Archive: People and Markets

End of “Cash Only”? Germany Plans Right to Digital Payment

Cash will remain important in Germany – but digital payment options are set to become mandatory. Germany’s federal government is working on new regulations. Are they truly intended to offer consumers more convenience – or are they also about gaining more control over payment flows?

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The Coin Hoard of Merishausen

From 15 March to 19 October 2025, the Museum zu Allerheiligen in Schaffhausen, Switzerland, is mounting a special exhibition on the coin hoard of Merishausen, presenting the results of research on this interesting ensemble to the public.

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£50,000 Reward for Clues on Stolen Scottish Coin Collection

Until today, the 2007 theft of the Lord Stewartby Collection, one of the finest private collections of Scottish coins, remains unsolved. Crimestoppers and the Hunterian Museum in Glasgow are now offering up to £50,000 for information leading to the conviction of those involved.

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The new website is growing and now includes all our Who’s Who entries.

Our Who’s Who Is Here!

Our entire Who’s Who for numismatists and collectors is now available on our new website. This is another important step on our path towards transitioning from our old to the new site. And there is more!

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Archive: Coins, Medals and more

Siege plan of the city of Frankfurt based on the original by Conrad Faber von Creuznach, 1552.

Two Cityscapes on Coins From Frankfurt am Main and The Artwork That Inspired Them

Many engravers used contemporary media to make their work easier. Their coin designs were often based on well-known engravings. This is illustrated by two pieces from the Loos Collection, which will be auctioned by Künker in September 2023.
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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