I was just browsing the travel section of the newspaper and read that the Asiatic Society and Indian Museum in Kolkata (Calcutta) have extensive coin collections.
A visit to their websites was a disappointment as not a big mention of coins and no images.
So, what museums and collections (anywhere) have accessible coin collections worth factoring into a trip if traveling that way? And, please, links to any that have good image galleries.
I visited Calcutta (as it was then) once but didn't go to any museums -it was basically a stopover. My main memories of that long ago trip to India are;
•Taj Mahal, the most breathtaking building I have ever seen; lived up to, and exceeded, all expectations.
•The sheer mass of people.
•Being given two meal baskets -carnivore and vegetarian- on an Air India flight between Calcutta and Delhi. The herbs and spices on the chicken drumsticks left the Colonel for dead and, mix and match from the two, was the best economy class meal I have ever had.
•Departing Delhi with an unwanted souvenir, "Delhi Belly". I spent three subsequent days in Bangkok crouched over a toilet bowl (when not actually sitting on it). I think it was the poolside burger I ordered from room service.
Its not so much in the media these days but Delhi & Bali belly is still around and knocks the crap(sorry!) out of Aussie travellers and can lingers for days spoiling Holidays and ,in the case of friends of mine,a Honeymoon.The Mother & Daughter from Qld. died after eating Fish last year. The Oz. golfers that travelled to Asia in previous years were advised not to eat Salads,drink Tea or Coke and clean your teeth in bottled water from a Multinational Co.
If you're still in Bangkok the Bank of Thailand has a banknote museum in the palace under the Rama VI bridge (can't remember the name of it) and the Treasury Department has a coin museum just right of the entrance to the paid part of the Grand Palace.
Some museums with famous coin collections, that I'm aware of.
British Museum, London, of course - one of the largest coin collections in the world. Their website has a Numismatic section here (http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/themes/money.aspx), but I don;t know what percentage of the entire collection has been imaged; probably only a small fraction of it.
The Vatican has a collection that is not only fairly large, but old, the nucleus of it having been acquired back in the early Renaissance. But I don't know how much of it is on display (there doesn't seem to be any online) or which museum in the Vatican you'd need to go to.
The Coin Cabinet (Münzkabinett) of the National Museum in Berlin (Staatliche Museen zu Berlin) is also large and impressive; I've seen the pictures of its cabinet room used to illustrate what a "large coin collection" looks like. They too have inherited several large mediaeval coin collections from various now-defunct noble houses and royal collections. English language website (http://ww2.smb.museum/ikmk/).
I'm told that the coin collection in the Archaeology Museum in Istanbul, attached to the Topkapi Palace, has an impressive collection of ancient coins. And there's an entire museum dedicated to coins in Athens (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numismatic_Museum_of_Athens).
Closer to home, the best online collection is Museum Victoria. If you've ever done a Google search for a particular early Australian coin, token or medal, a Museum Victoria example will probably be near the top of the list.
Well there is the Museum of Australian Currency Notes in the Reserve Bank building at Martin Place in Sydney. Not a big museum and usually very quiet. Only opens during week day business hours. I was there on Australia Day.
Mostly notes but also a few coins, including a holey dollar. Lots of specimen notes and note designs never issued. And many with all 0 serial numbers.
Some pics:
(http://www.australian-coins.net/gallery/albums/userpics/11226/20141224_143925.jpg)
(http://www.australian-coins.net/gallery/albums/userpics/11226/20141224_144221.jpg)
(http://www.australian-coins.net/gallery/albums/userpics/11226/20141224_145109.jpg)
(http://www.australian-coins.net/gallery/albums/userpics/11226/20141224_145731.jpg)
(http://www.australian-coins.net/gallery/albums/userpics/11226/20141224_150021.jpg)
(http://www.australian-coins.net/gallery/albums/userpics/11226/20141224_150644.jpg)
(http://www.australian-coins.net/gallery/albums/userpics/11226/20141224_150719.jpg)
(http://www.australian-coins.net/gallery/albums/userpics/11226/20141224_151032.jpg)
(http://www.australian-coins.net/gallery/albums/userpics/11226/20141224_151151.jpg)
(http://www.australian-coins.net/gallery/albums/userpics/11226/20141224_152008.jpg)
(http://www.australian-coins.net/gallery/albums/userpics/11226/20141224_152624.jpg)
(http://www.australian-coins.net/gallery/albums/userpics/11226/20141224_152632.jpg)
(http://www.australian-coins.net/gallery/albums/userpics/11226/20141224_154136.jpg)
The Mint in Canberra also has a display, here are some of my photo's from last weekend. Hope I have inserted the images correctly.
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This is a great thread!
The Tasmanian Art Gallery and Museum also has a good permanent exhibition called "Medals and Money: Stories from the State Numismatics Collection".
Lanka Coin Collections in Museums (http://coins.lakdiva.org/notes/museums.html)
I picked up a wonderful book last year called The Numismatourist.
(http://www.numismatourist.com/images/is-330.jpg)
It's Oceania section needs to be beefed up a little, but if you're travelling oversees it's got some wonderful recommendations for museums and mints. I got mine on Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/The-Numismatourist-Worldwide-Interest-Numismatist/dp/1933990295#).
I have too many books already but I might have to make room for that one.
The Bode Museum on the cover is well worth a visit if you ever go to Berlin, not just for the coin collections. You can easily spend a couple of days on the Museum Island.
The Macedonian National Museum has the largest collection of Macedonian coins at over 16,000 taking up 200 square metres ranging from Macedonian Tribal issues through to the Late Byzantine period.
The Smithsonian has a great collection of US coins with the British Museum having an utterly magnificent collection of sovereigns. These places plus the Royal Mint Collection would make up my list of must see's.