CABINET OF COINS AND MEDALS

In the archives of Marseille, the Cabinet of coins and medals is labelled "musée de France" since 2003. This cabinet of numismatist offers a selection of coins explaining the production of the workshop of Marseille and the workshops of Provence (of the 6^th century BC to 1857) and a collection of 6 centuries of medals in Provence. In total, more than 40,000 coins are therefore presented; of copper, silver, bronze or gold, they tell the story of the city, from the arrival of The Phocaean in contemporary Marseille. This numismatic wealth is explained by the rights that the lords had to make produce their own currency. This constant will continue to François 1er. With the affiliation of Provence to France for the first time, the currency becomes unique, with one of its faces having the profile of the king. Consequently, the currency is the power and regality. It establishes the authority of he who stamps the currency. Marseille, which stamps the currency from the 7th century BC, now becomes a workshop attached to the state. After several closings, it goes back to its activity for the last time from 1852 to 1857, before disappearing completely, putting an end to 24 centuries of stamping. The cabinet is accompanied by a library of old and precious works, including first treaties of Guillaume Budé (1514) and of Georg Agricola (1550), a fine collection of periodicals of French and foreign (since the 19th century, as well as the last scientific publications on the field. The metal workshop restoration, created in 2005, is an observatory of the behaviour of the monetary collections. It is intended to restore numismatic objects (coins, medals, token...) French public collections who want it.