Midldle to third quarter of the 4th century BC
Bolshaya Tsimbalka burial mound, Dnieper basinRussia (now Ukraine)
Gold
Mar 4, 2008
Spherical Vessel with Relief Scenes from Scythian Life
400-350 BC
Kul Oba Barrow, Bosporan KingdomKerch
Gold, chased
Torque (Grivna) and Twin Bracelets
1st century
Khokhlach Barrow, Lower reaches of the Don, Rostov Region, City of Novocherkassk Russia
Gold, corals, turquoise; cast and soldered
Bracelet with Beasts of Prey Tearing at a Stag
1st century BC - first half of the 2nd century
Barrow No. 2, Burial No. 2, Volgograd Region, the Village of Verkhneye Pogromnoye Russia
Gold; cast, forged
Comb with a Scythians in Battle
Late 5th - early 4th century BC
Solokha Barrow. Entrance Burial, Dnieper Area, Zaporozhye Region Russia (now Ukraine)
Gold; cast and chased
Mirror
650/620 BC
Kelermess Barrow No. 4 (Excavations of D.G. Shultz), Transkuban, near Kelermesskaya Stanitsa Russia
Silver and electron; repousse, chased
Medal commemorating the 200th anniversary of the State Hermitage
1964
Aglaya Georgiyevna Knorre born 1928
USSR
Stamped copper
Aglaya Knorre, a Muscovite sculptress and medal engraver, was commissioned by the USSR Ministry of Culture to make the Hermitage jubilee medal.
Medal commemorating the Battle of Waterloo, 1815
1849
Benedetto Pistrucci1784-1855
England
Copper electrotype. Diameter 132 mm
Benedetto Pistrucci, a British medallist of Italian extraction, spent some thirty years making medals in commemoration of the victories of Europe's combined forces over Napoleon. Gold examples were to be presented to the four allied monarchs and two silver examples to Field Marshal Blucher and the Duke of Wellington. Due to his many other commissions Pistrucci was only able to finish engraving the dies in 1849, by which time all those for whom the medal was intended, with the exception of Wellington, had already died. In the center of the obverse are portraits of King George IV of England, Emperor Franz I of Austria, and King Friederich Wilhelm of Prussia. Apollo's chariot over the portraits and the fleeing chariot of Night below them herald the victory of the forces of Good. To the right of Apollo are his companions, the goddess of the rainbow, Iris, and the god of the light wind, Zephyrus; to the left is the constellation of Gemini indicating the month of June when the battle took place. To the left and right of the central portraits are the figures of Justice and Might, and lower down, on both sides of the chariot of Night, are the goddesses of destiny, the Fates, and of vengeance, the Furies. The two horsemen accompanying Nike, the winged goddess of victory, in the center of the reverse represent Blucher and Wellington. Over them is the chariot of Zeus the Thunderer, and below are twelve serpent-legged figures of titans personifying Europe's twelve-year struggle against Napoleon. The Waterloo medal is considered one of the rarest and most important pieces in the history of medallic art.
Medal commemorating the Russian victory at the Battle of Poltava
1709
Philipp Heinrich Muller 1654-1719
Germany
Stamped silver. Diameter 66 mm
The medal is from a series commemorating Russia's victory against Sweden in the Great Northern War. The dies were made in Augsburg and then brought to the Moscow Mint, where several sets of the series were struck in gold and silver. The imposing compositions are designed in the same spirit as Baroque sculpture, and complemented on both sides by the Italian inscriptions: [trans.] We shall be envied for this glory; Poltava is to be glorified for the wonderful victory, all the Swedish army is destroyed. And the edge inscription on the medal reads: This brilliant triumph without doubt brings Peter a victor's laurels.
Medal of Lodovico Gonzaga
Circa 1447
Pisanello (Antonio di Pucco Pisano) circa 1395-1455
Italy
Cast bronze. Diameter 101 mm
Pisanello, the 15th-century Italian painter and sculptor, made the medal into a historical artwork. The twenty four or so medals he produced are still considered unsurpassed masterpieces of metal engraving. Lodovico Gonzaga, second Duke of Mantua, was depicted on the medal in around 1447-1448, when he was a captain-general of the Florentine army. The depiction of Lodovico as an armoured horseman on the reverse matches the monumental character of the portrait on the obverse. Latin inscriptions reproduce the sitter's name and title and the engraver's signature: OPUS PISANI PICTORIS (‘Work of Pisano the painter').
