Archive: People and Markets

The MDC Awards 2023

After a five-year break, the Mint Directors Conference took place in Ottawa, Canada, from October 15 to 18. One of the most eagerly awaited events was the announcement of the winners of the prestigious MDC Awards. You can now find them here.

Read more

Caribbean Guilder: Joint Currency Introduced for Curaçao and Sint Maarten

The new currency replaces the Antillean Guilder, retains its value, and is pegged to the US dollar – with fresh designs inspired by the sea and local culture.

Read more
Bill Fivaz & J.T. Stanton, Cherrypickers’ Guide to Rare Die Varieties of United States Coins. Sixth edition, volume II. Whitman Publishing, Atlanta / GA, 2023.320 pp. 16 x 22.86 cm. ISBN 978-0794850111. $39.95.

Cherrypickers’ Guide Sellout as a Sign of Strength for the Die-Variety Market?

A new edition of Cherrypickers’ Guide successfully debuted at the American Numismatic Association World’s Fair of Money in Pittsburgh. Whitman publisher Dennis Tucker explains the success of the new Cherrpickers’ Guide with a growing interest in die varieties. Some of his observations on the die-variety market.

Read more

Hideo Futahashi (†2024)

We have only now learned that Hideo Futahashi has passed away. Mr. Futahashi was a key figure for Europeans looking to gain a foothold in the Japanese coin market. He was one of those open-minded Japanese who loved introducing European coin enthusiasts to the beauty of his country.

Read more

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.
Wurde dieser Aureus aus geplündertem rhodischem Gold geprägt? Fotos: Hintergrund: Ymakris, CC-BY 4.0. Münze: Auktion Künker 416 (29./30. Oktober), Nr. 1809.

Gold from Rhodes for the Battle for Rome

On 30 October 2024, Künker will be auctioning an aureus minted by Caesar’s assassins in 42 BC. The extremely rare piece is estimated at 100,000 euros. We tell the story of a coin that takes us back to the heart of the Roman civil war.
Search Search