The Brussels Coin Cabinet is a public

numismatics Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, medals, and related objects. Specialists, known as numismatists, are often characterized as students or collectors of coins, but the discipline also inclu ...

collection established on 8 August 1835 that is now the Coins and Medals Department of the Royal Library of Belgium. At its foundation it was part of the "Musée d'armes anciennes, d'armures, d'objets d'art et de numismatique". It became part of the

Royal Library of Belgium The Royal Library of Belgium ( ; ; , abbreviated ''KBR'' and sometimes nicknamed in French or in Dutch) is the national library of Belgium. The library has a history that goes back to the age of the Duke of Burgundy, Dukes of Burgundy. In ...

three years later.

Collections

Over the years purchases and gifts have expanded the size of the cabinet. 1899 the cabinet bought the collection of Albéric du Chastel. It consists of approximately 800 Greek and Roman pieces. Some of these are rare, for instance the aureus of Uranius Antoninus. One year later it obtained its most precious gift. After the death of major collector Lucien de Hirsch, his mother gave his collection to the Belgium State. The biggest treasure of this collection is without doubt the

tetradrachm The tetradrachm () was a large silver coin that originated in Ancient Greece. It was nominally equivalent to four drachmae. Over time the tetradrachm effectively became the standard coin of the Antiquity, spreading well beyond the borders of the ...

of Aetna, supposedly the most valuable item in the entire field of numismatics, whatever the period or the place of striking. In 1904 the cabinet was again enlarged with a big collection. The H. Surmont de Volsberghe collection brought the cabinet many hundreds of coins, medallions, decorations and counters. In 1924 the Cabinet shared with the University Foundation the collection of count B. de Jonghe. Soon after this transaction, the foundation handed its part over to the cabinet. In 1971 the

National Bank of Belgium The National Bank of Belgium (NBB; , NBB; , BNB; , BNB) is the National central bank (Eurosystem), national central bank for Belgium within the Eurosystem. It was the Belgian central bank from 1850 until 1998, established by law of and issuin ...

made the cabinet gatekeeper of the 'treasure of Liberchies' (hundreds of Roman aurei). In 1976, 5,549 pieces were acquired from the collection of Dom Grégoire De Clercq. More recent gifts are the collections of Claude Roelandt and Zéphyr Henin.

References

External links

Tetradrachm of Aetna, 5th century BC

At the moment only in Dutch or French. {{Authority control Royal Library of Belgium 1835 establishments in Belgium National numismatic collections