A new web portal of public numismatic collections, complete with information about more than 90,000 coins, is now live and freely accessible.
Launched this May, on International Museum Day, the portal is hosted at ikmk.net and is known in German as the Interaktive Kataloge der Münzkabinette (IKMK). It’s the largest coin database in the German-speaking world, holding tens of thousands of pieces from nearly 30 institutions, including the Münzkabinett in Berlin, its counterpart at Vienna’s Kunsthistorisches Museum plus dozens of other smaller museums and university collections. The contributing institutions, which hold 1.4 million objects altogether, plan to continue adding to the database.
After seven years of planning, the searchable database now offers high-resolution images and detailed descriptions, including provenance and research information. Images and text are free to use for academic and private non-commercial purposes.
The more than 90,000 numismatic items listed on the IKMK represent “in many ways just the beginning of a sustainable and methodical publication of the collections,” according to a statement issued by the Berlin State Museums.
“The digital transformation of our numismatic cultural heritage is a task for generations.”