Coin Collections

Yapı Kredi Bank has always believed in investing in culture and the arts and has taken important steps with its endeavours in these areas to help our country reach a higher level of modernity.

The most striking of our Bank’s collections is the 55,000-piece collection of coins from an array of civilizations since the sixth century B.C. Initiated in 1953 by Nuri Pere, the curator at that time, and upon Kazım Taşkent’s suggestion, the collection has evolved over the years into one of the richest in the world. Many valuable pieces have been added to the collection through purchases from the country’s most well-known and fastidious collectors such as Behzat Budak, Hüseyin Kocabaş, Ekrem Humbaracı, Osman Ferit Sağlam, Muazzez Erman, Şerafettin Erel, Fethi Aktan and Nusret Karaca.

The chronological order and succession of emperors were key in developing the collection, as they helped paint the picture through a wider outline.

While working on the Islamic collection, we have acquired another collection of foreign coins, remarkable in size and quality, to include Greek, Roman and Byzantine currencies.