Estimate: 19.900 EURHersfeld Abbey,
1/2 Reichstaler 1621,
under Wilhelm V of Hesse-Kassel as administrator.
Condition: ef+3018-589
Estimate: 9.890 EURFrance,
city of Besançon,
3 Pistols 1666 with title Charles V.
Condition: CH UNC3019-931
Estimate: 5.800 EURHoly Roman Empire,
Bavaria, Chaise d'or (imperial shield)
1328-1347 under Emperor Louis IV.
Condition: ef3020-009
Estimate: 3.680 EURGreece,
Eastern Celts,
Tetradrachm (3rd-2nd century BC).
Condition: ef3020-877
Estimate: 485 EURArchbishopric of Salzburg,
Reichstaler 1654-1668
under Count Guidobald von Thun.
Condition: vf-ef3019-824
Estimate: 350 EURGreat Britain,
Halfpenny-Token 1794,
Kent-Dover.
Condition: MS65 BN3020-591
Estimate: 485 EURSaxony,
Siegesthaler 1871 under Johann.
Condition: vf-ef3003-367
Estimate: 1.180 EURByzantine Empire,
Solidus (491-518)
under Anastasius the righteous.
Condition: vf-ef3005-316
Estimate: 2.650 EURRoman Empire,
Sesterz (225-227) Orbiana,
wife of Severus Alexander.
Condition: ef3020-873
Estimate: 1.950 EURKingdom of Bohemia,
Ducat 1676 under Leopold I.
Condition: vf3021-518

Archive: People and Markets

Single-figure plaque, mid-sixteenth to seventeenth century, cast copper alloy, Dallas Museum of Art. Photo: Daderot via Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain.

Benin Bronzes Lawsuit Against Smithsonian

Shall all Benin bronzes be repatriated? The Restitution Study Group says no. They argue for the rights of descendants of slaves trafficked by the Benin Kingdom as you can learn from this interview by Kate Fitz Gibbon.

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Arthur L. Friedberg und Ira S. Friedberg, Gold Coins of the World. From Ancient Times to the Present. An Illustrated Standard Catalog with Valuations. 10. Auflage, 2023. 852 S., 20,5 x 29,7 cm, 8.500 farbige Abbildungen. ISBN 978-0-87184-310-4. Preis: 95 EUR.

10th Edition of Friedberg’s Gold Coins of the World

You cannot do without this classic when it comes to identifying gold coins! Now, the 10th edition of Coins of the World has been published.

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A fresh start for the British Museum? Maybe with numismatist Mark Jones heading the museum as interim director. Photo museum: UK. Photo Sir Mark Jones: © National Trust for Scotland.

A Numismatist at the Head of the British Museum?

Following the resignation of the British Museum’s director and his deputy, the board of trustees has already filled one position on an interim basis. Surprisingly, the numismatist Sir Mark Jones has been proposed as interim director.

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Gilded silver plate, Iran or Afghanistan, probably Parthian or Early Sasanian, probably 2nd–3rd century. © The Trustees of the British Museum.

“Luxury and Power: Persia to Greece” at the British Museum

Over centuries the Persian empire and the Greeks had many conflicts. But nevertheless they influenced each other in many ways, as coins and works of art document. A major exhibition at the British Museum explores the relationship between luxury and power in this time.

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Archive: Coins, Medals and more

Karl Ludwig von Bruck, the mastermind behind the Vienna Coinage Treaty. We chose not to depict Emperor Franz Josef I at this point, who is shown on the coins, but the liberal politician Karl Ludwig von Bruck. Born into the family of a bookbinder in Elberfeld (now Wuppertal, Germany), he worked his way up from a merchant’s position to become Austria’s finance minister. He could almost be described as a beacon of hope for Austrian economic policy. It was tragic – and not just for him personally – that Franz Josef “ungraciously” dismissed him in April 1860 on false suspicions. The then 61-year-old took his own life. This deprived Austria of an imaginative politician who might have prevented its economic marginalization by Prussia.

A War Fought with Unusual Weapons: How Prussia Used Finance and Politics to Force the Habsburg Hereditary Lands Out of the German Confederation

On 26 March 2024, the Künker auction house will offer the Tursky Collection with coins of Emperor Franz Joseph I. We use specimens from this collection to tell the story of how Prussia used its economic sway to become the sole hegemonic power in Germany.
Image detail from “The last viaduct before entering the Trieste railway station”, image: SLUB Dresden. Public Domain Mark 1.0. PPN 337170053. In front: Double vereinstaler 1857. From Auction Künker 308, No. 471.

A Commemorative Coin Celebrating the Completion of Austria’s Southern Railway

Commemorative coins were issued far less frequently in the 19th century than today. The fact that Emperor Franz Joseph dedicated a commemorative coin to the Austrian Southern Railway is therefore testimony to the outstanding importance of this line. In auction 408, Künker is offering two of only 1,644 specimens minted.
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