#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

Virtual Tour

Publications

Library „Tyragetia"

Maria Danilov

Synodal Censorship and Religious Book in Bessarabia, 1812-1918 (Between the Tradition and Tsarist Policy)

Series “Biblioteca “Tyragetia” XIII, Chisinau, 2007, 264 p. ISBN 978-9975-80-073-0.

The work aims to elucidate some significant historical, political, confessional, and cultural aspects, which affected the religious books in Bessarabia. The work is conceived and written in academic manner; the factual material, for the most part, was found in the archives from Chisinau and Odessa and elucidates an unstudied page from the history of Bessarabia under the tsarist regime in 1812 – 1918.

The work contain: six chapters divided into seventeen sections; Conclusion; Bibliography; List of Abbreviations; Annex of Unedited Documents; indices: alphabetic, chronological (places and titles), and of proper names; summaries in the English and Russian languages. The Introduction was written by the academician Andrei Esanu.

For the whole period of the 19th century the Eparchial Printing House of Bessarabia was the only legal ecclesiastic and cultural institution that published books in Romanian. But in 1814 – 1918 the publishing of religious books in Bessarabia existed in the atmosphere of permanent struggle between the tradition and tsarist policy: religious life in this Romanian province was strained by the struggle for defense of the spiritual identity. In spite of the synodal censorship’s restrictions, the publishing of religious books in the Eparchial Printing House of Bessarabia was the continuation of old traditions – in the language and rite – of the country’s church.