MainExhibitions

All that glitters...

Most of the items presented at the exhibition posed a risk of death to those who might have been detected to have them. The rulers promised terrible torments to counterfeiters. However, despite this, the forgeries appeared at exactly the same moment as when the first coins were minted. Here you can see counterfeit coins that deceived not only their contemporaries, but still mislead collectors. You have a unique opportunity to compare counterfeit coins with genuine coins, starting from the 8th to the 20th century.
You will see fake solids, ducats, rubles, as well as learn about various technologies of counterfeiters and ways of exposing them.

The counterfeits appeared at exactly the same moment as when the first coins were minted, and perhaps earlier. Issuing coins, the state carefully protected the privilege of receiving income from minting money.
Producing a full-fledged coin, of course, is profitable, but its spoilage brings more income. Counterfeiters often resorted to this method to quickly get the maximum income. Money forgery was severely punished and equated with treason.
Most of the items presented at the exhibition posed a risk of death to those who might have been found to have them. In addition, any state rarely limited to a simple execution of a counterfeiter, the most sophisticated torture was often used to make sure that even the thought of counterfeiting coins did not arise in the heads of citizens. It did not always help however...
The invention of Boris Semenovich Yakobi, galvanoplastics, came to support counterfeits. 15 rubles of 1897 were made in such a time-consuming, but allowing to transfer the smallest details of the original, way.
To copy the original coin, the counterfeit made imprints of the obverse, reverse and milling, covered them with a conductive electric current layer (graphite was usually used), placed prints in a galvanic bath. Then, releasing the prepared parts from excessive copper, they soldered parts of the coin, filled the inner cavity with lead and gilded the obtained copy.
The exhibition will last until December 31, 2018.

Excursions

All that glitters

Fake coins appeared at exactly the same moment as when the first coins were minted. During the tour, you will learn about the Russian coin system, the history of counterfeiting, various technologies of counterfeiters and ways of exposing them.