Archive: People and Markets

Coins and banknotes – a relic of the past? Photo: Wieschowski.

Social Organisations and Bundesbank Advocate for Cash

Coins and banknotes continue to hold significant importance in an increasingly digital world – a point that prominent societal figures have recently underscored in a new position paper. They highlight the social functions of cash and its vital role for disadvantaged groups.

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Hideo Futahashi (†2024)

We have only now learned that Hideo Futahashi has passed away. Mr. Futahashi was a key figure for Europeans looking to gain a foothold in the Japanese coin market. He was one of those open-minded Japanese who loved introducing European coin enthusiasts to the beauty of his country.

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A fresh start for the British Museum? Maybe with numismatist Mark Jones heading the museum as interim director. Photo museum: UK. Photo Sir Mark Jones: © National Trust for Scotland.

A Numismatist at the Head of the British Museum?

Following the resignation of the British Museum’s director and his deputy, the board of trustees has already filled one position on an interim basis. Surprisingly, the numismatist Sir Mark Jones has been proposed as interim director.

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Tatort 1 und 2: Das Museum für Ostasiatische Kunst in Köln und das Römer- und Pelizaeus- Museum in Hildesheim: Fotos: Raimond Spekking / CC BY-SA 4.0 und Longbow4u / CC0, via WikiCommons.

German Museums Continue to be Hit by Wave of Burglaries

With no end in sight, German museums are still regularly targeted by burglars. Often, the general public is unaware of the break-ins as the cases only make headlines in local newspapers. What can museums do to deal with these crimes? We present two cases from autumn 2023.

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Archive: Coins, Medals and more

Important Collection of Islamic Glass Weights at Numismatica Genevensis SA

Islamic glass weights are fascinating due to their resemblance to coins and their still disputed function. Numismatica Genevensis is able to offer an entire collection in museum quality in its upcoming Islamic auction.
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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