The Collection, an amalgamation of the City and County Museum and the Usher Gallery, is one of 10 museums in the running for the Gulbenkian Prize.
The £12.5m museum dedicated to Lincolnshire's history could gain £100,000 if it is wins the museums and galleries award.
A shortlist of four museums will be announced in April and the winner will be revealed in May.
The Collection opened in October 2005, after community groups lobbied councillors for a museum to hold the county's collection of two million archaeological objects.
Councillor Edward Poll, portfolio holder for economic development at Lincolnshire County Council, said: "I am absolutely thrilled and delighted that everyone's hard work has been recognised in this way."
The museum includes artefacts from the Stone, Bronze and Iron Ages, plus Roman, Saxon, Viking and Medieval eras.
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