He says | She says: Münzkabi - nice!

Editor Rebekka & Sebastian

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The Winterthur Coin Cabinet is the proud owner of 63,000 coins. And, of course, some pottery shards; every historical museum must have them.

She says:

I've walked past the stately Villa Bühler countless times, and once I even tentatively ventured into the (public but intimidatingly magnificent) park. But I've never been inside - until today.

I have to admit that the prospect of old coins didn't necessarily get my blood pumping. So I studied the first room, which currently houses the temporary exhibition "Batzen, Dicken, Taler - Neues Geld um 1500", somewhat half-heartedly. As a complete newbie, I didn't really feel picked up by the dense texts and missed a certain amount of prior knowledge. I got a little nervous at the thought of writing a profitable text afterwards. But then came room number 2.

The second and final room of the small exhibition was initially characterised by incredible luxury, with golden walls, a huge chandelier and ornate ceiling paintings. The symbolic entrance fee alone is worth it. It is impressive to enter this time-honoured Winterthur building for once and imagine what everyday life must have looked like in these living quarters.

Happily, I now also found access to the coins. Carefully curated under the motto "less is more", the exhibits are arranged chronologically and thematically. I marvelled at centuries-old forgeries, the most valuable coin in the collection decorated with a simple apple or the Zurich taler from 1512 with, how could it be otherwise, Felix, Regula and Exuperantius walking around decapitated on the obverse. Sophisticated crimes, crazy auctions and legendary executions - that's how you pick me up.

He says:

On a windy spring day, I'm standing in a lush park in front of a time-honoured villa, looking at coins. A museum just about coins? Including the "best collection of Greek coins in Switzerland"? Definitely nerdy, but somehow it also has potential in its focussed nature.

Admission costs just five francs, perhaps out of solidarity with the ever decreasing use of coins. Because, no, you can't pay by card, sighs the cashier, they swear by cash here.

Still unsure of what to expect, I am immediately enthralled by the first display case, which focuses on the Roman Empire. I'm sure my companion finds this laughable again, as it's a fun fact among feminists that men are interested in antiquity, which is presented with questionable superiority. So I tear myself away and head for the innocuous "Plants on Coins" display case instead.

After a brief chat, the friendly attendant gives us a conspiratorial hint as to which is the most valuable coin on display, a completely unremarkable one. She smilingly leaves my question about the price unanswered and instead mentions the excellent alarm system. I feel under suspicion, but also cool.

So I make my way to the temporary exhibition, which tells the story of how the coinage system was simplified around the year 1500. Even the expertly described new state still seems pretty chaotic to me, but it must have been an adventurous time. And that is perhaps the overall realisation: numismatics is probably a little complicated at first, but there are exciting stories behind it. Go and have a look in the coin cabinet!

Münzkabinett und Antikensammlung der Stadt Winterthur

Ausstellung «Münzbelustigungen – Goethes Reise Nach Winterthur»

Unter den umfangreichen Kunstsammlungen, die Johann Wolfgang von Goethe zeit seines Lebens zusammentrug, befinden sich auch rund 4000 Münzen und ...

Permanent exhibition

Münzkabinett und Antikensammlung der Stadt Winterthur

VON FABELTIEREN UND ANDEREN WUNDERLICHEN WESEN – VIVI LINNEMANN ZU GAST IM MÜNZKABINETT

Fabelwesen haben die Menschen zu jeder Zeit beschäftigt und beeindruckt.Vom griechischen Mythos bis zur Popkultur ist die Faszination «fabel-hafter» ...

Permanent exhibition