Specimen of the Soviet Union Rouble
1924
Silver diameter 33 mm, weight 19.98 g
This silver rouble of 1924 belongs to the the new
Platinum Trial Coin of Nicholas I (1825-1855)
1827
Platinum diameter 27 mm, weight 21.24 g
During the period from 1828 to 1845 coins with the value of three, six and twelve roubles were struck from platinum from the Demidov mines in the Urals. The collection has a unique series of platinum trial coins struck at the St Petersburg Mint with the dies of ordinary silver coins of 1826-1827 (a rouble, a poltina or 50-kopeck piece and a 25-kopeck piece).
Dies of the Rouble of Constantine Pavlovich
1825
Steel l height 175 mm, width 70 mm
During the brief interregnum (27 November – 14 December 1825) following Alexander I's death, dies were prepared at the St Petersburg Mint and a few trial coins struck with a portrait of Constantine Pavlovich, who it was assumed would be the new emperor. On 14 December 1825, however, Constantine's younger brother Nicholas ascended to the throne instead. The trial coins and all the materials used in their minting (draft drawings, dies and tin copies of them) were immediately withdrawn and transferred to the offices of the Ministry of Finance. In 1878-1880 five of these exceedingly rare roubles, which had survived in the Ministry, were distributed among various collections with Alexander II's knowledge. One of them was acquired by the Hermitage, which later also acquired the draft drawings, dies and tin copies. A second coin is kept at Moscow's State Historical Museum. The other examples have all come to light abroad
Trial for a Yefimok Coin of Paul I (1796-1801)
1798
Silver diameter 41 mm, weight 30.59 g
The series of trial coins of 1798 is evidence of Paul's unrealized plans to introduce the yefimok, a coin worth one and a half roubles, into the Russian monetary system.
Korabelnik of Ivan III (1462-1505)
1471-1490
Gold diameter 33 mm, weight 7.29 g
This gold coin, depicting a seated king on board a stylized ship, is a Russian imitation of the English nobles which circulated widely in Eastern Europe in the14th and 15th centuries. The date of this unique coin may be gauged approximately by the allusion in its inscription to the name of Ivan III's co-ruler and son, Ivan Ivanovich the Young (1471-1490). The sporadic minting of gold coins in the 2nd half of the 15th century, for use as diplomatic gifts, is evidence of the strengthening of the centralized Russian's state contacts with the countries of Western Europe.
10-Ducat Presentation Piece of Sigismund III of Poland (1584-1632)
1614
Gold diameter 47.5 mm, weight 35.09 g
The dies of the donativ (from the Latin donatio meaning ‘a gift, present') were made by the outstanding medallist Samuel Ammon, who worked in the 1st quarter of the 17th century in Gdansk. It took him and his apprentices two years of intensive work to make the dies for these coins, which were apparently minted to commemorate the birth of Sigismund's son, Prince Alexander.
12-Ducat Piece of Laslo VI (II) of Hungary (1490-1516)
1506
Gold diameter 42.5 mm, weight 41.48 g
The obverse bears a depiction of St Ladislas on horseback. On the reverse is the Hungarian coat-of-arms and an inscription that makes it possible to identify the place of minting and the name of the craftsman - Hans Thurzo, who leased the mint in Kremnitza in 1496-1508. This was one of the first Hungarian coins produced in imitation of the thalers, but in gold.
20-Ducat Piece of Leopold I of Austria (1658-1705)
1668
Gold diameter 46.5 mm, weight 69.51 g
The obverse shows a bust of the Emperor Leopold wearing the Order of the Golden Fleece on a ribbon around his neck. On the reverse is a double-headed eagle, the emblem of the archdukes of Austria. The coin bears the mark of the Viennese coin engraver Franz Faber. Among the rare and highly valuable gold ducats of large denominations, 20-ducat pieces of 1668 are particularly rare.
10-Ducat Piece of the City of Zurich
Switzerland, 1624
Gold diameter 41 mm, weight 34.20
The obverse bears a depiction of a lion in a heraldic pose holding an orb and a sword and resting on a heraldic shield with two fields. The inscription on the reverse reads "God, keep us in peace." The coin comes from the Stroganov collection.
