I'm not necessarily convinced that collectors think this is currency. I think collectors also recognize the historical significance of awards. I think it's wrong to attribute to them that they see this solely as currency. I also see that they do something significant, in that, for all the medals I've identified--I've quoted numbers about how many medals are in circulation--they at least keep the medal linked to the recognition that provided that medal, or else it doesn't have any currency, which is something nobody else will do.
So I think it's not a question of whether this is currency, or whether we're just preserving something. And whoever does it, whether it's a museum or a collector, the result is the same. Does a museum see this as currency?