Graspable Testimonies – Testimonies to Piety from Another Time: Part 1

On 16 October, 2014, the Werner Jaggi Collection will be sold. It is the largest collection of numismatic testimonies on religious beliefs and customs the market has ever seen. Here you will find information, why these pieces were made and what can be seen on some interesting pieces.

At the Height of the Thirty Years’ War

Why issued Emperor Ferdinand III a gold medallion on his son’s coronation to King of Hungary and Bohemia only ten years later? This numismatic question leads us in the middle of the bloody Thirty Years’ War and to Wallenstein.

The Counts of Montfort and their Coinage

The last reigning count of Montfort sold his county to the Austrians and retired on a pension. Thus ended a secular history of his family which coin collectors might know particularly as producer of fake and imitative coins.

The Teutonic Order in Livonia

Walter of Plettenberg managed to introduce the Reformation in Livonia in 1522 and, at the same time, to secure the continuity of the Order’s reign. From him comes a very special gold giant…

The Order of the Golden Fleece

Countless coins from the Holy Roman Empire show something many catalogs briefly address as “neck chain” of the Order of the Golden Fleece. This article will explain, when and where this chivalric order originated and why it became the most important order of knights all over the Old World…

The lion from the north – triumphator in life as well as in death

On March 13, sale no. 247 of Osnabrück auction house Künker offers the Baums Collection featuring historical medals. The connoisseur discovers many historically interesting, artistically enchanting medals, like a piece that was created by Sebastian Dadler on the occasion of the funeral of Gustavus II Adolphus of Sweden at Riddarholm Church.

Gold for the Emperor

What does an alchemist do in order to make an emperor believe that he is capable of transmuting silver into gold? Well, he lets him see for himself…

Between Germany and France: A story about the fortress of Philippsburg

On June 20, 2011, Künker’s will auction a thaler of Christoph of Soetern of utmost rarity struck in honor of Udenheim. The coin was issued just after the fortress had been completed, only some weeks before it was renamed in Philippsburg. Here’s the story about the man, the coin and the fortress…

Bohemia and the House of Habsburg – a conflict-laden relationship

Habsburg coins having been minted in the Prague Mint is something we very much take for granted. In its Auction 285, to be held on 2 February 2017, the auction house Künker offers an entire series of these. But it was anything but ordained by God that Bohemia became subject to the rule of the House of Habsburg.

The Polish Adventure of August the Strong

Frederick August I, August the Strong, as he loved to call himself, was highly gifted and ambitious. “Little” Saxony was not enough for him, he wanted to join the game of international politics. A splendid opportunity occurred in 1696 when the Polish King had died…