2-Mun Coin
1742-1752
Copper diameter 28 mm, weight 4.78 g
The "Sang p'yong t'ong bo" was the chief copper coin in circulation in Korea between 1633 and 1883. The inscription means "Stable currency" and derives from the name of the institution that began the issue of these coins the "Bureau for Stabilization". This institution laid up stocks of grain in years when the harvest was good so as to use them when the crops failed, a common practice in the Far East.The wording on the obverse remained the same throughout the period of issue. Only the inscriptions on the reverse that occupied between one and all four divisions of the face varied. They contained the device of one of the 57 mints and also the number of the furnace from which the coin was cast and the serial "number" of the issue. The latter was expressed as one of the first sixteen symbols in the classic book "The Thousand Character Classic" which served as indicators of ordinal position, in the same way as we use letters of the alphabet. The smallest unit of currency was the mun, 100 moons made a yang, 10 yangs made a hvan.On the obverse of the example shown, the upper field contains the device of the Mint of the Military Transport Authority, the lower field the third symbol from the book, meaning "primaeval chaos".
20-Toman Piece of Shah Aga Muhammad
1796 (dated 1210 AH)
Gold diam 41 mm, wt 162.19 g
In a square cartouche on the obverse is the legend: Struck at the Capital City of Tehran with the date 1210 [AH] below. At the top is the inscription: The kingdom belongs to God. The reverse has the inscription O, Muhammad! written on a peacock's breast.
Drachma of Queen Buran
630 (dated Year 1)
Silver diameter 31.5 mm, weight 4.13 g
For a woman to be on the throne of the Sassanid dynasty was an extraordinary phenomenon. The rarity of Queen Buran's coinage is to a large extent a reflection of the brevity of her reign. The Hermitage, which has one of the best collections of Sassanian coins in the world (over 5,000 items), possesses only three drachmae of Queen Buran.
Coin of Nur ad-din Muhammad
1182/3 (dated 578 AH)
Copper diameter 31 mm, weight 13.99 g
The designer of this Artuqid coin copied a silver coin of Seleucus II (246-226 BC), the Greek king of Syria.
Coin of Husan ad-din Yulik Arslan
1186 (dated 582 AH)
Copper diameter 30 mm, weight 10.57 g
Coins of the epigraphic style dominated Moslem numismatics for 400 years. There is therefore a special interest in the pictorial copper coins of the small kingdoms which formed Upper Mesopotamia during the 11th and 12th centuries. This phenomenon developed most fully in the case of the Artuqids, who imitated Byzantine coins with a fair degree of accuracy but sometimes opted for earlier prototypes. This example copies the coin designs of the Byzantine emperor Nicephorus I (742-743).
Stater of the Kingdom of Panticapaeum
4th century BC
Gold diameter 18 mm, weight 9.06 g
The finely executed representation of the head of Satyr, the local god of agriculture, on the obverse, and a griffin moving along an ear of corn on the reverse, are allusions to the main source of wealth in the Bosporus during the 4th century BC: grain, large quantities of which were exported to Greece. The coin's artistic merits place it among the most remarkable examples of the ancient coin-maker's art.
Medallion of Constantine the Great
4th century AD
Gold; diameter 48 mm, weight 43.86 g
This piece weighing the equivalent of eight standard gold coins (solodi), was made as a presentation piece. It is unique, differing from other medallions of Constantine in that it shows the Emperor with his four sons. This outstanding example of a 4th-century coin was unearthed when trenches were being dug on the South-Western front during World War I.
4-Drachma Piece of Antimachus
2nd century BC
Silver diameter 29 mm, weight 16.65 g
The Greek world penetrated deep into Central Asia in the centuries after the invasion of Alexander the Great. The coins of the Greek kings of Bactria and north-western India illustrate the mingling of Greek and native cultures. This coin shows a Greek king wearing a local headdress on the obverse and the Greek god Poseidon, representing the Indian trident-bearing god Siva, on the reverse.
10-Drachma Piece of the Greek City of Syracuse
5th-4th centuries BC
Silver diameter 34 mm, weight 43.09 g
The people of Syracuse are thought to have made large coins such as this for presentation as prizes at the annual games. The obverse shows the head of the nymph Arethusa; the reverse shows a charioteer being crowned by Nike, goddess of victory. The skilful composition and execution of this coin make it one of the most famous masterpieces of the coin-engraver's art.
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