Archive: People and Markets

The coin shows two emperor penguins standing on the ice showcased in an extraordinary inverted relief.

Pobjoy Mints the World’s First Inverted 50 Pence Coin

Pobjoy Mint celebrates World Penguin Day with the world’s first inverted 50 pence coin. It features two emperor penguins.

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The summit building of the Schilthorn with Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau. Photo: Background: Schilthornbahn via Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0. Coin: Swissmint.

Third edition of the Swiss Cable Cars series: Schilthorn Cable Car

The third coin in the “Swiss Cable Cars” series puts the Schilthorn in focus. A tribute to a region full of history and significance in the Swiss Alps.

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Eisleben, Germany: Church Treasure Recovered After Almost 400 Years

What a find: last year, a hoard of 864 coins was discovered in a sandstone figure in a church in Eisleben, Germany. The coins were hidden there during the Thirty Years’ War and provide a rare insight into the currency in circulation at that time. A coin expert from the region tells us more about it.

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New Publication on Hallmarks of Gold Coinage in Serbia and Yugoslavia

After the work of countless renowned scholars, is it even possible to make new findings in the numismatics of Austria-Hungary and the Balkans? The Austrian Research Society for Numismatics says „yes!“ and proves this with Aleksandar Brzić’s new book on Serbian and Yugoslav hallmarks on gold coins from 1882 to 1941.

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Archive: Coins, Medals and more

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.

From Taler to Mark: The Long Road to a Common Currency

As Germany gradually evolved into a nation-state in the 19th century, the many currencies that circulated in its territories were also unified step by step. Coins from the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in Künker’s auction 388 illustrate the long path from the taler to the mark.
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