Numismatic Museum in Marciana - Island of Elba

The Marciana Numismatic Museum is located in an underground space excavated inside Palazzo Appiani. This palace was built by the Appiani family around the late 1500s, at a time when the town of Marciana was used by the Princes of Piombino as a summer residence.

Palazzo Appiani was constructed in a strategic location from which it was possible to view the nearby Tuscan coast, particularly Piombino.

The Marciana Numismatic Museum was set up to document and illustrate the development of coinage in the Elba region during the Middle Ages.

It is entirely excavated in granite and consists of a rectangular entrance room and a long, narrow corridor that leads to a small atrium from which two additional square rooms are accessible. In the entrance room, some charcoal drawings depicting sailing ships and fishing boats with lateen sails are visible on the upper walls.

The museum houses a collection of coins from the 13th to 16th centuries found in various locations on the island, predating the coinage of Jacopo VII Appiani and Niccolò and Giovan Battista Ludovisi.

A second section displays coins minted in the Principality of Piombino between the 16th and 17th centuries. Among them: 1 grosso of Jacopo VII, various quattrini of Niccolò Ludovisi, and 1 crazia of the same prince. A reproduction of the tollero (or piece of eight) in silver of Giovan Battista Ludovisi is also present, featuring the image of the Port of Piombino on the reverse, with only two known examples of this coin.

Also on display are reconstructions of the coin minting process, with anvils and their respective dies.

On the walls, comprehensive historical and documentary materials complete the visit to this place of extraordinary charm.