On 22 November 1963, the Council of Ministers of the Ukrainian SSR adopted Resolution #1300 «On the establishment of a special department at the Kyiv State Historical Museum – the “Golden Storehouse”».

In 1965, the historical museum was renamed the State Historical Museum of the Ukrainian SSR, and its branch was granted the status of the «Golden Storehouse» Museum.

The Baroque architectural monument on the territory of the Kyiv-Pechersk Historical and Cultural Reserve – the Kovnir Building – was chosen as the location for the future museum. It was constructed by Ukrainian builder Stepan Kovnir in the 1720s to 1740s. Most of the building was occupied by the monastery bakery.

In the 1920s to 1940s, the Kovnir Building was part of the All-Ukrainian Museum Town, an association of museums that operated on the premises of the nationalised Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. During the Second World War, the building of the Kovnir Building was severely damaged and needed to be completely restored.

According to the 1963 resolution of the Council of Ministers of the Ukrainian SSR on the establishment of the «Golden Storehouse», it was decided to form a collection based on precious items donated to the new institution by all Ukrainian museums. 

The basis was the collection of the Kyiv State Historical Museum, which had been established in the late 19^th century.

The archaeological component of the new museum collection was supplemented by the acquisitions from the Institute of Archaeology of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences. Thousands of valuable pieces dating from pre-Scythian times to the Late Middle Ages were transferred to the museum’s collection.

Many rare works by ancient masters came from other Ukrainian museums, including those in Bakhchysarai, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kerch, Lviv, Odesa, Poltava, Kharkiv, Kherson, and Chernihiv. A total of 21 museum institutions contributed to the new museum’s collection.

In 1968, according to the Order of the Ministry of Culture of the Ukrainian SSR #70, the museum was renamed the Museum of Historical Treasures of the Ukrainian SSR.  On 4 January 1969, the newly created museum opened its doors to the first visitors.

With the restoration of Ukraine’s independence in 1991, the institution was renamed the Museum of Historical Treasures of Ukraine, a branch of the National Museum of the History of Ukraine. 

In the 1990s – 2000s, the museum’s precious collection became Ukraine’s visiting card in the world. 

The museum was visited by presidential, parliamentary, and government delegations from many countries. Its exhibits have represented Ukraine more than 70 times at exhibitions from North America to the Far East: in Austria, Denmark, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, South Korea, Poland, Singapore, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United States, Hungary, the United States, Finland, France, and the United Kingdom.

In 2004, with the support of the President of Ukraine’s Foundation, the museum underwent a general renovation and significantly updated its exhibition.

The museum’s collection of precious items from the Scythian period is probably the largest in the world.

These items were found during archaeological investigations of Scythian mounds in different regions of Ukraine. In the 19th to early 20th centuries, excavations were carried out by Mykola Ivanyshev, Vikentii Khvoika, and Serhii Mazaraki. In the 1950s – 1980s, the expeditions of the Ukrainian Institute of Archeology were led by Vasyl Bidzilia, Iurii Boltryk, Halyna Kovpanenko, Borys Mozolevskyi, Vitalii Otroshchenko, Oleksii Terenozhkin, Mykola Cherednychenko, and others. In the 1980s, there were expeditions organised by Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk universities.

The most famous Scythian exhibits in the collection are the Tovsta Mohyla pectoral, the Haimanova Mohyla bowl, the Melitopol mound gorytos upholstery from, and a mysterious ritual object from Perederiieva Mohyla. There are also thousands of jewellery, weaponry and horse bridle decorations.

The main part of the museum’s exhibition is the collection of Scythian gold: precious items of weapons, horse bridles, tableware, decorative elements of clothing, and jewellery dating back to the 7^th–4^th centuries BCE.

The pearl of the exhibition is the breastplate of a Scythian ruler – a golden pectoral from the Tovsta Mohyla mound in the Dnipro region. 

Collections of objects from the ancient cities of the Northern Black Sea (Chersonesos, Panticapaeum, Olbia) and Sarmatian mounds are also historically connected with the Scythians. 

There is also a small but unique collection of jewellery belonging to nomadic peoples who lived in the Ukrainian steppe in ancient times – Huns, Avars, Khazars, Pechenegs, and Polovtsians. Gothic antiquities from the Crimea are represented as well.

The collection of jewellery from the times of the ancient Slavs (items from the Martynivka, Khariv and Pastyrske hoards) and medieval Rus (primarily from the Sakhniv hoard) is particularly noteworthy.

The largest, sixth hall of the museum displays a collection of precious works by Ukrainian silversmiths of the 16^th–19^th centuries: Ivan Ravych, Ieremiia Biletskyi, Matvii Narunovych, Fedir Levytskyi and others. Many items can be seenhere associated with prominent historical figures, such as Metropolitan Petro Mohyla, Hetmans Ivan Samoilovych, Ivan Mazepa and Danylo Apostol, Colonels Vasyl Zolotarenko, Rodion Dumytrashko and Stepan Tomara, the Razumovskyi, Kochubei, Khanenko, Branytskyi and other families. 

A special place is occupied by a collection of precious items made by craftsmen from Germany, Poland, France and other European countries.

In the 1990s, new sections were added to the museum’s exhibition – Jewish ceremonial silver and traditional items by Crimean Tatar craftsmen.

From time to time, exhibitions of contemporary jewellery art are held in the last, ninth room.

On 1 September 2021, the institution was restructured and renamed «The Treasury of the National Museum of the History of Ukraine, branch of the National Museum of the History of Ukraine».

Over the 60 years of its existence, the museum has formed a collection of 57,000 storage units, some of which are unique. It was renovated to preserve priceless treasures for future generations. The museum has become a centre for scientific research into the history of jewellery. 

The war changed the rhythm of the museum’s life. In 2022, in the first days of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Treasury staff ensured the safety and evacuation of the precious collection. 

After the liberation of the Kyiv region, the permanent exhibition was replaced by temporary exhibitions. They tell about the unique archaeological artefacts preserved by Ukraine, Crimean Tatar culture and Ukraine in the time of Hetman Mazepa.