For a long time, a little over eight years now, I have been a Basque living in the Munich area. Until a year ago, I lived a little further from the Bavarian capital, but now I have moved to the outskirts of Munich and, taking advantage of the end of the pandemic, we dare to take a walk in the city center.
On the third Sunday of November 2022, we got off the train at Marienplatz station and set off on foot to the Odeonplatz area as a family. We crossed the small square in front of the Bavarian Opera and entered one of the first courtyards of the Residenz palace. To our right, we found ourselves in front of the entrance to the Treasury. It suddenly occurred to me; Adrian Blanchet, in his book “Histoire Monétaire du Béarn”, wrote that the Munich Medal Cabinet had only Navarrese coins in 1893. Was that the entrance door to that medal cabinet?
I asked the guard at the gate if that was the headquarters of the coin and medal museum. The guard said no, the coins apparently have their own headquarters and that headquarters is in the same Residenz palace, in the passageway to the street from one of the next courtyards, a few meters away.
After taking the path shown by the guide, we immediately found the entrance to the STAATLICHE MÜNZSAMMLUNG MÜNCHEN.
Entrance to the STAATLICHE MÜNZSAMMLUNG museum of coins, medals, tokens and banknotes in Munich – Maximilian Dörrbecke (WIKIPEDIA)
After entering through the entrance and climbing a few stairs, we arrived at the ticket office for the permanent exhibition. A special exhibition had been organized in the hall next to the permanent exhibition, “Mythos Munich '72. Die XX. Olympic Summer Games”, about the Munich Olympics and historical Olympics in general.
Sunday; although the entrance fee is usually three euros, on Sundays it is a single euro and for the children, they also had a similar numismatic challenge (they had to find certain images among a series of coins). The whole family went in.
Admission ticket for November 20, 2022
The Munich Coin Museum has a truly magnificent collection. The foundation of the coin collection was laid by Duke Albrecht V of Bavaria in the mid-16th century, and after many ups and downs throughout history, the treasury now contains around 300,000 coins. Of all these coins, only a small number were on display that Sunday, which included the permanent exhibition and the Olympic Games exhibition. However, I saw a range of coins that would leave any coin lover speechless that Sunday; I had the opportunity to see the originals of some of the coin types shown on these pages, giving me a unique overview of our Western coinage.
I was walking slowly and the children had already finished their numismatic challenge, they were starting to get bored; I was developing the idea of returning alone another day. Suddenly, I spotted a single Navarrese coin. It was the obverse of the grosz of Charles III!!
The silver grosz of Charles III the Noble (1387-1425) from the permanent collection of the Munich Coin Museum
LOCATION: K:DEI:GRA:NAVARRE:REX
Museum Description: Grosas belonging to Charles II (1349-1387)
There was no time for anything else, there was no trace of the other Navarrese coins mentioned by Adrian Blanchet, and the grosz found did not have a correct description. I asked at the ticket office if they had any other Navarrese coins among the collection coins kept in the treasury. They said they didn't know, but they gave me an email address for questions.
I wrote to them the following week, having learned that in such cases there is nothing to lose by trying. In my message I explained that they had believed that the large piece of the permanent exhibition belonged to Charles II in works published throughout the 19th century, but that since the end of the 20th century it had been clear that it belonged to his son Charles III. I also asked them about this medal that appeared in Adrian Blanchet's book. Did they still have this medal and was it possible to look at it?
Medal of Joan III and her son Henry III, described by Adrian Blanchet in his 1893 book "Histoire monétaire du Béarn"
A few days later, the collection curator and exhibition coordinator wrote to me! They had this medal in the collection's vaults, and it was possible to organize a meeting and look at it. We organized the meeting on December 22nd at 9 am, right at the museum.
I arrived punctually and after some questions they gave my interlocutor a warning; in the meantime, they politely offered me to wait in the library. Of course; I entered the library and was once again speechless. As I learned, it is the largest coin library in Germany that is open to all visitors and the room itself has its own exciting charm!
Library of the STAATLICHE MÜNZSAMMLUNG museum of coins, medals, tokens and banknotes in Munich
After a few minutes my interlocutor greeted me in a friendly manner, welcoming me to the STAATLICHE MÜNZSAMMLUNG. He was carrying a tray in his hands. After some introductions and courtesies, we began to talk briefly about the history of the Kingdom of Navarre and I explained to him what I had written about the grosz of Charles III. Since Alois Heiss attributed this coin to Charles II in 1869, most of the bibliographies of the 19th and 20th centuries accepted the same ownership, until studies in the last quarter of the 20th century corrected it to belong to Charles III. I took my bibliography with me and showed it to him there. He took the books and took them to the librarian to get the references and buy them.
