Archive: People and Markets
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.
2022 Biggest Year for Treasure Finds in the UK
Earlier this year, the British Museum launched the latest Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) Annual Report. This showed that in 2022, over 50,000 archaeological finds were recorded, including 1,378 Treasure cases – the highest ever reported in a single year. See some of the highlights here.
Archive: Coins, Medals and more

Royal Gold: England’s Five Guineas and the English Gold Currency
On 10 December 2024, Numismatica Genevensis will offer the most complete run of English Five Guineas ever sold at auction. The pieces are considered to be the most beautiful and the heaviest English circulation issues in gold. They were struck from 1668 to 1777, during the period when England replaced its bimetallism with the gold currency. Read on to find out more.

Record! South African Rarity Leaves All Previous Top Prices Far Behind
Recently, a South African coin was auctioned at Heritage for $1.8 million (excluding premium) – exceeding the previously highest known auction results for South African coins by a remarkable $1.5 million. What makes the “Single 9” such a rarity?










Hacksilber, Persian and Early Hellenistic Coinage from the Jeselsohn Collection
Haim Gitler, David Jeselsohn, Mati Johananoff and Oren Tal present the first volume of a series about the Jeselsohn Collection of Coins of the Holy Land, which is probably the most important collection of coins of the southern Levant. This volume covers Hacksilber, Persian and Early Hellenistic coinage.
CIT’s Lily Pad – Dragonfly
A dragonfly on a lily pad: CIT and B. H. Mayer use state-of-the-art minting technology to capture nature’s beauty in an awe-inspiring way.