Every coin in this museum is capable of telling a story. The rich collection covers the period from antiquity to the present.
The International Numismatic Club Museum housed in the restored Yusupov-Zinovievs Mansion, a monument of Russian architecture of the 17th – 18th centuries, was opened in 2015. The exposition is based on the private collection of Vagit Alekperov and includes about 4.5 thousand exhibits. An old coin is not only a collectible, but also a way to look at world history from an unusual perspective. The museum’s collection falls into five parts: “Coins of the Russian Empire”, “Antique Coins”, “Coins of the Byzantine Empire”, “Thalers”, and “Investment and Commemorative Coins”.
The exhibits come from the most famous private collections of the Grand Duke George Mikhailovich, Count Ivan Tolstoy, Count Emerik von Gutten-Chapsky and others. Some coins were returned to this country from abroad. It happened, for example, with the so-called “Hermitage Doublets” sold by the Soviet government at the Adolf Hess auction in Munich in the early 1930s.
In December 2015, the founder of the museum, Vagit Alekperov, was awarded the Phoenix Prize of the Culture Ministry of the Russian Federation for his assistance in preserving architectural monuments and their adaptation to modern use.
Current Exhibitions at the Museum
"Money of Ancient Rome"
At the exhibition “Money of Ancient Rome” you will see genuine coins of the Roman Empire, learn about the coinage features of that era and see authentic portraits of powerful rulers and great emperors. VR videos will add realism to adventures that are going to walk you through a Roman amphitheater, and place you in the center of a golden globe-like sphere so that you can feel like an emperor who holds the entire world - Orbis terrārum ("Circle of the Earth").
You can register for the exhibition here
"From Antiquity to the Middle Ages"
It is an exhibition of ancient Roman and ancient Greek coins, which are the first money in history. The presented artifacts tell about the gods, rulers, myths, traditions and life of the antique era.
"Gold Coins in the History of the Romanovs Dynasty"
At the exhibition you can see metal coins covering the entire period of the Romanovs reign - from 1613 to 1917. In total, more than 500 coins are presented here. They can tell a lot of interesting stories: they accompanied coronations, were awarded for special merits, worn as jewelry and, of course, they were used in monetary circulation.
The exposition is arranged with the use of augmented and virtual reality technologies.
August Numismatist
Grand Duke George Mikhailovich – the grandson of Nicholas I - was a keen numismatist. At an exhibition in the International Numismatic Club Museum you can see unique coins from his collection, embracing various eras.
The rich coin collection of the Grand Duke George Mikhailovich once laid the foundation for the “Corpus of Russian Coins of the 18th-19th Centuries”, which is a kind of periodic table for numismatists to this day.
The exhibition is interactive, so you can:
- go back in time thanks to 3D-mapping;
- watch a film about the Grand Duke and the formation of his collection;
- see the history of one coin with virtual reality glasses;
- and perform the “wiping” of coins, as numismatic collectors of the past did.
To visit the exhibitions, you should register in advance on the official website of the museum. The maximum number of visitors is 10 people at a time.
Address: the International Numismatic Club Museum, 24, Bolshoi Afanasyevsky Lane, next to Arbatskaya metro station, Moscow.
Open hours: 12 pm to 7 pm on Tue – Sun
The Museum's Site
Author: Vera Ivanova