Archive: People and Markets

Hidden Coins Indicate the Destruction of a City

In the 4th century, the Jews revolted one last time against Roman rule. Now, for the first time, there is archaeological evidence of the destruction of the city of Lod during the suppression of the revolt – a hoard of coins recently found by Israeli archaeologists in the ruins of a building.

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From August 2023, the Coin of the Year awards will be presented during the World’s Fair of Money in Pittsburgh.

COTY Awards Have an In-Person Ceremony Again

For many years the Coin of the Year Awards have been given in a ceremony during the World Money Fair in Berlin. In 2023, the program will conduct again an in-person awards ceremony after a three-year hiatus due to the pandemic – but in another place.

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A reconstruction of what the gold necklace probably looked like. Illustration made by archaeologist Thea Eli Gil Bell. © Theo Eli Gil Bell, The Museum of Archaeology, University of Stavanger.

Baldrs Horse: Detectorist Makes “Find of the Century” in Norway

On the Norwegian island of Rennesøy, a metal detectorist recently made an extraordinary gold find that was buried long before the Viking Age. The nine coin-like gold pendants engraved with rare horse symbols discovered along with ten gold beads and three gold rings are the first find of this kind in Norway since the 19th century.

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Haim Gitler, Catharine Lorber & Jean-Philippe Fontanille, The Yehud Coinage. A Study and Die Classification of the Provincial Silver Coinage of Judah. Numismatic Studies and Researches Volume XII. Israel Numismatic Society, Jerusalem 2023. XII, 532 pages, illustrations. Hardcover. ISBN: 139789655982299. $150.

Die Study of the Yehud Coinage

The Israel Numismatic Society published a book on provincial silver coinage of Judah in the late Persian, Macedonian, and early Hellenistic periods. Haim Gitler, Catharine Lorber and Jean-Philippe Fontanille presented their die study recently in Jerusalem.

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Archive: Coins, Medals and more

Coloured Metal from Austria: Niobium Coins

In 2003, the Austrian Mint introduced a new metal with exciting characteristics to the world of coins: niobium. The beginning of a success story.
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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