The mighty collections of the Hermitage were established during the reign of Catherine 11 (1762-1796) with material that Peter the Great (1762-1796) had acquired. Peter's goal was to create a cultural environment in Russia to make it comparable with other European nations. A personal order of the Tsar in January of 1722 ordered that all Russian coins were to be confiscated and incorporated into the palace collection. Those holdings were augmented by both purchases and local finds of ancient coins from the shores of southern Russia. Thanks to the generosity of a $2-million donation from IBM, the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia, has developed and launched an extensive new website featuring images and texts relating to selected works in its collection. Given prominence is the numismatic cabinet, finally making the collection visible to the world. Located at http://www.hermitagemuseum.org it presents a fascinating look at an amazing collection.

The size and scope of the Hermitage numismatic collection is enormous. Included are banknotes, medals, decorations, orders, seals and coins. Each of these departments is given it's own section in the new website. Exceeding one million objects, the numismatic collection consists of over a third of the number of items in the museum overall. Major collections include ancient, oriental, Western European, and Russian.

Beginning with the origin of coins in the 7th century BC, the Hermitage collection of ancient Greek coins consists of 63,360 pieces. Although encyclopedic in scope, numerous masterpieces are included. One of the centerpieces featured in the site is a decadrachm of Syracuse signed by Kimon. For the researcher, the Hermitage possesses one of the largest collections of tetradrachms of Phillip II and Alexander the Great as well as extensive holdings in Ptolemaic and Parthian coinage. The strongest area of the collection is pieces from the Northern Black Sea coast. The Hermitage collection of Greek coins gives a firm foundation for comparison with contemporary arts and the coinage that followed. At the conclusion of the ancient coins section, as well as the other sections, the website invites the viewer to visit the other collections at the Hermitage and in the case with ancient coins, the website provides links to antiquities.

The Oriental department of Numismatics ranks as amongst the world's most extensive and includes coins, money ingots, currency, glass weights, dies, coin-shaped amulets and the primitive currency of Asia and Africa. Possessing over 200,000 numismatic objects, special emphasis is given to the Near and Middle East and Central Asia. 65 hoards, representing 35,000 coins, provide one of the most extensive cabinets of Moslem numismatics. Also notable is the collection of Sassanian coins, represented in the website by a rare drachma of Queen Buran of 630 (dated Year 1), one of the few queens who sat on the Sassanid throne.

European numismatics is represented by numerous rarities and is strong in its holdings of gold coins. One of the highlights of that cabinet is a 10-Ducat Presentation Piece of Sigismund III of Poland (1584-1632), minted to commemorate the birth of Sigismund's son, Prince Alexander. As expected, the overall highlight in St. Petersburg is the Russian numismatic cabinet. Documenting the history of Russia, the collection is encyclopedic in its holdings. Of special note are the Dies for the Ruble of Constantine Pavlovich. The five coins struck from these dies are classic rarities in Russian numismatics.

Modern and organized, the website is a terrific introduction to the vast holdings of the Hermitage, and the links to other departments help establish the coins in their wider roles in art and history. In it's three centuries, the Hermitage has formed one of the most comprehensive numismatic cabinets. Now, thanks to the generosity of IBM, the collection prepares to enter the 21st century.