Murcia's history through its money
MURCIA archaeological museum (MAM) has been extended with the addition of a permanent numismatic exhibition.
The display entitled ‘the money of the Murcia region’ features a total of 143 coins and four notes – among them, some of the most significant specimens that circulated or were minted in the region throughout a history that begins with the Punic-Roman conflict and ends with the disappearance of the peseta.
Included in the collection are coins issued by the Cartagena mint during Punic times, as well as those that, after its conversion into a Latin colony, were minted from the middle of the 1st century BC until the reign of Caligula, by different magistrates belonging to the city’s most prominent families.
The exhibition highlights the importance of coins as propaganda tools in the Roman world, as well as containing specimens from the Al-Andalus era and medieval
Christian times, which were minted in Murcia city until the time of the Catholic Kings.
Also included is currency from Habsburg Spain, the House of Bourbon, the political turmoil of the 19th century, money issued during the Spanish Civil War.
Alongside the Murciaminted and Roman coins there are also three of the museum’s ‘principle hidden treasures’.
These are 523 Roman Republic denarii unearthed at La Grajuela (San Javier) from the end of the last century BC; Maravedís found in a well in Calle San Nicolás, Murcia, dated from 1642-1651; and
1,000 duros (five peseta coin) hidden during the Peninsular War (1807-1814).
They are described as a series of coins that more than likely were witness to the tragic personal stories behind their being hidden by their owners in the face of fear caused by the circumstances of the time (wars, insecurity, natural disasters, etc.).
MAM is open from Tuesday to Friday from 10.00-14.00 and 17.00-20.00, Saturday 11.00-14.00-17.00-20.00, and in the morning only on Sundays. It is closed on Mondays and various public holidays throughout the year. Admission is free. The museum is situated at Avenida Alfonso X El Sabio, 7, Murcia.