Archive: People and Markets

CIT’s Underwater Fantasy – Mermaids

The more we learn about the underwater world, its colorful, bizarrely shaped creatures and the sunken testaments to mankind, the more it captures our imagination and inspires our dreams. CIT translated this feeling into a numismatic shape. From a technical point of view, the application of enamel reproducing underwater visuals is highly remarkable.

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The IADAA-logo.

Happy Birthday! The IADAA Turns 30

The International Association of Dealers in Ancient Art (IADAA) celebrates its 30th anniversary. James Ede, one of the founding fathers, remembers his personal experiences in the association and the antiquities trade.

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Caribbean Guilder: Joint Currency Introduced for Curaçao and Sint Maarten

The new currency replaces the Antillean Guilder, retains its value, and is pegged to the US dollar – with fresh designs inspired by the sea and local culture.

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CIT presents: Alcatraz Island

With Alcatraz, CIT presents a coin that takes the depiction of islands to a completely new level. Be it from a bird’s eye view or from the side, the coin depicts the legendary penitentiary complex in great detail and illustrates why the island became a myth.

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Archive: Coins, Medals and more

Siege plan of the city of Frankfurt based on the original by Conrad Faber von Creuznach, 1552.

Two Cityscapes on Coins From Frankfurt am Main and The Artwork That Inspired Them

Many engravers used contemporary media to make their work easier. Their coin designs were often based on well-known engravings. This is illustrated by two pieces from the Loos Collection, which will be auctioned by Künker in September 2023.
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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