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by Paul Landsberg, 25 Aug 1995
On a trip I took to Paris earlier this year, I had the opportunity to visit the Musee de la Monnaie (please forgive my mauling of French). Now this museum really knew how to display the coins to the best effect.
It is rather small but in a main hall there are about 8 plexiglass large vertical waved slabs. They look to be 3-piece slabs where the center one had the holes drilled to fit the coins and the outer two pieces hold the coins in place. Furthermore, there is information under each coin in black letters (visible from both sides). This sort of setup allows you to view the obverse and reverse.
The coins were set up in chronological order so that you got a real pictorial view of the progression of coinage from Roman times through modern times and how coins changed over the years in France.
Under non-coins, they had displays of medals and a variety of equipment used in the minting process.
If you ever go through Paris, definitely mark 2 hours for a leisurely trip through this musuem. It is along the Seine River and if I recall correctly, you see the Louvre across the river.
Paul Landsberg
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