Sensation at 5 Centimes in Le Petit Journal
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…
Tag Archive for: Nations
Pilgrim’s Ring and Coin of the Jewish War
This is the story of a ring, bought from an Arab in Jerusalem, the feasts of Shavout and Sukkot and a coin of the Jewish War…
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.
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.
Meyer Amschel Rothschild, court factor and coin dealer
Meyer Amschel Rothschild worked his way out of the Frankfurt Jewish ghetto and all the way up to court factor in the 18th century. He specialised in coin- and antiquities dealing before becoming the founder of a famous dynasty of bankers.
The Rue Mouffetard treasure
Every day, thousands of tourists stroll about the Rue Mouffetard, the “food alley” of Paris. Amongst aromatic cheese and huge sides of beef very few are aware that that one of the most spectacular coin treasures of the 18th century was found in house no. 51-53…
Trade Coins of Frederick II
On 2nd July 2014, the Osnabrück auction house Künker can celebrate a jubilee. It is going to conduct its 250th auction sale on that very day. It goes without saying that this calls for something special to be auctioned off: The Masuren Collection – Coins of the Kingdom of Prussia. It includes rarities of the Prussian coinage in the best state of preservation. That is a wonderful opportunity to look at the trade coins of Frederick the Great in detail.
Human faces, part 40: The pirate queen
“The Virgin Queen” is certainly the most well-known epithet of Elizabeth I. We thought, however, that “Queen of the Pirates” would be equally befitting as English privateers belong to Elizabeth’s story just as much as her virginity.
How much for a castle?
What do you think, how much did it cost to build a castle in the Middle Ages? What would it cost to build the exact same castle today? And how much of a small town’s income would the costs have taken up? This article gives you the answers to these questions.
Human faces, part 41: Augsburg and the Thirty Years’ War
Being a Free Imperial City proved fatal for Augsburg during the Thirty Years’ War. This episode discusses the disastrous effects of the war on the city’s economic situation.
