engleski

Numismatic Collection. Guide

The appearance of the first of a new series of guides to the collections of the Zagreb Archeological Museum is an important event. Although the museum is one of the direct descendants of what was Zagreb’s oldest museum, the National Museum founded 1846, publications of this kind have been remarkably rare. One of the reasons is the fact that during the whole of its almost 160 years of existence the permanent exhibitions of all different holdings have seldom been open to the public. There have been rare examples of what we might call «classical» guides to individual collections, for example that for the Egyptian and the prehistory collections in 1979 and 1980. Both of these were printed for the opening of the reconstituted exhibitions but unfortunately the series was not extended to include all museum holdings – Antiquity, the Middle Ages or even the highly specific and perhaps most demanding, the numismatic collection. It is not by chance that the present guide to that collection is now being published as the first of a new series of guidebooks. Not only has it the largest number of individual items but it is the most important collection of its kind in Croatia, indeed is among the largest and most outstanding among European and world numismatic collections. It was first open to the public in 1978 in its present striking form was conceived and realized by Josip Ladović. At first sight one gets the impression that one is entering some kind of glittering coin treasury, and one very important aspect of the presentation is that visitors are able to see both sides of the coins which is essential in the presentation of numismatic material. In the mid nineties the entire museum building was restored and reorganised and with it there was a reallocation of the rooms for the coin and medal collections. Because it was necessary to enlarge the entrance facilities and of the need for various installations in the mezzanine area the architect in charge of the whole renovation, Mario Beusan, was forced to reduce some of the exhibition areas. The new exhibition of the numismatic collection was opened to the public in 1999, largely respecting the previous form of presentation but with certain additional elements which went to the creation of what we might call a new and colouristic identity The newly presented collection was soon seen to call for a new catalogue which had been planned as an essential part of the earlier exhibition in which the usual textual information had not been included with the expectation that it would be replaced by the planned guide. However it was necessary to wait until the new form of presentation was complete before the guidebook itself could be formulated. The long years of work of our specialist numismatists Zdenka Dukat for the Greek and Roman coins and Ivan Mirnik for the Byzantine, medieval and later coins and the medal collection has now finally come to fruition in a form which we are sure is to the authors’ satisfaction and the museum’s honour. Although we speak of a guidebook it in fact surpasses the function of a simple guide and will quite certainly be used with great profit as a reference book by all those who are fascinated by coin collection as a profession, a passion or a hobby. I take this opportunity to thank the authors for the book they have produced and at the same time thank all those who encouraged and supported the printing of this edition and the individuals whose names appear in the introductory pages. I wish also to thank the Office for Culture of the City of Zagreb who helped to finance the printing. We also hope that it will very soon be possible to print a series of guides of the same kind to cover the other museum collections after the planned renewal of their exhibition areas has been completed. This large and valuable collection has a long history. It dates from the foundation of the Croatian National Museum in the first half of the 19th century and expanded between 1828 and 1930 parallel to the development of the study of numismatics in Croatia. Through the years the National Museum has changed its name and buildings and a number of independent departments developed as it acquired more and more items of the cultural and historical heritage. Its development was distinguished by an increasingly rich inflow of material including a wealth of old coins from all historical periods. Today's numismatic collection in size and variety of coins is one of the richest in the country and has a considerable international reputation. The beginnings of the present collection date from the newly founded Illyrian, or National Reading Room as part of the young Illyrians’ movement led by Ljudevit de Gaj. Their patriotic programme included the collection of items of the cultural heritage including numismatic and other archeological material. Over the years, perhaps without full realization of the wide scope, aims and donations, the foundations were laid of today's large and valuable collection. Looking into the archives we find the oldest recorded donation to have been: List of mainly ancient items presented , largely old Roman coins, 1830. The donor was Adolf Ladenhaufen, a pharmacist from Kutina (31 coins and a considerable amount of archeological material). A number of other meticulously noted donations of coins follow. In 1837 Pavao Keresztury