Archive: People and Markets

Jewish-American Hall of Fame honors Julius Rosenwald and Booker T. Washington

The Jewish-American Hall of Fame is celebrating May as Jewish American Heritage Month by issuing art medals honoring Julius Rosenwald, who appears along with his friend and associate Booker T. Washington. These Renaissance-style high relief medals are the 56th in the longest continuing series of art medals in America.

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John Mussell with Carol Hartmann. Photo: UK.

John Mussell 1942-2023

The founder of Token Publishing Ltd. died after a short illness at the age of 81. He made many friends in the numismatic world over the years. His wife Carol and his son Philip will carry on his legacy.

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Lars O. Lagerqvist in May 2015. Image: Sven Rosborn via Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0.

Lars O. Lagerqvist (1929-2023)

Lars O. Lagerqvist, former director of the Royal Coin Cabinet in Stockholm and FIDEM Honorary President, passed away. He was one of the most important Swedish numismatists and a renowned expert for medals. Marie-Astrid Voisin Pelsdonk remembers her mentor and friend.

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Following the indictment of Richard Beale, Italo Vecchi has now also been charged by the Manhattan District Attorney in a case relating to the forged provenance of what used to be the world’s most expensive ancient coin, an EID MAR aureus.

Coin Dealer Italo Vecchi Charged with Grand Larceny

Coin dealer Italo Vecchi has been indicted in Manhattan for first-degree grand larceny as well as other felonies. The charges are related to the trial against Richard Beale and the forged provenance of what used to be the world’s most expensive ancient coin.

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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.

Pattern of the First-Class Warrior Medal – A Previously Unknown Relic of German Colonial History

Leu’s first World Coins Floor Sale features a previously unknown pattern of a warrior merit medal for indigenous soldiers in German East Africa. This exceptional item provides rare insight into the early development of this obscure decoration.
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