Upcoming Museum Exhibit on Collecting Reformation Coins and Medals

PRESS RELEASE: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

APRIL 17, 2024

ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI. Concordia Historical Institute (CHI) houses the most extensive institutional collection of Reformation coins and medals outside of Germany. For 175 years, Missouri Synod Lutherans have collected these Reformation pieces as memorials of their faith. Over the years, many of these coins and medals have made their way to CHI, the official Department of Archives and History of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod.

In order to share our Synod’s numismatic legacy, CHI will showcase the extensive Reformation coin and medal collections of three Michigan Lutherans in “Luther Medals and Reformation Coins: Michigan Connections and Collectors.”  It presents over 125 of the most valuable and historically significant pieces from the collections of Henry Kling, Jr., Charles Manske, and James Daenzer. These men researched and cataloged pieces from Germany, Scandinavia, and North America—some as old as 1543, each with a story. The exhibit has been curated by CHI Executive Director Dr. Daniel Harmelink. In addition to his work at CHI, Harmelink is also president of the International Association of Reformation Coins and Medals. A leading authority on Reformation numismatics, he also edited the comprehensive catalog The Reformation Coin and Medal Collection of Concordia Historical Institute: A Striking Witness to Luther and the Reformation (2016 CPH).

These outstanding coins and medals will be available for viewing from June 25, 2024 until February 18, 2025. The exhibit will be open weekdays 9:00am–3:00pm in the Concordia Historical Institute Exhibition Hall. Concordia Historical Institute is located at 804 Seminary Place, Clayton, Missouri, on the campus of Concordia Seminary. For more information please visit www.concordiahistoricalIinstitute.org or call 314-505-7900.