The history of the numismatic collection is linked to the Transylvanian Museum established in Cluj in 1859. From the preserved documents we learn that one of the most important numismatic donations made to the future Transylvanian Museum dates back much earlier, from 1842. In that year, one of the family members Esterházy he donated part of his medal collection (149 Napoleonic medals), along with 5.000 forints to pay the custodian. Therefore, the core of the numismatic collection took shape even before the foundation of the museum. After the opening of the museum, throughout the second half of the century. XNUMXth century, the numismatic collection grew thanks to donations made by important and wealthy people, purchases from the European antiquities trade and thanks to archaeological discoveries.
The coins kept in the Numismatic Cabinet cover a time period of over two and a half millennia and were made of platinum, gold, silver and base metal. The oldest piece dates from the century. VI BC and hails from the Kingdom of Lydia! The Esterházy and Delhaes collections contain unique pieces or great numismatic rarities. Among them, the medals of the House of Habsburg, Transylvanian coins and medals, ancient Greek and Roman coins of great historical value stand out. An emblematic piece is a unique medal in the world and commemorates the coronation of Empress Gonzaga Eleonora Magdolna (wife of Ferdinand III of Habsburg) as Queen of Hungary on June 6, 1655 in Bratislava.
In the interwar period, the numismatic collection was managed by the Institute of Classical Studies from Cluj. After the establishment of the current Cluj museum in 1963, the numismatic collection developed mainly through archaeological discoveries, chance discoveries, and after 1990 also through a series of valuable acquisitions (such as koson-type staters), donations made by the National Bank of Romania ( gold and silver medals) or the National Mint. Currently, the numismatic collection includes over 100.000 pieces, coins, medals, plaques, badges, decorations, banknotes!
