Around 420 Sicilian coins from the rich collection of the Archaeological Museum are on display until 27 February 2026 in the special exhibition ‘Sicily – Island of Arethusa’. The largest island in the Mediterranean was known for the high craftsmanship of its currency, and the names of some of the stamp cutters from the fifth century BC are even known. This is unique in the ancient world and a sign of how highly regarded they were. Thanks to private donations, the Archaeological Museum has an incomparably broad collection of Sicilian coins. 

For years, the Archaeological Museum has been endeavouring to determine the complete provenance of its exhibits and, in cases where this cannot be established, to return them to their rightful owners. As a result, the skyphos belonging to Spiridon Louis and a fragment of a statue from Fondi have already been returned to the Greek state. Following reports of this, a woman from the Münsterland region contacted Dr Helge Nieswandt, the former curator of the museum. During a visit to Olympia in the 1960s, she had taken a fragment as a souvenir. In the museum, it was identified as part of the Leonidaion, the guest house of Olympia. Curator Dr Torben Schreiber, acting as mediator, has now returned the ‘souvenir’ to the Greek state in Olympia.

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