presented most of his valuable collection, bought from the estate of the Zagreb bishop Aleksandar Alagović, ad locupletandum amplius in dies accrescens nationale nostrum museum. A record of hundreds of presentations follow, some people left memorial material, others money to buy museum pieces. A detail from 1843, recording more then 1000 coins, shows how quickly the collection grew. An important step in an increasingly professional approach to the collection was made with the purchase in 1846 in Vienna of basic books and the famous collection of Leopold Welzl von Wellenheim. A large number of patriotically inclined people gave money to buy coins for the collection: Baron Metel Ožegović, Zagreb Bishop J. Haulik, Senj Bishop Ožegović, the Princes Miloš and Mihajlo Obrenović, Count Franjo Drašković. At this time the numismatic collection was not a separate entity within the museum although it increased in size much faster than the rest of the archeological material. In 1843 the retired Imperial and Royal major Mijat Sabljar was in charge of the collection and may be considered the first qualified custodian. A new period of expansion began, especially in the numismatic collection. Sabljar organised a number of sections, archeological, numismatic and collection of seals. He also compiled the first professional inventory which is even today used for identification of a large number of coins and medals. It is important that for every item he noted, when he knew it, he recorded where it originated. Not only did he expertly organise and enlarge the existing collection, setting up lists of the donors, but he himself gave to it his own important collection. According to the inventory of 8 May 1855 the collection contained no less than 26, 000 items and it increased from year to year. Sabljar was succeded by Professor don Šime Ljubić, the first custodian with acad.emic qualifications gained in Vienna where he studied history, antiquities and numismatics. He continued to expand the collection. His greatest contribution was in his writing ; in 1875 he published his still important book Opis jugoslavenskih novaca (A Description of South Slavic Coins) and in 1890 published an inventory of the Imperial Roman coins entitled Numizmatička zbirka od najstarije dobi do cara Dioklecijana (Numismatic Collection from the Earliest Times to the Emperor Diocletian). These were in fact the first catalogue of the collection. One of the most important years for the collection was 1893 when Dr Josip Brunšmid became custodian. Like his predecessor Ljubić, he studied in Vienna (in 1882) where his doctorial thesis was entitled Zur Geschichte der griechischen Colonien in Dalmatien (The History of the Greek Colonies in Dalmatia). He first of all took a job in Vinkovci, where he was born, and later came to the Museum in Zagreb where he remained until he retired in 1924. He gave himself over to numismatics, especially the period of Antiquity, and specialised in the period of the Greek colonization in central Dalmatia. Thus a part of his Vienna doctor's thesis, in which he paid special attention to coins, published in his book Inschriften und Münzen der griechischen Städte Dalmatiens (Inscriptions and Coins of the Greek Cities of Dalmatia) in 1898, is still the capital work for study of the early history of the region. To get a true idea of the activities of this tireless and multifaceted man, one of our greatest experts in classical archeology and numismatics, especially in antiquity, one might best ask what he did not do. As soon as he was appointed he reorganised the coin collection and for the whole of his working life he devoted to it his great attention and love. He approached coins systematically and did all he could to fill in gaps in the collection, buying rare coins in auctions abroad. He personally drew up an inventory of more than 77, 000 coins. He recognised the importance of coin hoards (treasures) for forty of which he personally gave a scholarly analysis and published a series of works entitled Nekoliko našašća novaca na skupu u Hrvatskoj i Slavoniji (Several coin hoards from Croatia and Slavonia). With his energy, expertise and knowledge of living and classical languages he was able to bring the collection to notice abroad. Thanks to him leading European scholars quoted the material in the Zagreb numismatic collection in their catalogues and publications. In 1899 he presented the museum with his own collection largely based on coins from the numismatically rich Vinkovci region. The collection at this time had more than 100, 000 coins. Professor Dr Viktor Hoffiller, another Vienna pupil, also made a contribution to the collection. Unlike the others he had no particular affinity for numismatics though he did not neglect it, contributed and enlarged it a great deal. In spite of difficult times he secured the collections of two well known collectors one of them, Benko Horvat, the founder and first president of the Zagreb Numismatic Society, the other Richard Schwieger, a well known collector of ancient and modern specimens. Nor did he neglect coin hoards. He secured the only then important hoards of Celtic coins from Samobor and of the period of the Roman Empire from Niška Kamenica and Stolac-Trijebanj. He wrote several times about the collection giving a realistic evaluation of it in a world framework. From his time until the