REPORT FROM THE EXHIBITION OF A UNIQUE COLLECTION OF SILVER STAMPS Keywords: State Museum of Oriental Art, Moscow exhibition, Mecca, silver stamps, Islamic countries Who among us didn't collect postage stamps as a child? Among the many hobbies, this is one of the most exciting. It is believed that postage signs began to be collected from the moment they first appeared in circulation - from the middle of the XIX century. But a hobby can also turn into an art form. The magazine's correspondent was convinced of this by visiting the exhibition "Mecca on Silver Stamps of the Moscow Mint", which was held in Moscow, at the State Museum of Oriental Art from July 11 to 27, 2014. Its organizers are the Russian company "WT" and the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation 1. The items that made up the precious collection were made in 2013 at the Moscow Mint. This is 40 marks of silver of the highest, 999th, sample. They depict the sacred sites of Mecca (Saudi Arabia) - the main spiritual center of professing Islam, a place of pilgrimage for Muslims from all over the world. Such a collection will be the envy of any philatelist! Which is quite justified. The originals were ordinary postage stamps issued in 24 countries, including Afghanistan, Algeria, Bangladesh, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Mauritania, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, etc. The idea of creating the collection appeared back in 2006, when the same Mint in Moscow minted the "Golden Quran" from 162 plates of gold of the highest quality - the world's only exact copy of the oldest Islamic manuscript of the VIII century. "Quran of Uthman" in "gold execution". The number of stamps - 40-was not chosen by chance. "40" is one of the sacred numbers in many religions and means harmony in nature between its visible and hidden manifestations. The delicate and elegant silver stamps, made in full size-exactly the same size as their "paper" originals-required skill and patience from the minters. It is not easy to ... Читать далее