The Oldest Institution In All France (1,153 Years!) Reopens As Paris’s Newest Museum

La Monnaie de Paris, the mint originally established in 864 by King Charles the Bald and functioning ever since, has been remodeled and opened to the public as a working museum devoted to monetary metallurgy through the ages. (150 artisans continue to work there on specially commissioned coins.) La Monnaie may soon face its first repatriation controversy, however: among its opening exhibits is the Treasure of Hué, looted by French forces from Vietnam’s imperial palace in 1886.