Archive: People and Markets
Friedrich Popken (1940-2024)
On 27 July 2024, Friedrich Popken passed away at the age of 84. As well as being a well-known entrepreneur, he was also a highly esteemed coin collector who supported and promoted many numismatic projects. An obituary by Fritz Rudolf Künker.
Pop Culture & Coins Unite! The National Coin Week 2025
What do Homer Simpson, the Olympic games, Elvis Presley, and Superman have in common? They’ve all been featured, or will soon be featured, on coins. This year’s annual National Coin Week, April 20-26, 2025, explores the fascinating ways pop culture influences money.
Archive: Coins, Medals and more

The French Marianne I: Marianne as a Representative of the French People – Part 2
Marianne represents France as a female national allegory. Gabriele Sturm explores how she is depicted on French coins. Part 2 deals with the period of the 4th and 5th Republics, taking us to the present.

The Bending Willow Tree
On 29 January 2025, Künker is going to auction off a unique willow tree coin. The reverse of the 10-ducat piece depicts a willow tree in a storm. But what is the message that William V, the Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel on whose behalf the coin was created, wanted to convey with this issue?
The Brahekyrkan Coin Hoard – A Sensational Find on Visingsö
Swedish archaeologists made a spectacular discovery on the island of Visingsö. They found 170 coins from the mid-12th century in a grave, posing a number of questions.
Our Event Sites for the Coin Fairs in Basel and Munich
On the last weekend in February and the first weekend in March, two coin fairs took place that we didn’t want to miss: First the Basel Coin Fair, then the NUMISMATA in Munich. You can find our impressions of the fairs on two event sites.