Archive: People and Markets

A rare sight: a notice at the entrance to the Bundesbank branch in Ludwigshafen, stating that the 11-euro football coin is sold out. Photo: Wieschowski

Successful Launch of the 11-Euro Football Coin for the 2024 European Championship

The large crowds and the fact that the 11-euro coin sold out quickly show how popular it is with the general public. The unusual collector issue fascinates football fans and numismatists alike and could become a popular souvenir across Europe.

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More than 2 million dimes were stolen while being transported from the US Mint in Philadelphia to Miami. Photo: BrayLockBoy / CC BY-SA 4.0.

The Great Philly Pocket Change Heist

In the US, four men are standing trial as they allegedly stole coins worth 234,500 dollars from a truck. That was a ton of work. since their loot consisted of more than 2 million dimes, which were difficult to transport and even harder to spend…

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Croatia launched a new coin series starting with The Old Town of Varaždin. Photo: Croatian Mint

2-Euro Ticker: New 2-Euro Coins in July 2024

Croatia excites 2-euro collectors with a new city series – and significant improvements in minting quality. Portugal’s online shop has not been running smoothly.

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Exclusive Presentation of the Latest Commemorative Coin: The 100-Franc Gold Vreneli Returns After 100 Years

At the World Money Fair, Swissmint unveiled its latest commemorative coin to mark a special anniversary: on 1 July 2025, the coin “100 Years of the 100-Franc Vreneli” will be released – a tribute to the original edition from 1925.

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Archive: Coins, Medals and more

The Bending Willow Tree

On 29 January 2025, Künker is going to auction off a unique willow tree coin. The reverse of the 10-ducat piece depicts a willow tree in a storm. But what is the message that William V, the Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel on whose behalf the coin was created, wanted to convey with this issue?
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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