Archive: People and Markets

The Silver Coinage of the Gupta Empire and Associated States in Western India: Analysis, Classification and Illustrated Catalogue

Authors Ian J. Todd and A.M. Fishman have published a new book on the silver coinage of the Gupta Empire and associated states in western India. Read their announcement here.

The Numismatic Index numindex in November 2023 – Your Feedback Counts!

At the beginning of the year, numindex was launched as a kind of stock index for coins. In addition to regular updates, some helpful new features have since been introduced. Your opinion as a CoinsWeekly reader is now needed!

Foto: Joe Cribb.

Joe Cribb is the 2023 Derek Allen Prize Winner

Joe Cribb is a well-known specialist in the monetary history of Asia. For his outstanding contribution to the discipline of numismatics, the British numismatist has been awarded the 2023 Derek Allen Prize by the British Academy.

2-Euro Ticker: New Releases in May 2025

Luxembourg celebrates the 25th anniversary of the Grand Duke’s accession – and prepares for his farewell – with a little help from a German mint. Italy, Finland, and Malta also delight the euro coin community with new designs.

Archive: Coins, Medals and more

Railway tunnel under Surami pass near the village Tsipa, Chkherimela valley, Georgia 2014. Image: Karel61 via Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0. In front: Silver medal commemorating the opening of the Suram Tunnel in 1890 by L. Steinman. Künker auction 408, No. 234.

For Railroad Fans: The Suram Tunnel

Railroad history is linked to numismatics in many ways. Fascinating large-scale projects were often celebrated with medals and commemorative coins. Our example takes us to Georgia: A medal that will be offered for auction by Künker commemorates the opening of the Suram Tunnel.
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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