Italian Mint Museum, Numismatic museum in Rome, Italy
The Italian Mint Museum occupies a stone-clad building at via Salaria 712, inaugurated there in October 2016 after leaving the Palazzo delle Finanze. Its collection numbers about 20,000 coins, medals and wax models, Italian and foreign, including 1,913 papal medals and the wax models of Benedetto Pistrucci bought in 1912.
The collection began with Vatican acquisitions of coin collections in the late 18th century. In 1822 a numismatic cabinet was set up to conserve and restore ancient coins and make copies of papal medals; in 1870 the Vatican mint was absorbed by the finance ministry. Vittorio Emanuele III enlarged the holdings through donations, and in 1911 the museum was installed at the Esquiline mint. Part of the collections moved to the Palazzo delle Finanze in 1962, and the museum opened at via Salaria 712 in October 2016.
The collection began with papal acquisitions at the end of the 18th century; the 1822 numismatic cabinet restored ancient coins and made copies of pontifical medals. The 1,913 pontifical medals and the wax models by Benedetto Pistrucci, bought in 1912, show how papal and royal imagery was reproduced and circulated.
The museum is at via Salaria 712, in the north-east of Rome, well outside the historic centre and the Prati district. The entrance is the grey metal double door marked with the number 30, in the low stone block in front of the main facade. The Italian and EU flags fly behind it.
The wax models by Benedetto Pistrucci were bought in 1912 and include drafts for coins, medals and cameos. A further 96 models come from Giuseppe and Francesco Bianchi, only 15 made by the father. The pontifical medals alone number 1,913 pieces.
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