The Economy Museum - Royal Coin Cabinet ( sv, Ekonomiska museet - Kungliga Myntkabinettet) is a

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical History (derived ) is the systematic study and th ...

in central Stockholm, Sweden, dedicated to the history of money and

economic history Economic history is the academic learning of economies or economic events of the past. Research is conducted using a combination of historical methods, statistical methods and the application of economic theory to historical situations and i ...

in general.

Function

The Economy Museum is an institution with a national responsibility for the conservation and the historical studies of coins, medals, and finance in general. Through expositions, the institution offers insights in the economical history of the world; by lending objects from its collection to researchers and expositions all over the world, it helps develop the knowledge within its scope; and by maintaining a national register of coin hoards, it is of great importance to scholars in Sweden. Over the portal is a piece of art by Elisabeth Ekstrand from 1996 called ''Vattenporfyrlek'' ("Water Porphyry Game") made of porphyry and

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite. Marble is typically not foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the term ''marble'' refers to metamorpho ...

. The museum includes exhibitions of

coin A coin is a small, flat (usually depending on the country or value), round piece of metal or plastic used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in orde ...

banknote A banknote—also called a bill (North American English), paper money, or simply a note—is a type of negotiable instrument, negotiable promissory note, made by a bank or other licensed authority, payable to the bearer on demand. Banknotes w ...

s (the first in the world was issued in 1661 by Stockholms Banco),

treasure Treasure (from la, thesaurus from Greek language ''thēsauros'', "treasure store") is a concentration of wealth — often originating from ancient history — that is considered lost and/or forgotten until rediscovered. Some jurisdictions leg ...

hoards and

piggy bank Piggy bank (sometimes penny bank or money box) is the traditional name of a coin container normally used by children. The piggy bank is known to collectors as a "still bank" as opposed to the "mechanical banks" popular in the early 20th centur ...

History

The Economy Museum's collection dates back to around 1572 when began collecting old Swedish coins. Over the next few centuries, the royal collection grew with donations from royals. In 1786, the Royal Academy of Letters was established and took ownership of the collection. In 1846, the collection was exhibited publicly for this first time at the Ridderstolp House at

Skeppsbron Skeppsbron (Swedish: "The Ship's Bridge") is both a street and a quay in Gamla stan, the old town of Stockholm, capital of Sweden, stretching from the bridge Strömbron in front of the Royal Palace southward to Slussen. The quay Skeppsbrokajen ...

. In 1865, the Royal Coin Cabinet collections was moved into the National Historical Museum. The collection was exhibited there until it moved to another building in

Östermalm Östermalm (; "Eastern city-borough") is a 2.56 km2 large district in central Stockholm, Sweden. With 71,802 inhabitants, it is one of the most populous districts in Stockholm. It is an extremely expensive area, having the highest housing ...

between 1938 and 1948. From 1899 to 1929, numismatist Rosa Norström expanded the collections. In 1996, the museum was moved to Slottsbacken in Stockholm's

Old Town In a city or town, the old town is its historic or original core. Although the city is usually larger in its present form, many cities have redesignated this part of the city to commemorate its origins after thorough renovations. There are ma ...

. It changed its name from "Royal Coin Cabinet – The National Museum of Coin, Medal and Monetary History" to "Royal Coin Cabinet – National Museum of Economy." In 2017, the museum closed and, in 2019, reopened in the Swedish History Museum's building.

Theft

In 2013, the museum discovered that it was missing items from its collections. After launching a police investigation and taking inventory, they found that 1,200 objects with a reported value of 25 million SEK were missing. The museum's last audit had been conducted in 1997 when the museum moved to its location in Old Town. In 2017, a former curator of the museum was sentenced to three years in prison for stealing and selling items from the Royal Coin Cabinet and Museum of Gothenburg. In 2020, another former employee was acquitted for the possession of stolen coins. The man had sold about 200 coins but prosecutors could not prove that they were stolen from the museum. The ruling was upheld on appeal because the prosecutors could not prove the acts were not statue barred. 11 items were confiscated during the 2017 indictment and returned to the museum.

Notable collections

*The oldest Swedish coin *A copper plate coin dating from Queen Christina's reign in 1644 that is thought at to be the heaviest in the world *Parts of the Lohe treasure found in 1937 in Gamla Stan *

Weimar Republic The German Reich, commonly referred to as the Weimar Republic,, was a historical period of Germany from 9 November 1918 to 23 March 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is also r ...

inflation currency *

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfre ...

medals

References

External links