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Thursday, 8th October 2009 (5826 views)

A major new coin exhibition featuring gold items has opened at a museum in Istanbul, Turkey.

The display looks at how historic coin collections illustrate the history of the Turkmen tribes and their 11th century migration from Central Asia to Anatolia, the Hurriyet newspaper reports.

Visitors to the Vedat Nedim Tor Museum will be able to see 180 coins selected from a collection of more than 55,000 pieces, with some dating back to 4000 BC.

The exhibition - which runs until October 29th - also shows how Turkish rulers eventually shifted from silver to gold as their precious metal of choice for striking coins, a transition that occurred after Fatih Sultan Mehmet conquered Istanbul in 1453.

Sennur Senturk, director of the museum and curator of the exhibition, explained: "The main reason coins were printed in silver and copper until the conquest of Istanbul was economic hurdles.

"After the conquest, the production of gold coins shows us that a new term began."

The Vedat Nedim Tor Museum was established in 1992 and houses a number of gold and other artefacts belonging to the former cultural director of Turkish bank Yapi Kredi, in which the museum is based.

 

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