Archive: People and Markets

The British Museum suffered what was probably the largest theft in its history and a scandal that shook the institution to its core. Photo: hurk / Pixabay.

Red Alert at the British Museum

Thousands of objects have disappeared from the British Museum – allegedly stolen by a senior curator. The matter was uncovered by an antiquities dealer, whose warnings fell on deaf ears. The museum’s director has stepped down, and this seems to be merely the tip of the iceberg.

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One of the coins seized during the police’s Operation Fantail. (Courtesy of Durham Constabulary.) Next to it, a passage from the biography of Alfred the Great written by Asser. The coin presents the prominent 9th-century ruler in a whole new light.

How Two Fraudsters Almost Changed England’s History

Two English metal detectorists attempted to sell off some illegally excavated coins. In a police operation straight out of a movie, the pair were caught and have now been sentenced. The seized coins present England’s King Alfred the Great in a totally different light.

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Martin Hirsch ist der neue Leiter der Staatlichen Münzsammlung München.

An Interview With Martin Hirsch

Martin Hirsch is the new Director of the Bavarian State Coin Collection. We talk with him about the exhibitions he has planned, the process of digitising the collection and why collecting is about much more than just ownership.

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Steve Forbes 2013. Image: Gage Skidmore via Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 2.0.

Hear Steve Forbes at the International Money Exposition

The International Money Exposition (IMEX) in Nashville will be held for the first time this October. One attendee will be Steve Forbes; internationally-known economic commentator, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of Forbes Magazine.

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Archive: Coins, Medals and more

State-of-the-Art Minting Technology

Colours, special shapes, inlays, micro inscriptions, latent images and holograms – many technologies are used on commemorative coins today. In this article, we give you a little overview of the different technologies that are currently applied in the coin producing industry.

Münster, Osnabrück, Passau and the Counts of Lamberg

Münster, Osnabrück and Passau: How are these places related to the Counts of Lamberg? We use coins from Künker’s auction 424 to illustrate how noble families in the Holy Roman Empire climbed the social ladder in early modern times, and explain the reasons for and the consequences of such ascents.
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