How the Russian Museum lost its largest collection of ancient Russian and Russian coins

Grand Duke Georgy Mikhailovich was an outstanding numismatist. He began collecting coins as a child at the Tiflis market, where his father was the governor. This hobby grew into a professional passion. His 12-volume catalog of Russian coins from 1682 and 1890, known as the "Corpus of Russian Coins," remains relevant today.

By the early 1900s, his personal collection numbered 13,000 coins, covering everything that had ever existed in the country, from Vladimir's gold coin to the Konstantin ruble. Georgy Mikhailovich donated this collection to the Russian Museum, which was officially documented and approved by Nicholas II.

However, the Russian Museum did not have space to store the collection, so it remained in the grand duke's apartment until his death, until the museum acquired the necessary facilities.

With the onset of World War I, Georgy Mikhailovich, a general-adjutant, was at the headquarters of the supreme commander Nicholas II. He often traveled to the front lines and carried out special missions, including a trip to Japan in 1915 and 1916.

His apartment was located in the Novo-Mikhailovsky Palace in St. Petersburg. After the events of 1905, the city became a restless place, and Georgy Mikhailovich ordered the collection to be packed into five boxes and handed over to the St. Petersburg Loan Treasury as "a valuable contribution belonging to the Russian Museum." The boxes weighed over half a ton.

The situation in the country worsened. The emperor was overthrown, and the Provisional Government began preparations for the evacuation of valuables, including the contents of the loan treasury. In October 1917, 1,618 boxes of property were sent from Petrograd. Among them were five boxes of coins.

One of the boxes was "lost" and ended up in Moscow with the Bolsheviks. The Russian Museum tried to retrieve it but was unsuccessful. The majority of the contents were melted down, but some coins were saved. Among them was the gold coin of Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavich, which was transferred to the State Historical Museum in 1930.

The remaining four boxes continued their journey. They arrived in Kuban, where they were loaded onto a ship and sent to Yugoslavia. Of the 1,618 boxes, only 657 made it to Belgrade. However, the numismatic boxes remained untouched.

In Yugoslavia, the treasury was placed in the safes of the State Bank. In 1922, General Wrangel proposed to return the deposits to their owners upon presentation of receipts. However, no such individuals were found, and Wrangel began selling off the property, except for the coins, as their owner was known.

The Russian Museum protested against the sale through Soviet diplomats. Meanwhile, Georgy Mikhailovich's widow, Maria Georgievna, initiated legal proceedings to reclaim the collection. The court in Yugoslavia lasted ten years and awarded the boxes to her in 1934.

In 1939, an auction was planned in Lucerne, but it did not take place due to the onset of World War II. Where the boxes were during this period is unknown, but they were likely in Switzerland.

Maria Georgievna died in 1940, leaving her daughters, Nina and Ksenia, an inheritance. In 1950, the collection began to be sold. The gold and platinum coins were auctioned at Christie’s, while the remaining silver and copper were sold in the USA.

The collection was purchased by William de Pons Jr. and transferred to the Smithsonian Institution. He also repurchased previously sold coins, and by 1960, the National Numismatic Collection of the Smithsonian Institution had been enriched with over 10,000 Russian coins and 1,250 medals from Georgy Mikhailovich's collection.

The Russian Museum lost its collection, but at least Georgy Mikhailovich's daughters were able to live a decent life thanks to their father's inheritance.