Istanbul’s Yapı Kredi Museum has put together a new exhibition entitled "A Selection from the Collections" that will take visitors on a historical journey with its collection of artifacts from different periods. Prepared in honor of May 18 International Museum Day, the exhibition will be on permanent display for art and history enthusiasts alike.

Since the early 1950s, the Yapı Kredi collections have gradually grown and become richer over time. After its establishment in 1992, the Yapı Kredi Museum has preserved and exhibited these collections. The museum's latest exhibition, which was put together to mark International Museum Day and will be on permanent display, is comprised of two sections: numismatic and ethnographic. Various coin collections are on display in the numismatic section while the ethnographic side offers the chance to examine up close items belonging to the founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, including silver goods and his pocket watches.

History of Money: From Lydia to date

Yapı Kredi Museum's coin collection is one of the most important private accumulations in terms of volume and scientific significance. The coin collection, consisting of 55,000 pieces, makes it possible to follow the layers of history chronologically from the Lydians, who created the world's first currency in the seventh century B.C., to the present day.

The Anatolian geography, from where most of the collection comes, served as an important stage over history as home to kingdoms, city-states and empires. The Yapı Kredi coin collection is one of the few that allows for the political, economic and cultural aspects of these civilizations to be traced back 2600 years. A selection of 250 gold, silver and copper coins from the museum's private collection has been put on display to showcase the history of currency in Anatolia.

A timeline has been prepared especially for the new exhibition that plots the evolution of money from prehistoric times to the present while touching on shopping habits before coins came into use, the place of the coin in the concept of money, currency reforms as well as leaps and breaking points in financial history. The timeline, spanning a period of 5,000 years, allows visitors to chronologically follow how money developed, from the early metal ingots used before the advent of the coin to blockchain technology and the cryptocurrencies of today.

The second section of the exhibition is dedicated to Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, showcasing his belongings as well as videos and photographs of the leader. A pocket watch that Yapı Kredi Bank’s founder Kazım Taşkent presented as a gift to Atatürk is on display as well as a gold-plated cigarette case which was gifted to the leader by the King of Jordan.

The theme of the exhibition was determined by museum director Nihat Tekdemir while professor Oğuz Tekin acted as scientific consultant. Those interested will soon be able to take a 3D virtual tour of the exhibition online.