Notae Numismaticae - Zapiski Numizmatyczne (11.2016)

JAROSŁAW BODZEK
The National Museum in Kraków

DOI: 11.12797/ZP. 11.2016.11.03

The Coins from the Former Collection
of Ignacy Terlecki in the Collection
of the National Museum in Kraków1
ABSTRACT: The collection of ancient coins from the northem coast of
the Black Sea created by Ignacy Terlecki (1860-1916) in Kerch, Crimea,
in the years 1902-1914(7) was one of the most significant collections of this
type at the time. Apart from ancient coins, it also comprised Polish coins and
medals, Russian coins, ancient works of art, and perhaps some other unidentified
artefacts. To datę, the collection has not been reconstructed in its entirety. Also
missing are many details conceming the collection both in the original owner’s
lifetime and after his death in 1916. Following the year 1919, thanks to the efforts
of the owner’s widów, Mrs Maria Terlecka, the major part of these ancient coins
from the northem coast of the Black Sea was acąuired by the National Museum
in Warsaw, while the Polish gold coins went to the National Bank of Poland,
and the collection of the Russian silver coinage was sold off by weight. It is
also known that Ignacy Terlecki sold a certain amount of ancient coins from his
collection even before the First World War through the agency of the antiąuarian
firm operated by the Egger Brothers (Egger Briider), subseąuently creating a new
collection. In 1908, the National Museum in Kraków came into possession
of one ancient coin from TerleckFs collection and some other ancient artefacts.
It is possible that Terlecki also sold a smali group of ancient coins to the National
Museum in Kraków in 1909. The museum acąuired a morę sizable portion
of coins from the former collection of Ignacy Terlecki (eighty-four pieces) thanks

1 This article has been written within the framework of the project of the National Programme for
the Development of the Humanities no. NPRH 11 /H120449 81/2013 of the Ministry for Science and Higher
Education entitled “Inwentaryzacja i opracowanie numizmatycznych spuścizn archiwalnych ze zbiorów Muzeum
Narodowego w Krakowie” and directed by Diana Błońska. The author would like to thank Mariola Gajko-
-Czuchryta and Janina Skorupska-Szarlej from the Head Inventory Manager Department of the National Museum
in Kraków as well as Diana Błońska of the Archives of the National Museum in Kraków for their kind assistance
in obtaining access to the archival resources.