Archive: People and Markets

Poetic Machines: Swissmint Honors Jean Tinguely

Steel, wheels, movement, order and chaos – Swiss artist Jean Tinguely was fascinated by the poetry of machines, which he captured in his kinetic machine sculptures. To mark what would have been his 100th birthday, Swissmint is honoring the exceptional artist with a silver coin.

Read more

Joachim Stollhoff (18.7.1948-2.11.2024)

Claire Franklin-Werz also wrote an extensive obituary for her long-time friend and mentor Joachim Stollhoff.

Read more
The British Museum suffered what was probably the largest theft in its history and a scandal that shook the institution to its core. Photo: hurk / Pixabay.

Red Alert at the British Museum

Thousands of objects have disappeared from the British Museum – allegedly stolen by a senior curator. The matter was uncovered by an antiquities dealer, whose warnings fell on deaf ears. The museum’s director has stepped down, and this seems to be merely the tip of the iceberg.

Read more
The Capitoline Museum is home of some of the most important cultural goods of Italy. Image: Suicasmo via Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0.

Legal Head of Italian Culture Ministry: “Fiendishly Extensive” Proofs Bar Imports

A significant statement on the importation of numismatic goods was issued in June 2023 by the legal department of the Italian Ministry of Culture. Read an analysis by Valentina Tarquini for Cultural Property News here.

Read more

Archive: Coins, Medals and more

Only 138 out of the planned 1,000 pieces were minted. This makes the Lion Dance a highly contested collector’s coin!

100 Yuan Lion Dance 1995: One of the Rarest Chinese Coins of Our Age

From 13 to 15 May 2024, Heidelberger Münzhandlung will hold its 88th auction sale. Among the highlights are some of the rarest contemporary issues from China, including the 100-yuan Lion Dance coin of 1995. 1,000 specimens should have been minted – but in the end, only 138 were produced.

State-of-the-Art Minting Technology

Colours, special shapes, inlays, micro inscriptions, latent images and holograms – many technologies are used on commemorative coins today. In this article, we give you a little overview of the different technologies that are currently applied in the coin producing industry.
Search Search