Klussendorf abstract 2008
How to convey numismatics and monetary history to general historians? – A problem not reserved to museums
Monetary museums convey the history of money to the public, and they have to translate economic developments to the public. That can be done with objects, e.g. coins and banknotes, the obverse of this subject. But the reverse must not be forgotten: the idea and the imagination of money in the public that is rooted in everybody’s socialization. This development begins in the early childhood with the first penny inserted in a piggy savings bank, and it goes on over the memories of many people from times of “good” or “bad” money. The expert in the museum meets thousands of experts in the public with their personal experience with money. The staff of monetary museums may involve a large number of specialists in various disciplines, e.g. archaeologists, ethnologists, medieeval and and modern historians, numismatists, librarians, archivists, and economists. Are they specialists or generalists? This is intended as a point of general discussion opened from various different professional positions.