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
Victor Andreev: “And when the Motherland will regain freedom ...”
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. IX [XXIV], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie Chișinău, 2015
Abstract
The history of anti-Soviet and anticommunist resistance in postwar Bessarabia is rich in facts and names of fighters. This article tells about the fate of brothers Victor and Ion Andreev, natives of the village of MănoileТti, who in the spring of 1949, together with other young people, decided to establish an underground organization to fight against the Soviet occupation.
Most members of this organization were intellectuals, mostly rural teachers, who, for reasons of professional and intellectual training, perhaps better than others intuited the harmful effects of Sovietization and Bolshevization of Bessarabia.
The main goals of the organization, organizational criteria, rights and obligations of the members have been for- mulated in the "Freedom Party" Charter developed by Victor Andreev, who at the time had been a primary school teacher in the village of Băcioi in the Kotovski District. The first lines of the Charter contain an appeal to all patriots of Bessarabia for the struggle against the authorities, which emphasizes that only concrete action and self-sacrifice can help to gain freedom. "And when the Motherland will regain freedom, do not come to seek protection" - it was Victor Andreev's message to those who "recognized the vile enemy flag".
Statutory documents, correspondence between members of the organization, literature confiscated during arrests, records of interrogations to which they were subjected are irrefutable evidence of the thirst for freedom and courage of these young patriots.
Sons of unified Romania, being raised and educated in the spirit of Romanian traditions, these young people were unable or unwilling to accept a different way of life, a different social system, collectivization, mass deportations, repression, famine... For them it was "a great misfortune to live in a country other than that of their ancestors". Soviet justice qualified the brothers Andreev's activities as terrorism and treason; on January 27, 1951, by the verdict of the Military Court of the Odessa Military District Victor Andreev was sentenced to death by shooting and Ion Andreev was sentenced to 25 years of imprisonment in labor camps.
Gratitude for the sacrifices of these fighters against communism came much later. On 23 August 2010, in a sign of high appreciation of tenacity, courage and patriotic spirit manifested in the struggle against the totalitarian Communist regime, by Decree of the President of the Republic of Moldova brothers Victor and Ion Andreev were posthumously awarded the Order of the Republic.
List of illustrations: 1. Photo of Victor Andreev with a dedication to his brother Ion, 1948. 2. Ion Andreev with his wife and son, 1948. 3. Ion Andreev with his son Grigore, 1949. 4. Certificate of Ion Andreev's release from prison, where he stayed from June 6 to 28 March 1960. 5. Third category driver's license in the prisoner Ion Andreev's name, 1956. 6. Ion Andreev's Certificate of Rehabilitation issued by the Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Moldova, 02.20.1992.
Elena Postică
Independent Moldova seen through a museum exhibition
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. I [XVI], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie Chișinău, 2007
Elena Postică
Oak from Caracui. Exhibition dedicated to the 100th anniversary of Academician Nicolae Corlăteanu
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. IX [XXIV], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie Chișinău, 2015
Elena Postică
Memoirs - important resource of reconstructing the ordeal of deportations
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. VIII [XXIII], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
Elena Postică
The famine of 1946-1947 from Moldova in official documents and testimonies of survivors
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. XIV [XXIX], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
Elena Postică
The exhibition „Soviet Moldova: Between Myths and the Gulag"
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. VII [XXII], 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
