bring zest to their collection
Numismatics – Peter’s true passion
In recent years, interest in numismatics has increased among the Russian population, which is both exciting and quite profitable. Following this trend, many shops selling antiques open stores for coin collectors, as well as conduct various auctions. And every year the number of numismatists is growing.
Goethe once wrote that coins are “an endless spring of flowers and fruits of art.” According to legend, the coins got their real name due to the fact that they began to produce the courtyard of the temple of the goddess Juno Coins on Capitol Hill in Rome. But it took a long time before the coins became the subject of admiration for Goethe and other poets. Continue reading
On the fate of coin stamps of the St. Petersburg Mint
Mikhail Ivanovich Smirnov, the archivist of the St. Petersburg Mint, published an interesting article in the 6th issue of the Old Coin: “The Mints Cabinet and the Museum of the Mint of St. Petersburg”. Among the problematic issues, the central place in it was taken up by the question of the fate of coin stamps of the St. Petersburg Mint, the solution of which, as the author points out, encounters difficulties. Recall the provisions formulated by him, which are, in his opinion, the starting point for solving the problem posed. Continue reading
Cleaning of old coins
The purpose of this message is to acquaint interested readers with the most simple and safe methods of cleaning coins, which the author can recommend based on his many years of experience in the restoration of an archaeological metal at the State Hermitage Museum. Clearing coins is one of the crucial types of restoration, it is important for their study, dating, identification and storage. Ancient coins made of silver and copper alloys, found in treasures or in other archaeological excavations, most often enter the restoration workshop highly corroded, and sometimes completely mineralized. Under the action of water and salts, copper is destroyed in the soil to form green carbonates and chlorides, red cuprous oxide and black oxide. Continue reading
