TALLINNSECRETS.EE— Hidden in Stone

Tallinn Mint

Tallinn’s mint recalls that a coin carried both trade value and the ruler’s authority to issue it.

Daily life in a medieval trading town needed coins whose weight and markings merchants could trust. Minting was more than metalworking: a design struck on a coin signalled the right to define money and collect payments. Tallinn’s coinage history spans different rulers, but a general Old Town map point cannot establish one workshop address for every period. Studying surviving coins reveals the history of political power as well as commerce.

Practical information

Address: Vanalinn

Treat the Old Town map point as an introduction to minting. Check historic plans or museum collections for a particular workshop site.