The museum is located in the Casermetta San Donato on the Walls of Lucca and is the place dedicated to the discovery of one of the most prestigious historical, cultural and economic realities of the city.
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CONTACT
ADDRESS: Casermetta San Donato, Lucca
PHONE: 0583 582320
EMAIL: info@zeccadilucca.it
WEBSITE: http://www.zeccadilucca.it
The Zecca di Lucca (Mint of Lucca) is the oldest in Europe and the longest-lived: it struck coinage from the time of the Lombards until Charles Lodovic of Bourbon (650 to 1843). It was a highly valued and "strong" coin in the markets, which the rich and powerful merchants and bankers of Lucca circulated throughout the continent. Depicted on the coins there was also the effigy of the city's best-known and most revered symbol since the Middle Ages, the Holy Face (the wooden crucifix kept in the cathedral of San Martino).
Inside the museum there are permanent exhibitions that allow visitors to learn about the history of coinage from its origins to the present day, a collection of monetary scales and weights, a selection of medals by excellent engravers from Lucca, and the "Luigi Giorgi Artistic Fund," consisting of about 450 objects including medals, wax and plaster models, bronze casts, small jewelry casts, wax impressions, drawings and photographs. Temporary exhibitions are also held throughout the year.
Researchers and students can request access to the library-archive, which contains more than 1,000 volumes from the 1500s onward, catalogued in Numismatics, history of engraving techniques and the Lucca area.
The Mint has resumed its activities and an active workshop mints historical coins used in the city in the past.