A Struggle for Rome

During the auction week from October 8th-12th, Künker will be putting a rare solidus of Theodoric the Great up for auction. The piece, minted in Rome in the name of Emperor Anastasius I, presents a good opportunity to retell the history behind the coin.

A King Named Teutamados

Beyond his name, there’s very little known about Teutamados. What we do have, however, is a splendid tetradrachm minted for him. Based on this, he was evidently a Paionian ruler.

Unique gold coin of Bodvoc found

On 16 April 2012 a 2000-year-old gold quarter stater of the ancient British ruler Bodvoc was discovered near Bristol. It was found by Dennis who has been metal detecting for 33 of his 53 years and it can rightly be described as ‘the find of a lifetime’ because of its numismatic importance.

Bread for Tarsus

In the 3th cent., Asia Minor was famine-stricken. The city of Tarsus scored a coup that made the emperor leave the grain necessary for survival to it at a cheap rate. A coin tells of how that was achieved.

“Sing, Muse, of the rage of Peleus’ son Achilles…”

You believe that Paris abducted Helena? Which was why the Greek destroyed Troy? What if it was completely different? The later Trojans in Roman Imperial Times adhered to an entirely different version of the story – and so they celebrated their hero Hector on their coins.

The Princes of Solms

In early Modern times the Hesse noble house of Solms faced like many other nobles financial problems. The imperial service and own coin issues were their way of solving that issue. Even though some members of the family had not been granted the minting privilege at all …