Archive: People and Markets

The Black Lizard from Brusnik Island in Ultra-High Relief

Croatia is home to a lizard species that would have impressed even Darvin himself: the autochthonous black lizard, found only on the island of Brusnik. On 14 March 2024, Croatia issued three collector coins in its honour. Now the fourth, a two-ounce silver version in ultra-high relief, has been released.

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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.

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After being kept untouched for 100 years, the Bruun collection with an insurance value of over 70 million USD will be auctioned at Stack’s Bowers.

After 100 Years: The Bruun Collection Comes Under the Hammer

The Bruun Collection has been held by Denmark’s National Museum in Copenhagen for 100 years. Now Stack’s Bowers Galleries has been commissioned with the sale of the collection, which Stacks refers to as “the most valuable collection of World Coins to ever come to market”.

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CoinsWeekly Special Issue for the Evento Numismático International Madrid 2025

On the occasion of the 2025 Evento Numismático International in Madrid, we are once again publishing one of our printed CoinsWeekly Special Issues, this time in Spanish. Read all about the Traveling Emperor Hadrian and his coinage.

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Archive: Coins, Medals and more

Maria Theresa and Her Persecution of Jews

On 18 December 1744, Maria Theresa adopted a decree that expelled 40,000 Bohemian Jews from their homeland. A medal testifies to the fact that she had to revoke the decree due to financial and diplomatic pressure. The time of Jewish persecution was over for the time being – that is, until the genocide of the Jews in the 20th century.
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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