Monnaie de Paris, Direction des Monnaies et Médailles

History of Monnaie de Paris numismatic collection

The collection of coins held by Monnaie de Paris originates from the „medaillier that was set up by the Cour de Monnaies under the Ancien Régime. This medaillier has been enriched over the centuries and forms the core of the current collections. It reflects the various administrative evolutions of the institution and its choices to enrich it through purchases, gifts from individuals or institutions and legal deposit. The monetary tools collection has been regularly updated since the end of the eighteenth century and is still regularly updated to today by Monnaie de Paris’ Industrial Department.

The same applies to the collection of medals and tools (punches and dies), which moved to the Quai de Conti in 1807 when Napoleon I decided to transfer the medal manufacturing workshop there, from the Louvre galleries before the two entities merged under Louis-Philippe in 1832.

The archives and library of La Monnaie de Paris have been classified and inventoried since the 1980s, and succinctly published (Catalogue des fonds d’archives de la Monnaie de Paris, 3 volumes: I, Paris, 1996; II, Paris, 1999; III, Paris, 2005). They were transferred to the Archives Department of the Ministry of Finance (Savigny le temple, 77).

In addition to these historical resources, the artists‘ files containing their contracts for the publication of medals and art foundries, as well as all associated correspondence, have been donated in full by our Marketing department, providing the Conservation department with an invaluable documentary resource.

Finally, regular collection campaigns within the company have made it possible to preserve the heritage of many industrial and scientific items (machines, tools, laboratory instruments, printed documents, and manuscripts).