New approach to exhibiting of numismatic items in the space of the State Historical Museum

Abstract

This article is devoted to the analysis of exhibition practice of the State Historical Museum in the field of exposition of numismatic monuments. In recent times, there has been a positive trend in modern museum practice towards the most active use of coins in the exhibition space of museums in general and the Historical Museum in particular. The example of the permanent exhibition of State Historical Museum illustrates the traditional approach to understanding and exhibiting numismatic material, which consists in presenting coins primarily as monuments of money. The projects of the Historical Museum from the first large numismatic exhibitions to the modern ones reveal the process of development and formation of new thematic directions of exhibition of coins, expansion of their exhibition possibilities. Using the example of exhibition projects of State Historical Museum, the article illustrates the transition from the exposition of numismatic monuments as sources on the history of money circulation to a deeper understanding of money as a global historical and cultural phenomenon. The museum’s understanding of numismatic material from the collection of the State Historical Museum formed in recent years, a new approach to the exhibition of numismatic objects has revealed the coin’s wide scientific and cultural potential as a historical source.