Archive: People and Markets

So stellt sich die Grafik-Engine „DALL-E“ die Produktion eines numismatischen Fachbuches mithilfe von KI vor. Foto: Wieschowski

How AI Is Transforming Numismatics

Can entire numismatic reference books be written by artificial intelligence? Are ChatGPT and similar technologies becoming competitors for news portals, specialist publishers, and PR agencies? What can AI truly achieve? We put it to the test.

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Coin Shop Looted in Michigan

The Numismatic Crime Information Center notifies the numismatic community about a burglary at a coin shop in South Eastern Michigan on 16 December.

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Ein Klick – und fertig ist die Fantasie-Münze. So stellt sich die ChatGPT-Grafikengine „Dalle“ eine 2-Euro-Münze zu Ehren eines „berühmten Fußballers“ vor. Foto: ChatGPT / Dalle / Wieschowski

Cristiano Ronaldo on a Commemorative Coin from Portugal? Controversy Surrounds an AI Fake

A purported special edition coin honouring the world-famous football icon is making headlines. However, it’s unlikely that Ronaldo and his peers will ever appear in your change – and there are compelling reasons for this.

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How the Romans Made Counterfeits

Counterfeits have been around in ancient Roman times, too – usually, they were cast from a copper-tin alloy. Researchers at the University of Tübingen examined the counterfeiting process and reconstructed it experimentally. A video documents their experiment.

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Archive: Coins, Medals and more

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.
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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