The hunting prince

Why do so many Baroque coins and medals refer to hunting? This question comes to mind due to the Hirsch Nachf. sale 333 on September 21, 2017, in which the collection of a hunter (and collector) will be auctioned off. It contains a large variety of Baroque hunting scenes.

A German Cicero

On 7 October, 2014, Künker auctions off the Horn Collection. It contains cimelia not just of the European but the German coinage as well. We would like to introduce you to a spectacular piece – the thick triple reichsthaler of Archbishop Anselm Casimir Wamboldt von Umstadt, nicknamed German Cicero.

Joachim II and his Jewish court factor

On February 1, 2017 the auction house Künker offers the top items from the Gunther Hahn Collection “Brandenburg-Preussen” as part of its Berlin Auction. They include some extremely rare coins of Joachim II who relied on Lipman ben Juda to conduct his financial transactions.

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…

The Jews, enemies of Christianity?

With the Professor Helmut Hahn collection, Künker will offer an exquisite collection of bracteates in his Berlin Auction on February 1, 2018. These high-medieval pfennigs are first-class works of art and provide an insight into the thought of the time, for instance, how the Christian majority saw their Jewish fellow citizens.

The Princes of Solms

In early Modern times the Hesse noble house of Solms faced like many other nobles financial problems. The imperial service and own coin issues were their way of solving that issue. Even though some members of the family had not been granted the minting privilege at all …

The Coins of Medieval Mainz

On 21 March 2018 auction house Künker will auction off the Dr. Michael and Dr. Adelheid Loos collection of coins and medals from Mainz. This presents a great opportunity to tell the story of the city in medieval times based on the coins.

Gold from Goldkronach

For centuries the mines of Goldkronach were extremely profitable. But then their abundance ebbed away. The Bavarian Kings were not willing to accept that and planned huge investments. A coin will tell you, what happened then.

The sad fate of Wilhelmine Amalia

Recte et constanter – uprightly and firmly, this is the motto under which empress Wilhelmine Amalia had taken up the reign. And uprightly and firmly did she act after her husband’s death as well. That is what is presented on an impressive medal offered at Künker.

The Spirit of Money

Everybody likes a good laugh, especially at the weaknesses of others. Perhaps this is the reason why we all enjoy caricatures so much: because they make us laugh before we are taken aback and begin to reflect on them.
The Aareal Bank obviously agreed with this view since the management had decided 20 years ago to assemble a collection of caricatures focusing on the very intriguing relationship of people with money. For this purpose, roughly 300 original works by Sempé, Hogarth, Daumier, Hurzlmeier, Haitzinger and a great many others were brought together. Now the Wilhelm-Busch-Museum houses that material: the Aaereal Bank entrusted its collection to the “Deutsches Museum für Karikatur und kritische Graphik“ as permanent loan. A first exhibition was presented as early as 2009 – let us hope that many more will follow.