Archive: People and Markets

Gunnar Dumke. Photo: Gunnar Dumke / City of Winterthur.

New Director of the Winterthur Coin Cabinet Appointed

Gunnar Dumke will be the new director of Winterthur Coin Cabinet. The ancient historian and archaeologist will succeed Benedikt Zäch, who is retiring after thirty years at this position.

Read more

Following Last Year’s Success: Münze Deutschland Again Sells Show Rarity at the World Money Fair

The World Money Fair is a haven for collectors hunting for limited-edition rarities. In 2024, a German coin card featuring the €2 coin “Mecklenburg-Vorpommern / Königsstuhl” caught everyone’s eye—and its market value skyrocketed to over €200. Münze Deutschland is now building on this success.

Read more
After the invention of the coin, it probably took only a few months for the first counterfeit to be created. Learn more about this fascinating topic in our CoinsWeekly Special Issue!

Fakes, Counterfeits, Imitations – CoinsWeekly NYINC Special Issue

It is every coin collector’s greatest fear: the precious centerpiece of a collection turns out to be a fake. But what can you do if suspicions arise? Our new CoinsWeekly Special Issue draws attention to different aspects of fakes, counterfeits and imitations.

Read more

Conference on Ancient Coin Legends in Munich 2025

The conference “Ancient coin legends: composition, design, lexicography, and framing potential” will take place from 26 to 28 June 2025 in Munich, Residenz (Bavarian Academy of Science).

Read more

Archive: Coins, Medals and more

The wedding of Archduke Charles and Zita in 1911. On the left the wedding couple, on the right, 81-year-old Emperor Franz Joseph, whom Charles will succeed as emperor in 1916.

Charles I of Austria-Hungary: A Hapless Emperor Who Was Beatified

In the context of its Summer Auction Sales, Künker will offer the only gold coin of the last Austro-Hungarian Emperor that is available on the market. Johannes Nollé tells the story of this coin and its commissioner, who died in Madeira aged only 35.
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.
Search Search