Ursula Kampmann

It takes much effort and planning until a collector can purchase his commemorative coin that will serve as a memento of an event which – like the opening of the Gotthard Base Tunnel – will become part of the national myth.

If you’re looking for the island where the most treasures have been found, you don’t need to sail to the Caribbean. Far from it. The highest concentration of treasure finds is in the North, more specifically on the island of Gotland, which used to be a central trading post in the Baltic Sea.

Sweden is different. The mentality of its inhabitants is characterized by an incredible willingness to act rationally at the expense of one’s personal comfort. And as to what is rational, people are quite ready to let themselves be influenced. Here are some thoughts on why the concept of the cashless society might actually work in Sweden.

Strängnäs, July 31, 2018. Thieves have run off with two crowns and an orb. These are unique relics of Swedish history that represent the nation’s conversion to Protestantism. Of course, we went to see them on our journey to the North.

Pope Gregory VII had to watch helplessly as Henry entered Rome and was crowned emperor. Admittedly, the Norman Robert Guiscard came to his aid, but that almost made things worse.

The general political climate made it possible for the Sicilian ruler in the end of the world to reach for the stars and try to conquer Constantinople.

Robert Guiscard planned on bringing all of Sicily under his control. Since his adversaries were Moslems, he fought a holy war – a concept that was prevalent at the time. It was his successor Roger who then turned Sicily into a model of religious tolerance.

As the strongest power in Lower Italy the Normans turned the scale in the conflicts between the pope, the antipope and the orthodox patriarch. Robert Guiscard skillfully used that to his advantage.

Since ancient times, Sicily has been a cultural melting pot, a junction of Africa and Europe, of West and East. In the 9th century, Arabs conquered the wealthy island.

A lot of stories can be told based on numismatic objects. The history of besiegement is one of them and thus, in memory of collector Georg Baums, we will concern ourselves with it and observe how fortresses on medals change over time.