Archive: People and Markets

Price Decline for Monaco Euro Coins – Is the Hype Over?

For many years, Euro coins from Monaco were regarded as true treasures among collectors. The exclusive mintings from the small principality were highly sought after, with prices seemingly heading in only one direction: steeply upwards. But now that trend appears to have come to an end—why?

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In diesem Gebäude in Helsinki befand sich die ursprüngliche finnische Münzstätte seit 1864. 1988 zog die Produktion in eine moderne Anlage in Vantaa um. Doch bald werden auch dort die Maschinen stillstehen. Foto: I99pema via Wikicommons / CC BY-SA 4.0.

The End of Mint of Finland

Mint of Finland will close its doors in the spring of 2025. The Board of Directors of Mint of Finland announced this decision on 28 August 2024. Ursula Kampmann sums up the situation.

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After being kept untouched for 100 years, the Bruun collection with an insurance value of over 70 million USD will be auctioned at Stack’s Bowers.

After 100 Years: The Bruun Collection Comes Under the Hammer

The Bruun Collection has been held by Denmark’s National Museum in Copenhagen for 100 years. Now Stack’s Bowers Galleries has been commissioned with the sale of the collection, which Stacks refers to as “the most valuable collection of World Coins to ever come to market”.

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Single-figure plaque, mid-sixteenth to seventeenth century, cast copper alloy, Dallas Museum of Art. Photo: Daderot via Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain.

Benin Bronzes Lawsuit Against Smithsonian

Shall all Benin bronzes be repatriated? The Restitution Study Group says no. They argue for the rights of descendants of slaves trafficked by the Benin Kingdom as you can learn from this interview by Kate Fitz Gibbon.

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Archive: Coins, Medals and more

At the end of third century AD, Carausius and Allectus successively ruled Britain, and parts of the Continental coast, as rebel emperors for a period of ten years. A new book, published by Spink Books, aims to tell the incredible story of these two rebel emperors. Learn more about them and their rich coinage in this article.

Rebel Emperors of Britannia: Carausius and Allectus

At the end of the third century AD, Carausius and Allectus successively ruled Britain, and parts of the Continental coast, as rebel emperors for a period of ten years. A new book, published by Spink Books, aims to tell the incredible story of these two rebel emperors. Learn more about them and their rich coinage in this article.
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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