MUSEO DELLA ZECCA DI ROMA – ISTITUTO POLIGRAFICO E ZECCA DELLO STATO
The Museum of the Mint of Rome – Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato
The Museum of the Mint of Rome was inaugurated in its current location in 2016, as an integral part of the industrial complex of The Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato (the Italian Government Printing Office and Mint), in Rome on the Via Salaria. The Museum, soon renamed “Jewel Case of Wonders”, is located in a modern building, whose exhibition space is enhanced by the presence of the remains of a mausoleum from the Imperial Roman era.
Its treasures include over twenty thousand works including coins, medals, punches, wax models and historical industrial machines, among which the screw press of Pope Clement XII, the star-wheeled lithographic press and the press designed by the German engineer Diedrich Uhlhorn stand out, contributing to the industrial archaeology character of this site. The Gallery of the Lira unfolds a journey through two hundred years of Italy’s history, while the showcases all around surprise the visitor with the rich collection of wax models by Benedetto Pistrucci, the Rome born engraver of the British Royal Mint, author of the model of the gold pound with St. George and the Dragon, still in use today.
The works preserved in the Museum testify to the ancient roots of an immense heritage whose origin dates back to the early 1800s, when the idea of creating a Numismatic Cabinet of the papal monetary establishment was born to contain a great “Metallic History of the Roman Pontiffs”.
Subsequently passed to the Kingdom of Italy in 1870, the Museum maintained its links with the production activity of the Mint unaltered, increasing its collections not only with the deposit of a copy of each newly issued coin or medal, but also thanks to numerous purchases and donations over time.
Today the Museum of the Mint of Rome is an exhibition space open to all, collectors and non-specialised visitors, as well as teachers and young students.
Via Salaria 712, 00138, Roma
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