He admitted to me that among the members and employees there are no experts on the Navarrese coinage and he was happy to have the opportunity to have such a conversation. As for me, I was in paradise on earth.
The Navarrese collection is not particularly rich, I counted twenty-six pieces in total, and the majority are from Lower Navarre and Bearn from the 16th century. However, there is at least one medal that seems to be unique in the whole world, as well as some very remarkable pieces.
The tray that houses the Navarrese collection of the STAATLICHE MÜNZSAMMLUNG museum in Munich
I did not have the opportunity to examine the tray calmly and carefully, and as a result, the following is only a superficial summary, but from what I saw, the description of these twenty-six specimens would be as follows:
- Charles III (1387-1425):
- A gros – A specimen featured in the permanent exhibition
- Charles IV (1516-1556):
- A real one
- Henry II of Castile (1517-1555):
- A dozen of the short cross
- Anthony of Bourbon (1555-1562) and Joanna III (1555-1572)
- Five medals of Antonio de Bourbon, some of which are 19th-century reprints
- Another medal attributed to Joan
- Queen Joan's golden shield 1564
- Queen Joan's execution at Pau in 1565
- A wooden liard carved in the name of Antonio and Joana
- Henry III (1572-1610)
- Medal engraved in the name of Joan III, mother, and Hernike herself, 1574 (mentioned by Adrien Blanchet in 1893)
- Double gold ducat minted in the name of Henry and his wife Margaret, 1577
- Silver coin minted at the Pau mint, with the image of Henry, 1574
- Silver coin from the Pau mint, depicting the royal couple, 1577
- Franc minted at the Pau mint
- Two francs minted at the Donapaleu mint, one with a long bust and the other with a large bust.
- In my opinion, not Henry III of Navarre, but a franc belonging to Henry III of France.
- Quarter shield minted at the Pau mint in 1588
- Two quarter shields minted at the Donapaleu mint, one from 1591 and the other from 1604
- Two Morlaas stamps engraved in the name of Henrique.
- Charles VI (1759-1788)
- Two maravedis minted in the name of Charles VI
What is the origin of this collection of Navarrese coins in the Munitx coin museum and how long have they been here? As the curator of the collection told me, there is no clear data. The description of these coins in the museum's coin register, he told me, is written around the 19th century. Here is an example of a page from the register, which corresponds to the coins of Joana III.
Page of the register containing the description of the coins of Joan III
Some coins appear to have a catalogue reference in some squares of the tray. Most of the references include “Reichel VIII” and a number. In others, the name “Duby” is also included, and in the case of the Charles III grosz, a reference to the book by Alois Heiss is also included.
In the case of Reichel, it may be a reference to the coins described in the eighth volume of a nine-volume work describing the collection of the Polish engraver, numismatist and coin collector Jakob Von Reichel (1780-1856). This work is said to have been first published around 1850.
In Duby's case, the reference may be to the book “Traité des monnaies des barons” published in Paris in 1790 by the writer Pierre-Ancher TOBIÉSEN-DUBY. In the case of Alois Heiss, the third volume of the work “Descripción general de las monedas Hispano-cristianas desde la invasión de los arabes” published in 1869 is taken as the reference.
Consequently, and based on all these data, we can suspect that the Navarrese coin collection passed into the ownership of the Munich museum in the second half of the 19th century, but at least for the moment we do not know who bought the pieces or from whom.
At the end of our conversation, my interlocutor offered me the opportunity to leave the library and visit the treasury where the coins are kept. There, I had the opportunity to see the location of the Navarrese tray in the coin treasury. All the coin trays are sorted into wall cabinets that line the walls of the treasury chamber. Each tray has two numbers on the left side; the first number indicates the number of the cabinet that houses the tray; the second, the sequence of the tray within that cabinet, starting from the top and going down.
Our Navarrese tray is the eighteenth tray in the five-piece cabinet.
Front of the tray housing the Navarrese collection in the STAATLICHE MÜNZSAMMLUNG museum in Munich – NAVARRA, fifth cabinet, eighteenth tray
And these are the cabinet companions of the Navarrese collection; they are not the coins of the other kingdoms of Aragon, Castile or Leon in Spain, or other so-called feudal French coinage. The coins of Navarre have their own character and, according to the alphabetical classification, are found between the trays of Italy and the Netherlands.
