The European Centre of Polish Numisnatics is a work-in-progress, the purpose of which is the renovation of the 19th Czapski Palace, together with its transformation into a modern exhibition, research and education centre devoted to numismatics. From 2013, the Emeryk Hutten Czapski Museum will offer the opportunity to admire the world’s most superb collection of Polish coins and banknotes.
This, the first of the National Museum’s departments, was established in 1903 in the Czapski Palace on what was then Wolska Street, now Piłsudski Street. The building was once the residence of Emeryk Hutten-Czapski (1828-1896), whose remarkable collection of Polish coins and medals, national memorabilia and works of decorative art, together with his rich library collections, were handed over to the Commune of the City of Krakow a few years after his death. However, the Commune gave the collections into the care of the National Museum, thus fulfilling the wish of the late Hutten-Czapski, who, true to the motto inscribed over the entryway to the palace, had destined that edifice Monumentis Patriae naufragio ereptis; ‘To the treasures of the fatherland, salvaged from the wreckage’.
The department holds collections which are made available for research purposes, namely the Numismatic Study Room and the Old Print and Manuscripts Collection. The Łoziński House houses the Analysis and Non-Destructive Testing of Historical Artefacts Laboratory, the Paper Conservation Studios, and the National Museum in Krakow Archives.
This, the first of the National Museum’s departments, was established in 1903 in the Czapski Palace on what was then Wolska Street, now Piłsudski Street. The building was once the residence of Emeryk Hutten-Czapski (1828-1896), whose remarkable collection of Polish coins and medals, national memorabilia and works of decorative art, together with his rich library collections, were handed over to the Commune of the City of Krakow a few years after his death. However, the Commune gave the collections into the care of the National Museum, thus fulfilling the wish of the late Hutten-Czapski, who, true to the motto inscribed over the entryway to the palace, had destined that edifice Monumentis Patriae naufragio ereptis; ‘To the treasures of the fatherland, salvaged from the wreckage’.
The department holds collections which are made available for research purposes, namely the Numismatic Study Room and the Old Print and Manuscripts Collection. The Łoziński House houses the Analysis and Non-Destructive Testing of Historical Artefacts Laboratory, the Paper Conservation Studios, and the National Museum in Krakow Archives.