Only on rare occasions can we link a numismatic object to a specific person. Regarding Nuremberg gate tokens, this is possible. We know whose hands touched them. Three of these tokens are on offer at Künker’s Fall Auction Sales. We tell their story.
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.
In its anniversary auction sale 350, Künker offers a medal by Sebastian Dadler, which deals with the failed ambitions of the Stadtholder of the Netherlands: he would have liked for the Eighty Years’ War to go on for a bit longer.
Lösers were more than representative coins. They played an essential role in court ceremonials that took place on special occasions. The löser rarities of the Friedrich Popken Collection, which will be auctioned off at Künker on 29 June 2021, illustrate this function.
On 28th January 2021, a Künker auction presents a 10-ruble piece from 1757 whose die was created by the Genevan medalist Jacques-Antoine Dassier. But this is not the only special thing about it: A small collector’s hallmark proves it once belonged to the Hutten-Czapski collection.
Louis VIII, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt, went down in history as the Hunting Landgrave. With the help of coins that were sold in Künker’s Auction 327, you can learn his story and why he is wronged when derogatorily called simply the Hunting Landgrave.
On his coins, Rudolf II displayed the high aspirations he had for his reign. However, day-to-day business was though and then war broke out against the Turks. And medals played a crucial role in it.
Rudolf II went down in history as an unworldly emperor hiding in the witches’ kitchens of alchemists. His brothers stole his imperial crown while he was still alive. Justly? Unjustly? Let’s try to answer this question.
Among the wealth of interesting objects from the Holy Roman Empire offered by auction house Künker in this year’s Berlin Auction, you can find a small series of so-called Salvator medals. Even though they are called medals, they actually should be classified as coins.
