Archive: People and Markets

The denarii of this hoard lay in the ground for 2,000 years without anyone noticing them. Photo: Franco Sammartino.

Coins from the Era of Marius and Sulla Discovered in Tuscany

In the Livorno region, a hoard of 175 Roman Republican denarii of remarkable quality was found in 2021. The existence of the treasure was kept secret until an exhibition displayed the pieces in 2023.

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London Museum Receives Roman Artefacts and £20 Million

The London Museum receives generous support. Bloomberg Philanthropies is providing not only £20 million, but also more than 14,000 Roman artifacts that were unearthed prior to the construction of its London headquarters in the heart of the city – at the site where the Temple of Mithras once stood.

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Coin Dealer Robbed: Why We Lose More Than Just Money When We Are Burgled

In 2024, an English coin dealer’s home was broken into and coins worth £500,000 were stolen. Two men have now been jailed for the crime. However, this does not make everything right for the coin dealer.

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Decline in demand: The high gold price means that only a few investors are buying physical gold coins. Collage: Canva.

Gold at Record High, Demand for Bullion Coins Collapses

While the gold price has reached new all-time highs several sessions in recent weeks and gained around 20 per cent in value in a short period of time in a steep upward trend, several mints are reporting a drastic decline in sales in the precious metal sector.

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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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