Archive: People and Markets

Collection of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, Partial Gift of Harry S. Hutchins, Jr. DDS, Col. (Ret.) and his Family, dedicated to the individuals these Slave Hire Badges represent and their descendants.

Smithsonian Acquires Largest Collection of Charleston Slave Badges

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture recently acquired what is thought to be the largest and most complete set of Charleston Slave Badges. A new website informs about the historical significance of these badges.

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In Marseille the dealers’ association IAPN hold their 71st General Assembly in June 2023. Photo: Tiia Monto via Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0

IAPN General Assembly in Marseille 2023

At their 71st General Assembly in Marseille, the International Association of Professional Numismatists elected new members, increased the Executive Committee, and awarded the prestigious IAPN Book Prize.

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Können Sie sich vorstellen, wie eine ganze Million Münzen aussieht? Foto: vetkit via Shutterstock.)

What to Do With a Million Pennies?

Imagine you are cleaning out the house of a late relative and find 1 million cent coins in the process. What would you do with them? This is what happened to a California family. Why had this huge amount of coins been amassed? And what could they be worth?

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Copenhagen is the perfect location for the European Stack’s Bowers office. Image: Scythian via Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Stack’s Bowers Galleries Opening New Office in Copenhagen

Stack’s Bowers Galleries have opened their newest office in the heart of Copenhagen, Denmark. The team consists of the experienced numismatists Michael Fornitz, Henrik Berndt and Peter Bjørnstrup.

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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.

Courageous Girls in the Coin Wonderland

Gabriele Sturm illustrates how courageous heroines from children’s and young adult literature are depicted on modern coins.
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