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.
Tag Archive for: Holy Roman Empire
The Treaty of Hamburg
In 1701, the Treaty of Hamburg ended the dispute over Mecklenburg-Güstrow between Friedrich Wilhelm I and Adolf Friedrich II. And another dispute culminated in the medals minted to mark the treaty, namely the one between the mint-master and the warden of the Schwerin mint. We are telling you the story.
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 …
Philip II of Pomerania and his coin dealer Philipp Hainhofer
Around 1600, coin collecting was “the” leisure activity of the intellectual elite. The emperor himself was an avid collector. He was imitated by many noblemen among them Philip II of Pomerania, who put together a great art collection in cooperation with Philipp Hainhofer.
Napoleon tames the Saxon Steed
Napoleon was a master in the art of humiliation. Please find here a characteristic example of his mastership: The French Victoria is taming the Saxon Steed on a medal made from Saxon silver.
Charles, Landgrave of Hesse: Creator of the Military Power of Hesse
An extremely rare double ducat made of Eder-gold will be sold at Kunker’s on October 30, 2012. It reminds us of how poor of natural resources this region once had been. Hence, Charles created a resource of his own: his army.
Poets and their income: Hans Jakob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen
Beyond price – no, great art has never been beyond price. Quite the opposite actually – it had a clearly defined price. We will see just how high that price was, looking at the example of the German baroque poet Grimmelshausen. No one has left us with a more impressive account of the Thirty Years’ War.
The Purim Festival of the Protestants
In its Berlin Auction 286, the auction house Künker auctions off the Ottar Ertzeid Collection with coins from the Swedish Territories. The offer includes a series of Purim talers. In this article, we address the question why the Protestants of Erfurt took a Jewish festival, of all events, to date their coins.
Two Dukes in Pomerania
On January 31, 2013, a Pomerania collection will be coming up for auction at Künkers’. Here, we present two coins from the collection that are as different as the men who had them minted.
Wolfgang II von Barby (1586-1615) – An Imperial Count in Financial Straits
On January 31, 2013, Künker will hold his fabulous Berlin sale in connection with the World Money Fair. Among the many rare pieces on offer is a unique thaler from Barby. This thaler testifies to the financial difficulties of the small imperial estate at the beginning of the modern era.
