Medals reflect contemporary history, as demonstrated by the W. Risse Collection ‘Nuditas in nummis’. Johannes Nollé reveals the connection between the art of the 19th century and the plaques produced by French medallists from 1870 to 1940.
Sometimes, a war can be prevented or provoked by a single diplomat: this is the story of Heinrich Wilhelm von Werther, who played a central role in preventing a Europe-wide war from breaking out in 1830. The French king presented him with a unique medal, which will be auctioned at Künker on 27 September 2021.
When the French people had chased away Citizen King Louis Philippe und founded the Second Republic, they were looking for new coin designs for their new republic. The most talented artists of the time submitted design proposals. Auction house Künker presents in its auction 337 on 25 June 2020 a series of these patterns.
On 15 April 2019, the roof truss of Notre-Dame de Paris went up in flames. The entire world was watching when a major fire ate up the roof and caused the spire to collapse. Since then, the Fondation Notre Dame has been raising funds for the reconstruction works. Numismatica Genevensis wants to contribute to the reconstruction.
On June 22, 2011, a big collection of French coins will be auctioned off at Künker’s including a rare pattern, which was produced in Paris for the French colony Cochin-China. What’s the story behind? And where is Cochin-China located anyway?
On 1 February 2018, Künker will auction off a testimony to the French-Russian alliance of 1892 in its Berlin auction. It is a gold medal dedicated to the inauguration of the Trinity Bridge in Saint Petersburg. This bridge was built as a symbol of this alliance and it has the Pont Alexandre III in Paris as its counterpart.
The 1896 share certificate of the newspaper Le Petit Journal shows a sou in the lower border. France counted about 40 million people around that time…
