Archive: People and Markets

Friedrich Popken (*16 February 1940 in Hameln, †27 July 2024 in Rastede) was awardee of the Lower Saxony Order of Merit.

Friedrich Popken (1940-2024)

On 27 July 2024, Friedrich Popken passed away at the age of 84. As well as being a well-known entrepreneur, he was also a highly esteemed coin collector who supported and promoted many numismatic projects. An obituary by Fritz Rudolf Künker.

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Künker Auctions 100 Pieces from the Ronus Collection to Benefit the ANS

As part of Künkers eLive Auction 87, 100 pieces from the Robert Ronus Collection which were generously donated to the ANS will be auctioned off to benefit the Society. Robert Ronus is a passionate coin collector, dedicated numismatist and a long-time supporter of the ANS.

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Bad news from Brunswick: MDM is apparently preparing to reduce its workforce. Collage: Canva / Wieschowski.

Decline in Print Business: MDM Announces Job Cuts

The Münzhandelsgesellschaft in Brunswick reports a decline in sales and plans to reorganise its sales and develop new products.

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After being kept untouched for 100 years, the Bruun collection with an insurance value of over 70 million USD will be auctioned at Stack’s Bowers.

After 100 Years: The Bruun Collection Comes Under the Hammer

The Bruun Collection has been held by Denmark’s National Museum in Copenhagen for 100 years. Now Stack’s Bowers Galleries has been commissioned with the sale of the collection, which Stacks refers to as “the most valuable collection of World Coins to ever come to market”.

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Archive: Coins, Medals and more

25 Years Ago: Millennium Coins and the Dawn of a New Era

The transition to a new millennium captivated the numismatic world. Commemorative coins from that time were colourful and bold, as a brief glance at the past led to a high-speed journey into a high-tech future—only for things to turn out differently.
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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