Archive: People and Markets

Pop Culture & Coins Unite! The National Coin Week 2025

What do Homer Simpson, the Olympic games, Elvis Presley, and Superman have in common? They’ve all been featured, or will soon be featured, on coins. This year’s annual National Coin Week, April 20-26, 2025, explores the fascinating ways pop culture influences money.

How the Royal Mint Celebrated the Coronation of King Charles III

During the Coronation Day of King Charles III the Royal Mint Experience opened a special exhibition for 24 hours. Special events and activities marked that date and visitors could strike a particular coin.

Das Objekt der Begierde: Die 2-Euro-Gedenkmünze zum 500. Jahrestag des Vertrages von Burgos. Foto: Musee des Timbres et des Monnaies.

A Coveted 2-Euro Coin: Monaco Introduces Penalty Fee for Multiple Orders

The Principality’s commemorative coins are among the most expensive and sought-after collectibles in the eurozone – but they have also attracted speculators for years. The sales office is now taking drastic measures.

Numisma – Zoom Seminars of the Australian Centre for Ancient Numismatic Studies

Registration is now open to attend the upcoming zoom seminar series of the Australian Centre for Ancient Numismatic Studies (ACANS). Everyone interested in the study of ancient coins is welcome and encouraged to join the online lecture series. Find the upcoming lectures here.

Archive: Coins, Medals and more

Background: Doktent via Wikicommons / CC BY-SA 4.0.

Regensburg: Where the Emperor and the Empire Met

Only a few German cities issued as magnificent early modern coins as Regensburg. And there is a good reason for this – gold and heavy silver coins in particular were in high demand in this city. Not for trading purposes but for representation. After all, the Perpetual Diet of the Holy Roman Empire sat in Regensburg. Read here how it worked and what role coins played in this event.
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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