Archive: People and Markets

9th International Symposium in Early Medieval Coinage 2024

The 9th International Symposium in Early Medieval Coinage will be held in April 2024. The symposium is a great opportunity for specialists, collectors and detectorists to meet – and of course to give a talk.

Elagabalus’ New Transgender Identity and Its Consequences on the Coin Trade

The North Hertfordshire Museum has pulled off an ingenious PR coup: the institution publicly announced that they will no longer refer to Elagabalus as “he” but as “she”. Ursula Kampmann explores how this might affect the coin trade.

Congress in Frankfurt: International Experts Discuss Gold and Silver Trends

From 23 to 25 March 2025, Frankfurt will host the inaugural ZukunftsForum Edelmetalle. This new congress brings together renowned precious metals experts to discuss current market trends, as well as economic and geopolitical developments in the gold, silver, and platinum sectors.

The denarii of this hoard lay in the ground for 2,000 years without anyone noticing them. Photo: Franco Sammartino.

Coins from the Era of Marius and Sulla Discovered in Tuscany

In the Livorno region, a hoard of 175 Roman Republican denarii of remarkable quality was found in 2021. The existence of the treasure was kept secret until an exhibition displayed the pieces in 2023.

Archive: Coins, Medals and more

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.

Royal Gold: England’s Five Guineas and the English Gold Currency

On 10 December 2024, Numismatica Genevensis will offer the most complete run of English Five Guineas ever sold at auction. The pieces are considered to be the most beautiful and the heaviest English circulation issues in gold. They were struck from 1668 to 1777, during the period when England replaced its bimetallism with the gold currency. Read on to find out more.
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