Numismatic Collection

The first pieces of the Numismatic Collection of the Déri Museum came from the private collection of Artúr Löfkovits, following his donation on 26 October 1902. From 1905, other pieces arrived to the Coin and Antiquities Collection of the City Museum of Debrecen. The numismatic stock of the collection continuously grew until 1951. It can be said that at least 80% of the money and coins became the property of the Museum through donations. In 1928 the collection was more than 8000 strong, however, its composition was not homogeneous, as the Museum “collected everything”.

One of the most valuable parts of the private collection of Frigyes Déri is the Numismatic Collection that was assembled systematically on the request of the owner himself, and which draws almost exclusively from Hungarian and Transylvanian mintage and contains an exceptionally complete collection of imprints with several unique pieces from St. Stephen through John Szapolyai and Michael Apafi up to Charles I of Austria. The Déri-material has been treated as a separate unit since its arrival. Lajos Huszár expressed his views on the collection as follows:

“It contains the most significant Hungarian and especially Transylvanian-related money and coin material of all the countryside museums.”

Later, several other private collections found their place here. A unique band of artefacts was placed in the inventory of the Fine Arts Collection: the coin and insignia collection of Count Pál Degenfeld, which he offered to the museum in 1932. Besides donations and purchases, salvaged items started to become an increasing portion in the coin material. In addition to the finds containing one or two pieces, dozens or even hundreds of pieces were recorded in the inventory.

During and after the World War, up until 1962, the collection was in a rather chaotic state, but still, it was at this period that the commemorative coin collection of György Farkas came to our museum. A significant change was brought about by the appointment of György Módy as museologist on 15 March 1962. The whole structure of the collection was reorganised, and in 1962–1963 the independent Historical Collection, and the Numismatic Collection within, was established. Collection growth was achieved through purchase and donations. Salvaged items continued to be a major group in the numismatic collection. From 1965 to 1981, altogether ten larger finds from Debrecen and the region were excavated and recorded in the inventory.

From 1988, the caretaker of the collection was Ilona Krankovics for twenty years. The establishment of defining structure of the Coin and Antiquities Collection is linked to her name, as she revised the Frigyes Déri Numismatic Collection. She also received education in numismatics. She published a number of catalogues regarding the 16th–17th century Transylvanian coin material. The growth of the collection in this period was more or less continuous, however, the artefacts acquired through purchase became dominant.

There are several outstanding pieces amongst the Transylvanian coins in the Numismatic Collection of Frigyes Déri, we have a complete collection from the coins of the Numismatica Hungarica, and the Museum also has an extensive assemblage of necessity money. The number of items in our collection is close to 20 000. It is estimated that our gold coin collection is the second largest in the country.

Those who would like to gaze in wonder at the coinage art of the past centuries can now do so at home, as the MuseuMap portal has more than 200 artworks from the Déri Museum accessible in the searchable catalogue. We wish you a happy browsing!

The Numismatic Collection of the Déri Museum has launched the Coin of the Month series in October 2018, within the frameworks of which one coin is presented in detail each month. The descriptive writings are published on the website and Facebook page of the Museum. And since July 2019, the original of the given coin can be inspected in a coin-display case at the permanent exhibition. In this present writing we gathered a brief miscellany of coin descriptions as a little teaser for the wider audience. 

A selection from among the pieces of the collection can be viewed by clicking on the image: