Created in the mid-18th century, the Musée Monétaire is also a documentation and research centre. Its aim is to study the collections and pass on knowledge of numismatics and sigillography.
The Musée Monétaire Cantonal (MMC), one of the canton’s eight museums, comes under the Department for Training, Youth and Culture’s Cultural Affairs Service. It conserves nearly 100,000 monetary objects and over 20,000 prints. Around 1,400 coins and medals and 600 prints are acquired every year.
The main roles of the MMC are, firstly, to accept submissions of monetary treasures and finds. It can also acquire, by purchase or donations, pieces of regional heritage and pieces from outside the region.
The MMC then studies the collections to create comprehensive annotated catalogues of types of currency. It analyses treasures and finds to determine monetary usage in the different periods of our history.
Thanks to cultural mediation, the MMC aims to spread awareness of the collections through exhibitions and events in order to build the institution’s reputation on a national and international scale.