Berlińska kolekcja numizmatyczna Radziwiłłów - (nie)znany rosyjski ślad, który nie istniał?

ENThe Berlin numismatic collection of the Radziwiłł family was the last of the family’s numismatic treasures aft er the Nesvizh (16th–19th centuries) and Nieborów (18th–19th centuries) collections. It was founded in the fi rst half of the nineteenth century by a member of the family’s Prussian line, Wilhelm Radziwiłł (1797–1870), who, in his will, bequeathed it to his son Antoni Wilhelm (1833– 1904). Aft er his death, the collection was moved to the family castle in Nesvizh in 1905. Despite numerous attempts to fi nd traces of it, the collection’s fate became unknown with the outbreak of the First World War. However, since the 1990s, many Russian coins have appeared on the Russian numismatic market, sold with the vague legend that they came from the ‘collection of Prince Radziwiłł’. Given the small number of Russian coins in the Berlin and Nieborów collections, it can be assumed that the ‘Prince Radziwiłł’ collection had nothing to do with them. A close look at the appearance of this collection on the market in 1992–1993, as well as the ‘family legend’ of its origin, makes it possible to conclude that the ‘Prince Radziwiłł collection’ is an excellent example of an attractive legend to commercialise coins more eff ectively. Keywords: Wilhelm Radziwiłł (1797–1870), Berlin Radziwiłł Münzkabinett, Nesvizh, lost collections.