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
Pages from the history of the Hâncu Monastery library
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. VIII [XXIII], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
The Hâncu Monastery dedicated to the St. Paraskeva is considered to be one of the oldest monasteries of Moldova between the Prut and the Dniester. It was founded in 1677 by the Moldavian nobleman Mihalcea Hâncu. The monastery library, until its closure by the Soviet authorities in 1950, contained old charters, manuscripts and books printed in Bucharest, Iași, Râmnic, Neamț Monastery, Sibiu, Brașov, Chișinău, Vienna, and St. Petersburg. The first religious books in the library of the monastery were handwritten, and only at the end of the 17th and the beginning of the 18th centuries there appeared printed books from Buzău, Bucharest, and Iași. After the dissolution of the monastery these treasures have disappeared without trace. Only some of the books have been found in libraries of other monasteries or in Chisinau. At present in the library of this monastery there are 75 books published in various Romanian and foreign centers. Most of them were printed in Chișinău and the Neamț Monastery, and the oldest ones were published in the 18th century in Bucharest, Râmnic, Iași and other Romanian centers of printing.
Igor Cereteu
Historic events from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries attested in notes from manuscripts and old books from the Principality of Moldova
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. V [XX], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
Igor Cereteu
The Transylvanien printings from Basarabia (from the second half of XVIIIth and the first decades of XXth centuries
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. II [XVII], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
Igor Cereteu
The printings from Neamț Monastery from XIX centuries in Bessarabia
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. III [XVIII], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
Igor Cereteu
A manuscript about clergymen of the Nativity Cathedral in Chișinău during 1840-1851
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. VII [XXII], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
Igor Cereteu
On the distribution of early printed books published in Chișinău
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. VI [XXI], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
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 National Museum of History of Moldova takes place among the most significant museum institutions of the Republic of Moldova, in terms of both its collection and scientific reputation.
The National Museum of History of Moldova takes place among the most significant museum institutions of the Republic of Moldova, in terms of both its collection and scientific reputation.
The National Museum of History of Moldova takes place among the most significant museum institutions of the Republic of Moldova, in terms of both its collection and scientific reputation.
31 August 1989 St., 121 A, MD 2012, Chisinau, Republic of Moldova
