Archive: People and Markets

At the centre of the indictment against Richard Beale is the provenance of the second-most expensive ancient coin in the world, an EID MAR aureus. From Roma Numismatics XX (2020), Lot 463. Hammer price: 3,240,000 pounds.

Coin Dealer Richard Beale Pleads Guilty

Richard Beale has pleaded guilty to a number of charges. At a court hearing in New York in August 2023, the British coin dealer admitted, among other things, to falsifying the provenance of an EID MAR aureus.

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The Eggenberg Family and the Power of Money

In a new exhibition of the Coin Cabinet at Eggenberg Palace (Graz, Austria) the rise, splendour and decline of the Eggenberg dynasty are presented using their coins. In addition, examples of the diversity of coinage in the Holy Roman Empire in the 17th century are presented.

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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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Dunkle Wolken über dem British Museum? Eine solche Belagerungsklippe aus Newark wurde bei einer Hands-On Führung gegen eine Replik ausgetauscht. Das hier abgebildete Exemplar liegt im Münzkabinett Berlin und ist von 1646. Objektnummer 18268995, Aufnahme durch Christian Stoess. Hintergrund: hulkiokantabak via Pixabay.

The British Museum: When Theft Becomes PR

Once again, the BM made negative headlines: Ilé Sartuzi stole a coin unnoticed during a hands-on tour and declared this an artistic performance. A commentary by Ursula Kampmann.

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Archive: Coins, Medals and more

Background: Kremnica. Photo: Lukkon / CC BY-SA 4.0.

The First Years of Czechoslovak Coinage

SINCONA will auction off an impressive collection of Czechoslovak patterns. The offer includes a pattern for the Wenceslas Ducat of which only two specimens exist. Moreover, the sale features the very specimen of the Wenceslas Ducat that President Mazaryk gave to the family of the murdered Finance Minister Rašín.
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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