The tray inside the fifth cabinet that houses the Navarrese collection of the STAATLICHE MÜNZSAMMLUNG museum in Munich
The collection of the Munitx museum contains some excellent and unusual Navarrese pieces, such as the following two gold pieces. The first, The golden shield of Joan III It is a specimen that appears to have been hammered, whereas other known specimens appear to have been made with a Pau flywheel press.
Gold shield engraved in the name of Joan III – Staatliche Münzsammlung München
FOUND: IOANA.DEI.G.REG.NAVAR.DB
HELL: G*DEI.SVM.ID.QVOD.SVM. 1564
Etienne Bergeron, mintmaster (moon) – Guillaume Martin, engraver (star)
Second, Double gold ducat of Henry III and his wife Margaret, This is also hammered.
Double gold ducat minted in the name of Henry III and his wife Margaret of Valois – Staatliche Münzsammlung München
Found: HENRICVS.II.MARGA.REX.REG.NAVARRE. DB Symbol
Obverse: GRATIA.DEI.SVM.ID.QD.SVM. 1577 – (Acorn) Jerome Le Normand, engraver (N) – Pierre Nyert, mintmaster – H Crowned M Crowned
There is also a large collection of medals belonging to Antonio, husband of Joanna III. Some of these may be 19th century recoinages, so they will require more in-depth analysis on a future visit. In some cases, my hastily taken photographs are not of the best quality and as a result I will use photographs of similar specimens:
File: ANTONIVS.DEI.G.REX.REG.NAVARRAE.
Ifrentzua: AVXIL.MEVM.A DOMINO. IN FIL HOM NON EST SALVS 1562
BALDWIN'S AUCTIONS LTD, AUCTION 64, LOT 405 04.05.210
Staatliche Münzsammlung München
File: ANTONIVS.DEI.G.REX.REG.NAVARRAE.
Hell: REX CONSERVATOR PROVIDENTIA 1559
Staatliche Münzsammlung München
File: ANTONIVS.DEI.G.REX.REG.NAVARRAE.
Ifrenzu: FOVET ET DIXCVTIT
Staatliche Münzsammlung München
Found: ANTONIVS.DEI.G.REX.NAVARRAE.
Ifrentzu: FELICITAS
But the most unique of all the pieces, probably the only one known in the world, would be the joint mutual medal of Joan III and Henry III mentioned by Adrian Blanchet in his book of 1893. I believe that this medal was struck by a wheel press at the Pau mint and under the direction of the engraver Jerome Le Normand. I will devote a whole section to the details of the making of this medal in a later article, but let us enjoy for now this single known piece struck in 1574:
Silver medal minted in the name of Henry and his mother Joanna 1574 – 25.02gr – 39.3mm – Staatliche Münzsammlung München
DESCENDANT: HENRICVS*II*D*G*REX*NAVARRE*D (Cow – Bearn) B (Acorn) Acorn – Engraver Jerome Le Normand
HELL: IOANNA*DEI*GRATIA*REG*NAVARRE*DB (Domina Bearni) 1574
Are all the Navarrese pieces in the Munich museum up to date? Actually, no, there is at least one other piece; while we were looking at the trays in the royal collection of Louis XIV of France, it turned up there Silver shield, minted in 1670 at the Donapaleu mint, depicting the young kingThere is still much to be studied and documented in this museum. I hope I get the chance to return!!
Bibliography:
CATÁLOGO GENERAL DE LA MONEDA DE NAVARRA – Ricardo Ros Arrogante – 2013 – Altaffaylla argitaretxea
Navarre medieval currency – Manual of Numismatics – Miguel IBAÑEZ ARTICA – 2021
Coin of the Basque Country – Pablo Maria Beitia – 2018
Histoire monétaire du Béarn – Jules Adrien Blanchet – 1893 – link
MONNAIES DE FRANCE, DE NAVARRE ET DU BÈARN – Jean Claude Ungar – 2010
MONNAIES FEODALES BEARN ET NAVARRE – Serge Salles – 2022
LA MONEDA EN NAVARRA – MUSEO DE NAVARRA – EXPOSICION DEL 31 DE MAYO AL 25 DE NOV 2001. Miguel Ibáñez Artica – link
Staatliche Münzsammlung München – Wikipedia – link
Die deutschen Münzen aus der Sammlung Jacob von Reichel – Kirill Tschernyschow -2011 – link
Traité des monnaies des barons – Pierre DUBY – Paris -1790
General description of Hispano-Christian coins since the Arab invasion - Alois Heiss -1869
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