The lustre of all the gold treasures of the world does not make me happy

Although Michael I Apafi had the largest modern gold coins produced he nevertheless remained sceptical towards gold…

The magnifier, a coin collector’s most important tool

How to recognize an experienced coin collector? Simple, he always has his magnifier on the ready! What else to recognize an experienced coin collector? Simpler still, he does not own one single magnifier, but several, for each situation the appropriate one…

Erasmus of Rotterdam in Basel – part 2: The inheritance of Bonifacius Amerbach

You can still have a look at Erasmus of Rotterdam’s collection until this day, because the collector Bonifacius Amerbach kept it and gave it to the city. In this episode, among other things, you will see the chest, Amerbach kept the estate in.

Magical Numismatics: The Silver Shilling

Numerous novels, travelogues and short stories from the 19th century inform us about the numismatic every-day life. A particularly nice example is one of the more than 160 fairy tales Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875) has written.

The most beautiful depiction of a ship in numisnautics

Danish King Christian V issued the largest gold medal ever struck to celebrate his victories at sea…

Message in a bottle

In 1967 workers of the Austrian Mint found a message in a bottle bricked in a wall. Colleagues who worked in the same building around the turn of the century had left the message in order to inform posterity about their awkward situation.