Archive: People and Markets

Spring Sberatel Fair 2024

The spring edition of the Sberatel collector fair will take place on March 22 and 23 – the perfect opportunity to combine your hobby with a trip to beautiful Prague!

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Taya Pobjoy, Im Hintergrund des Fotos Trophäen der vielen Erfolge der Münzstätte, beispielsweise die COTY-Auszeichnungen. Foto: Michael Alexander, London Banknote and Monetary Research Centre.

The End of Pobjoy Mint: An Interview with Taya Pobjoy

On 31 December 2023, Pobjoy Mint discontinued their operations. This marked the end of an era. In this interview, Taya Pobjoy explains why she decided to close down the mint and why she did not want to sell the company including her brand.

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Tim Wright, British Celtic Coins: Art or Imitation? An Introduction to the coins of pre-Roman Britain. Spink, September 2023. 144p.148 x 210 mm. ISBN 9781912667987. Price: £30.

British Celtic Coins: Art or Imitation?

The peoples of pre-Roman Britain remain an enigma, and the same is true for their coins. Tim Wright wrote a new book on British Celtic Coins which will soon be published by Spink Books. Read his introduction on the topic here.

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Collectors of German coins will now have to calculate carefully whether they can still afford sets of circulation coins or commemorative coin sets with 2 euro coins. Collage: Canva / Münze Deutschland.

Increasing Prices for German Coin Sets: Is This The End of Proof Coin Collecting?

Official coin sets – for many coin collectors, these issues are an essential part of a complete collection. The number of produced sets, however, has been diminishing significantly for years, and a huge price adjustment could now deter collectors even further.

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Archive: Coins, Medals and more

25 Francs in Gold: Swissmint’s New Gold Coin

Since 2022, Swissmint has been issuing 25-franc gold coins. The latest release is a tribute to the history of Swiss gold coinage, combining elements of the first 20-franc piece and the enigmatic 1955 issue, which never entered circulation. And Swissmint also has some interesting plans for the future, as Ursula Kampmann discovered.
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.
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