beginning of the Second World War in 1941, Dr Josip Klemenc did important work on the collection and followed Brunšmid's work giving special attention to the inventory and particularly to the analysis of the coin hoards. Unfortunately as a result of the war most of this was left unpublished. The two directors of the war period, Dr V. Hoffiller and Professor Dr Mirko Šeper were both aware of the value of the collection and made sure the most precious coins and medals were stored in a safe place. After the war, in 1945/46 the Archaeological Museum had to be moved from the South Slavic Academy building at Nikola Šubić Zrinski Square 11 to a newly acquired building, once the Vranyczany-Hafner mansion on the same square number 19. An insurmountable problem now arose. This building had no space and no security arrangements for such a large and valuable collection. For this reason it was most of it packed up in paper packets, placed in wooden boxes and stored in the underground vaults of a bank in Prague Street. Since for years it would not be available and at one point the injudicious idea was discussed of distributing it among several museums. Luckily this did not happen, largely owing the efforts and persistence of the new director of the museum Duje Rendić-Miočević, member of the South Slavic Academy of Science and Arts, who, as well as being an archeological scholar, also had a wide knowledge of numismatics. It was owing to him that after twenty years the collection returned to the Archeological Museum, was found separate premises on the ground floor and, most important, remained whole. He himself made substantial use of the collection for many of his works and arranged for part of it to be available to the public in a permanent numismatic exhibition which was opened in May 1978. For this prof. Josip Ladović devised an interesting form of exhibition. In a darkened room he had screens constructed that made it possible for both sides of the coin, obverse and reverse, to be seen. On entering the viewer feels as if he were going into a treasure house. Great expert help was given by Ivica Degmedžić who, with her thorough knowledge of the literature, classical sources and languages contributed much to the collection. The numismatic collection is the only one in the Zagreb Archeological Museum which exceeds the confines of archeological items in that it also covers medieval and contemporary coins. After the 2001 revision of the collection, it consisted of 265, 839 items which include: metal and paper money, medals, memorials, badges, plaques, orders, tokens and jettons, incuding duplicates and badly preserved items. Most of the coins were found on the territory of Croatia either singly or as part of a hoard. The collection is divided into six groups each with its own inventory. These are: 1 Greek coins: coins of autonomous Graeco-Roman Cities (earlier known as colonies) and Celtic coins: inv. no. 1- 10, 913 2 Coins of the Roman Republic: inv. no. 1- 2, 512 3 Coins of the Roman Empire: inv. no. 1- 37, 874 4 Byzantine coins ; inv. no. 1- 2, 066 5 Medieval and modern, inv. no. 1 – 48, 119 6 Central inventory book (groups and parcels with material sorted by origin and place found, duplicates, less interesting or valuable items, new acquisitions): inv. no. 1 – 2, 330. It would be difficult to say that the collection contains anything of outstanding rarity or value in world terms. Its main value lies in it as a whole. But it has some interesting characteristic segments. In first place the group of Celtic coins, especially those that originated in hoards found at Narta and Ribnjačka near Bjelovar and also the so called Croatian group which contains coins of three different types professionally known as Varaždin, Samobor and Đurđevac (all names of Croatian towns). The Greek-Illyrian group is also interesting with coins from the mints of the central Dalmatian coast and islands. This contains a number of rather rare examples, for instance coins from Korkyra Melaina and the Jonios issues. Of particular interest are the many hoards from all periods partly described and published. These are an inexhaustible source of information for solving various and not only numismatic questions. Finally the collection boasts of a number of valuable and rare medals (Italian Renaissance, Holy Roman Empire, Austrian, Hungarian and Croatian). The rich collection of coins from the Roman Empire and from the cities and states of the South Slavs, Hungary and Venice are also of interest. There is a good numismatic library which unfortunately owing to the fact that the collection was for twenty years inaccessible was not systematically built up. Books published in those years were not bought and the lack of complete sets of foreign periodicals and catalogues is a sad loss. Unfortunately this cannot now be repaired. The 1991-1995 war also had a negative effect since the collection once more had to be packed up and put in safety. Finally after a short period of public exhibition, because of the complete reconstruction of the building, it once again became inaccessible to the public. Happily, on the eve of the new millennium, it was again opened. In spite of all disadvantages the collection has constantly been completed and studied.

Zagreb Archaeological Museum; Croatia; Permanent numismatic exhibition

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