The Department of Coins & Medals of the Royal Library of Belgium (KBR)

The Department of Coins & Medals in Brussels was founded on August 8, 1835, as part of the ‘Musée d’armes anciennes, d’armures, d’objets d’art et de numismatique,’ but moved to the Royal Library on August 2, 1838. The Royal Library, whose origins trace back to the library of the Burgundian dukes, still houses the largest surviving portion of their remarkable late medieval manuscript collection. Today, KBR (Koninklijke Bibliotheek in Dutch / Bibliothèque Royale in French) is home to a world-class collection of manuscripts, incunabula, rare books, musical documents, maps, and plans (including precious Mercator atlases), prints and drawings (featuring works by Pieter Bruegel the Elder and Peter Paul Rubens), and much more. It also houses the largest reference library for the humanities in Belgium. While it may seem unusual to include coins and medals among such diverse treasures, this practice has roots in the 16^th-century emergence of numismatic literature, which linked the development of coin collections with the growth of (numismatic) libraries.

When the Department of Coins & Medals was established, there was no royal or national collection to build upon. The first curators, therefore, focused on acquiring coins and medals, with an emphasis on the numismatic history of the Southern Low Countries. However, the most significant turning point in the Department’s history came at the end of the 19^th century. In 1899, the Belgian state purchased the majority of Comte Albéric du Chastel de la Howarderie’s collection for the staggering sum of 300,000 francs. This included 821 Greek and Roman coins. Shortly after, the state also received the numismatic collection of Baron Lucien de Hirsch, which included 1,877 Greek coins, his numismatic library (including precious auction catalogues), and a carefully curated selection of antiquities, donated by testament by his mother, Clara Bischoffsheim, after her son’s untimely death in 1887.

The exceptional quality of both collections, which were among the finest in the world at the time, propelled the Department into the ranks of numismatic powerhouses, marking the height of Belgium’s economic and cultural influence at the turn of the 20^th century. Notably, De Hirsch’s donation included iconic pieces such as the Aitna tetradrachm and the dagger of the Egyptian pharaoh Kamose, discovered by the renowned French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette. Du Chastel’s collection, meanwhile, is a testament to his perfectionist taste, with the Greek section featuring many pieces of impeccable style and condition, and the Roman collection showcasing several gold medallions and aurei in pristine preservation.

The 20^th century saw the Department expand significantly in all directions – not only in traditional areas such as Antiquity (e.g., the 5,000 Roman nummi gifted by the famous Italian dealer Giovanni Dattari in 1910, or the 1971 acquisition of the Liberchies hoard, containing 368 aurei from the 1^st and 2^nd centuries) and the Low Countries (such as the 1924 acquisition of B. de Jonghe’s collection) – but also in less conventional areas, such as Chinese and Indian numismatics. More recently, the Department has added important collections such as Prof. Dr. Marc Bar’s Greek bronze coins (published in a sylloge) and Henri Pottier’s extraordinary assemblage of Byzantine bronze coins. One of the latest acquisitions is the collection of the Royal Mint, which includes over 10,000 dies used to strike Belgian and foreign coins along with medals. This unique collection is currently in the process of being studied. Today, the Department’s holdings comprise around 250,000 numismatic objects, ranging from coins and medals to banknotes, jetons, insignia, and the aforementioned coin dies. The collection of coins and medals from the Southern Low Countries in particular is the best of its kind in the world, and, as a result, the most significant reference collection for this area. In addition, the Department boasts a world-class numismatic library and an extensive collection of auction catalogues, including many rare 19^th-century editions.

The staff is currently working hard to catalog the collection online, with over 40,000 records with photos accessible to the public. They also receive visitors for both books and coins, organize loans for national and international exhibitions, and much more. Above all, however, the Department of Coins & Medals strives to provide a warm and welcoming space for anyone with a passion for numismatics, whether scientist or collector. To arrange a visit, simply make an appointment by emailing medals@kbr.be. Alternatively, a number of pieces from the collection will be exhibited in an expo dedicated to the history of Belgium as seen through coins running from April to July 2025, while others will be displayed in the KBR Museum, set to reopen in 2025, alongside many other top pieces from the Library’s rich heritage departments.