest circulating numismatic library - more than 128,000 books, auction catalogs, periodicals, videos and slide sets. Association members can check out items to study their collectibles, although the public can only use research materials during visits to the library. A climate-controlled rare book room preserves and displays many of the library's most important reference works.

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125 years and counting for Colorado Springs-based American Numismatic Association (http://gazette.com/125-years-and-counting-for-colorado-springs-based-american-numismatic-association/article/1568664)