The Benaki Museum one of the best Athens museums, ranks among the great benefactions which have enriched the material assets of the Greek state. At the same time, it is the oldest museum in Greece, which functions as a Foundation under Private Law.

Through its extensive collections covering several different cultural fields, as well as its more general range of activities which serve more than one social need, the Benaki Museum is perhaps the sole instance of a complex structure within the wider network of museum foundations in Greece.

This group of collections comprises many distinct categories totaling more than 30.000 items illustrating the character of the Greek world through a spectacular historical panorama: from antiquity and the age of Roman domination to the medieval Byzantine period, from the fall of Constantinople (1453) and the centuries of Frankish and Ottoman occupation to the outbreak of the war for independence in 1821, and from the formation of the modern state of Greece (1830) down to 1922, the year in which the Asia Minor disaster took place.

The Numismatic Museum of Athens Greece, with a history going back to 1829, is one of the few of its kind in the world and the only such museum in the Balkans. It provides continuous educational support for Hellenism in terms of numismatics, history and art history.

The strength of the collection lies in some six hundred thousand coins covering the ancient Greek world, the Roman and Byzantine periods, western Mediaeval times and modern times, “hoards” (closed numismatic groups), weights, lead stamps, medals and precious stones. About ten thousand volumes devoted to the special field of numismatics, to Athens history, to seals and to archaeology, as well as off prints, fascicles, and general publications cover the archaeological material. In addition there is an extraordinarily rich archive of documents.

The Iliou Melathron (The Palace of Ilion), the house of Heinrich Schliemann, which houses the Numismatic Museum, is a work of the German architect Ernst Ziller in the style of buildings of the Italian Renaissance adapted to the neoclassical spirit of the late 19th century. The building was inaugurated on the 10th of January, 1881. The walls inside are decorated with wall paintings copying Pompeian themes and the finds of Schliemann at Troy and Mycenae.

With many activities, such as scientific and informative publications (in printed as well as electronical form), cycles of educational lectures, lectures, symposia, the organization of periodic and occasional exhibitions, educational programs, participation in international programs, the Museum will become a centre of research and attraction for scholars and for the wider public.

Conservation of metal objects belonging to the Museum and coins from the excavations of the Archaeological Ephorates is carried out in the fully equipped laboratory.

The exhibition of the objects, provided with electronical support, is organized to show various themes (history of the Museum, donors, life and work of Heinrich Schliemann, the architect of the Iliou Melathron, an introduction to numismatics, the mints of Athens and of Alexander the Great, Greek colonization, numismatic “hoards”, portrait heads, statues and coins, mythological representations, buildings, fauna, flora, etc.).

Planned also is the sale of publications, copies and so on, to be on the first floor and a cafe in the garden.

In its endeavor to communicate to a broad spectrum of the public both the obvious, self-evident significance of numismatics and the less-apparent, concealed aspect of the art, which has attended human vanity throughout the ages, the Numismatic Museum of Athens, in collaboration with the Archaeological Receipts Fund, has published a series of elegant, concise guides for visitors to the exhibition in the Iliou Melathron, which illustrates the importance of coins, here arranged by subject, as a source of knowledge and delight.

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