200 years of service for the Popes – Hamerani, the dynasty of medallists
A Bavarian goldsmith had to flee from Munich. Who would have thought that he was to become the ancestor of one of the most important dynasty of Italian medallists?
Charles Borromeo –The Saint of the Counter-Reformation, Part 1
Charles Borromeo was considered ‘the’ saint of the Counter-Reformation. In this three-part series, we will tell you about his life. The first episode informs about the constitution of the church that made Charles Borromeo great before he became the epitome of the reform.
Charles Borromeo – The Saint of the Counter-Reformation, Part 2
Charles Borromeo was considered ‘the’ saint of the Counter-Reformation. In this three-part series, we will tell you about his life. The second episode focuses on the career of Saint Charles Borromoeo and his conversion.
Charles Borromeo – The Saint of the Counter-Reformation, Part 3
Charles Borromeo was considered ‘the’ saint of the Counter-Reformation. In this three-part series, we will tell you about his life. The third episode focuses on the afterlife of the Saint who was used and utilized by the Church and his relatives in their favor.
Expeditions into the realm of numismatics Part 1: The missing gold gulden or Basel as papal mint
In our series “Expeditions into the realm of numismatics”, we are taking you on an expedition to the treasures of the Basel Coin Cabinet. The first part revolves around a minting die for a papal gold gulden with the title of Felix V.
Ottoman Imtiyaz medal awarded to German Emperor William I yields 161,000 Euros
On December 30, 1883, the Ottoman ruler drafted a decree by which he invested the German Emperor William I, his new confederate, into the Golden Order of Merit of his country, called Nishan Imtiyaz. That honor was intended to strengthen the political ties between the German Emperor and the Empire at the Bosporus River…
Toward the Present: Elizabeth II
Since 1952 Queen Elizabeth II is reigning Great Britain. In 2012 she celebrates her Diamond Jubilee looking back on a period that has changed her country profoundly.
By examining 12 coins we have strolled through Great Britain’s history – this is the last part…
The lustre of all the gold treasures of the world does not make me happy
Although Michael I Apafi had the largest modern gold coins produced he nevertheless remained sceptical towards gold…
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.
Erasmus of Rotterdam in Basel – part 2: The inheritance of Bonifacius Amerbach
You can still have a look at Erasmus of Rotterdam’s collection until this day, because the collector Bonifacius Amerbach kept it and gave it to the city. In this episode, among other things, you will see the chest, Amerbach kept the estate in.
