H. Kolba Judit szerk.: Historical Exhibition of the Hungarian National Museum Guide 2 - From the Foundation of the State until the Expulsion of the Ottomans - The history of Hungary in the 11th to 17th centuries (Budapest, 2005)

ROOM 8 (PASSAGE) - The Expulsion of the Ottomans (1683-1699) Aristocratic and Town Relics from the 17th century (Judit H. Kolba)

74. Agate cup decorated with Transylvanian enamel and carved ivory cup from the Esterházy treasury, 17th century its drop-flap we find shelves, and small drawers, five on each side, are concealed behind carved panels. In the next space between the windows, we exhibit some fine items from the varied material of 17th-century numismatic art. In the 16th century thalers appeared all over Europe and remained for centuries the principal means of payment in Modern-age economies. In Hungary the minting of thalers began after the accession of the Habsburgs to the throne at the mint in Körmöcbánya (Kremnica), which was the bastion of Hungarian minting even in this period. The designs of the finest thalers were made by an Italian master, Antonio Abondio, at the end of the 16th century. The Principalty of Transylvania excelled in the numismatic art of the period, issuing many different types of gold coin. The coins, of great dimensions and extraordinary shapes, were decorated with portraits, arms and mottos of the princes. The gold coins to the value of fifty and one hundred ducats (Fig. 76) of Mihály Apafi I, produced as princely gifts, are outstanding pieces on a world scale. Kreutzers were struck from the reign of Leopold I (1657-1705) onwards. At the end of the passage, we present a se-