#Exhibit of the Month

One of the great technical achievements that revolutionized the idea of time and space, opening a new era in the history of communication, is telegraphy. It is based on the transmission of electrical signals through a cable over long distances, allowing people to communicate instantly. The telegraph spread very quickly and a network of wires stretched around the world.

In 1837, the American painter and physicist Samuel Morse invented the first electromagnetic device for telegraphy, patented in 1840. To send messages by wire, Morse developed in 1838 a simple code of dots and dashes, which represented the letters of the alphabet, known as "Morse code ".

Both Morse code and the telegraph machine were improved over time, with the telegraph becoming the most widespread system of communication and information transmission for more than a century, until the advent of the Internet. The telegraph system consisted of a series of stations repeaters along the transmission line route. Each station had an operator who received and transmitted messages by telegraph. The Morse machine transmitted about 25 words per minute, which were recorded in code on a paper tape. The operator in charge of transmitting the message would decode it and write it on paper using a special typewriter.

In Bessarabia, the telegraph entered in 1860: on April 8, the Bender telegraph station began its activity, and on April 24, the one in Chisinau, following the construction of the first Odesa-Chisinau-Leova telegraph line. Currently, telegraph services have been discontinued. The only ones who still use coded communication are radio amateurs.

The Morse telegraph machine shown comes from the Osinoostrovsky electrotechnical plant, Soviet Union, and dates back to 1934. The exhibit was restored by Mihail Culașco.

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Exhibitions

„20 years of Moldovan Leu ”

November 29th, 2013 - January 10th, 2014

There are 20 years on November 29^th, 2013 since the introduction intro circulation of the national coin of Republic of Moldova. The Exhibition organized by the National Museum of History of Moldova in collaboration with the National Bank of Moldova has the aim to commemorate this event and familiarize the large public with the history of introduction of Moldovan Leu.

The period from the declaration of Sovereignty and Independence until the introduction of the leu was been cumbersome and difficult for the young state Republic of Moldova. The republic has confronted a strong inflation and a big deficit in food production and other goods. The country was in need of its own monetary system to stand up these problems. The Republic of Moldova has known several stages and types of temporary money units until the presidential decree no. 200 „Regarding the introduction of national coin in Republic of Moldova" from November 24^th, 1993 has been signed.

In order to create a comprehensive picture of leu instruction history the exhibition presents a series of materials preceding the monetary reform that reflect the elaboration and implementation process of provisional money, numismatic and commemorative coins issued by the National Bank of Moldova. A large part of exhibited documents and pieces are part of master Gheorghe Vrabie's collection, artist from the Republic of Moldova, author and designer of national banknotes and coins. Among these are graphic sketches of Ştefan cel Mare' image from both series of leu, pictures reflecting the creation of banknotes, different ornamental elements, NBM' logo, different symbols and representations on the front and back of banknotes.

The public has the occasion to see black and white and color coupons called „Consumer's card" introduced in circulation at the beginning of year 1991 by the National Bank and the Government to protect the consumer market from Moldovan SSR. These are followed by coupons with multiple value introduced on June 2^nd, 1992 equivalent with the Soviet Ruble to 1:1, which had values of 200, 50, 1000 and 5000 (rubles). On September 20^th, 1993 had been introduces the 5 lei coupon as payment method equivalent to 5000 coupons (rubles). The 5 lei banknote, called then a coupon, represented actually one of the first three types of leu elaborated by master Gheorghe Vrabie. All these banknotes can be seen in the exhibition showcases. They are followed by samples of banknotes that are in use today, metallic coins including those drawn out of circulation and jubilee and commemorative coins. The first jubilee coin issued by the National Bank of Moldova has been consecrated to the fifth anniversary from Republic of Moldova's Declaration of Independence with a nominal value of 100 lei. The first series of such coins - Monasteries of Moldova - has been inaugurated in 2000. Samples from this series with a nominal value of 50 lei, from silver, picture images of 20 monasteries from Republic of Moldova. The graphical sketches have been realized by artists Vitalie Pogolșa and Simion Zamșa. There were later introduced other series of commemorative and jubilee coins: Historic Events; Alley of Classics from Public garden „Ştefan cel Mare și Sfânt" from Chișinău; Sport; Personalities; Sacred Places; Monuments of Moldova; Holidays, culture, traditions of Moldova; Red book of Republic of Moldova.