Archive: People and Markets

Four Special collector coins were released from the Royal Canadian Mint in celebration of His Majesty’s Coronation.

How Canada’s Coins Celebrate the Coronation of King Charles III

The Royal Canadian Mint released collector coins in celebration of King Charles’ Coronation. The coins feature the new Royal Cypher but not yet the King’s portrait. Find here more information about when to expect his portrait.

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Ulrich Werz 2014 in Cyprus. Photo: Claire Franklin.

Ulrich Werz (1964-2023)

The numismatist Ulrich Werz died on June 14, 2023. He was known for his work on coin finds and his studies on Roman countermarks. Claire Franklin remembers him.

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70 years after its first approach, Japan Mint commemorates Godzilla. Photo credit: Japan Mint (Vordergrund), YuriHope von Getty Images (Hintergrund) via Canva Pro.

New Coin Sets Mark 70th Anniversary of the Godzilla Series

To commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Godzilla series, two new coin sets have been released: the 70th Anniversary of GODZILLA Series BU Coin Set and the 70th Anniversary of GODZILLA Series 2024 Proof Coin Set.

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Coin of the Year: Surprising Picks and Standout Themes from the Oscars of Numismatics

Every year, collectors around the world eagerly await the nominations for the Coin of the Year (COTY) Award, which honors the most outstanding coin issues from across the globe.

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Archive: Coins, Medals and more

The authentic piece from the past: the “Feierstëppler” could be found in circulation in Luxembourg for more than half a century. Photo: Wieschowski

A Coin on a Coin: Luxembourg to Resurrect the “Feierstëppler”

The Grand Duchy honours its past as a centre of the steel industry with a new 2-euro commemorative coin bearing the unwieldy title “100th anniversary of the Grand Ducal decree on the issue of the ‘Feierstëppler’”.
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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