Mekhitarists were the first to study Armenian numismatics. They rescued and collected coins from different historical periods and built their collection. In the Armenian world, the St. Lazarus Monastery in Venice became the first ma­jor center of Armenian numismatic collection and preservation. The monks of the St. Lazarus, keenly aware of the importance of numismatics, employed nu­mismatics as a resource to study and shed light on Armenian history ques­tions.

The numismatic collection of St. Lazarus represents for its type and quality a major treasure of our national wealth. From the moment it was created until present times, the collection has been carefully preserved and enlarged. It con­tains Armenian coins as well as issues that pertain Armenian history. The col­lection is organized in sections and subsections. Unfortunately, the status of the collection in terms of dynastic categories remains uncertain. The collection is comprised of coins of the Hellenistic period and a large part of Roman origin ones, both from the republican and imperial periods. Coins of the late Roman pe­riod or early Byzantine one are also worthy of note. Parthian and Sassanian sections are also notably large. The collection includes Arabic coins as well as Western European ones from the modern period. In the St. Lazarus museum there are also samples of ecclesiastic coins. A large number are Armenian Ci­li­cian coins and those from the reign of Tigranes the Great in the Artaxiad period. The collection also includes almost every sample of the Roman period. There are also falsified coins. It is praiseworthy that the museum has received do­na­tions from different persons in different eras.