#Exhibit of the Month

The great ruler Stephen the Great, outstanding army commander and diplomat, was also concerned during his life with the economic prosperity of the country, supporting the development of crafts, trade and fairs. During his reign, groși and half groși minted in the dinar system were issued, a monetary system introduced in Moldova during the last reign of Petru Aron (1455-1457).

The coins were minted from silver of superior title, those that reflect stability in the economic life of the country at that time. Their masterful execution at the Suceava mint is among the beautiful artistic achievements during the reign of Stephen the Great.

During his reign, two types of issues were minted, for the two denominations: groși and half groși.

Type I issues have a split shield on the obverse; in the first quarter appears a rose surmounted by a cross and three fascias, in the second quarter. For the epigraph issues (groși), the image is accompanied by the circular legend with the name of the issuer: + STEFANVS VOIEVODA. On the other side appears the bour's head with a star between the horns accompanied by the heraldic furniture - the rose and the contoured crescent, placed to the right and left of the bour's head; circular legend: MOLDAVIE COIN.

On type II coins in the shield on the obverse appears a patriarchal cross (double) and the legend STEFANVSVOIEVOD or abbreviated STEFANVSVOIE. On the reverse, as in type I, the bour's head with heraldic attributes is preserved: rose right/crescent left and crescent right/rose left. A star or rose appears between the ox's horns. The legend accompanying the face with the bour head is MONETAMOLDAVI or abbreviated MONETAMOLDA.

The dating of Stephen the Great's coins is still under discussion. According to one opinion, type I issues were minted between 1457-1476, and type II between 1480/1481-1505 (Octavian Iliescu), and another 1465/1467-1475/1476 for type I and 1476/1479-1497 for type II (Ernest Oberländer-Târnoveanu).

The coins in this showcase were discovered during the archaeological excavations at Orheiul Vechi (Trebujeni, Orhei district) in the 6th and 7th decades of the 20th century:

1. Type I money issues, groși, silver
2. Type II money issues, groși, silver
3. Type II coin issue, half groși, silver

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Exhibitions

“Childhood in the Gulag”

Memorial to the Victims of Communism and Resistance Sighetu Marmației, Romania

25 May – 31 August 2023

On May 25, 2023, at the invitation of colleagues from the Civic Academy in Bucharest, Romania the "Childhood in the Gulag" vernissage took place (curator Dr. Ludmila D. Cojocaru) - an event organized as part of the commemorative activities devoted to "The Memorial Day", at the Memorial to the Victims of Communism and of the Resistance from Sighet.

The exhibition presents photo-documentary images about the life of Bessarabian children condemned by the totalitarian-communist regime of the Moldavian SSR to deportation, starvation, Russification, indoctrination, forced excision from their own families, during the years 1940-1941 and 1944-1953.

The exhibition approach brings together about 180 photo-documentary images, accompanied by memories and archival documents from the collections of the National History Museum of Moldova, the Edineț County Museum, the Museum of History and Ethnography from Soroca, the INIS ProMemoria Archive of the USM, as well as from the archives of the communities memory and of the survivors of the totalitarian-communist regime in the Moldavian SSR.

The opening was inaugurated by the President of the Academia Civică Foundation, Ms. Ana Blandiana, who warmly welcomed the presence of the exhibition within the commemorative events at the Memorial in Sighet and the need to strengthen efforts to disseminate historical knowledge related to the totalitarianisms of the 20th century. The concept of the exhibition was presented by Dr. Ludmila D. Cojocaru and Dr. Virgiliu Bîrlădeanu, mentioning the actuality of the recovery, documentation and historical valorization of the testimonies of the victims of the totalitarian-communist regime in Bessarabia.

The inauguration of the photo-documentary opening "Childhood in the Gulag" at the Sighet Memorial is a tribute to the children who went through the atrocities of the totalitarian-communist regime in the USSR, as well as an action to commemorate the victims produced among children in the war started by the Russian Federation against Ukraine.

The photo-documentary exhibition "Childhood in the Gulag" can be visited between May 25 - August 31, 2023, at the headquarters of the Sighet Museum (str. Corneliu Coposu, no. 4, Sighet town, Maramureş county, Romania).

The Opening of the photo-documentary exhibition „Childhood in the Gulag" was organized within the project „Edification of a European culture of memory by promoting intergenerational communication and cross-border cooperation. Exchange and implementation of the best practices between Lithuania and Moldova", with the support of the „The Development Cooperation and Democracy Promotion Programme" of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania.