WEST EUROPEAN COINS FROM THE 14TH-17TH CENTURIES

The collection of European coins includes Venetian ducats and gold coins of the 14th-17th centuries from England, Hungary, Germany, Portugal, Spain, and France. Among the exhibits is a rare gold coin depicting a two-headed eagle on a shield next to the portrait of Louis IV the Bavarian. The coin was minted in 1314-1316 by the English King Edward III, as the Imperial Vicar of the Netherlands.

On display are Hungarian gold pieces which widely circulated in Europe. They were called ugorsky in Russia and had become the benchmark for the quality and weight of gold. The jewel of the showcase is a gold English coin Rose noble, or Royal, bearing the image of a ship and the name of King Edward IV, minted between 1464 and 1470 and framed with a braided gold cord with an eye. Such coins in Russian documents of the 14th-16th centuries are more often encountered in connection with various offerings to the Grand Prince of Moscow or, on the contrary, as his presents to the ambassadors or church figures, or, in accordance with the Russian tradition, as an appanage (votive) to a venerated icon.

Of particular note are European gold coins discovered during archaeological excavations in the territory of the Moscow Kremlin: a gold Dutch ducat of 1598 found in 1939 during the excavations in the areas of the destroyed Chudov Monastery and Ascension Convent, and a small square Swedish ducat of 1611 – 5 marks, which was found in 2007 during the excavations in Tainitsky Garden.

There are European thalers in the showcase as well – massive silver coins, which metal was used for minting Russian coins. They were called yefimok in Rus, after the name of the Czech city Joachimsthal, where they were minted in the early 16th century.