Between Prussia and Austria – The Vienna Coinage Contract
Künker offers a comprehensive selection of coins of Emperor Franz Joseph on September 28, 2011 in sale 195. This is a splendid opportunity to recall the impact of the Vienna Coinage Contract of 1857 on the Austrian currency...
Antonio Abondio – An artist with special talents
Antonio Abondio made a career for himself as an artist in 16th century Vienna and Prague. The Italian medalist created portraits of powerful people, even the emperor, and influenced colleagues in all of Europe. Sincona offers in its next sale several of Abondio’s works.
Gold for Portugal
Portugaleser, that is how the magnificent large gold coins are called that were produced in Hamburg. But what do they have to do with Portugal? The answer lies in the route the African gold has taken in the Early Modern Times...
Gold for Wallenstein
In the autumn auction sale of Künker, between the 7th and the 11th October 2013, a ten ducat piece of Albrecht von Wallenstein with a gorgeous portrait will be on offer. This piece shows the extraordinary economic genius, whose logistical skills made him become probably the greatest military leader of his era, at the peak of his power.
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.
Making the Case for the Gold Standard: The Coins of Josef Wild
By means of hyperinflation, the German government transferred the cost of World War I onto its citizens. Josef Wild, a simple goldsmith from Nuremberg, tried to do something about it. He died in prison as a counterfeiter of coins.
Parade of the “Lange Kerls” (Long Guys)
They were his special hobby, the “Lange Kerls” (Long Guys), Frederick William I of Prussia tested his military innovations on. He even had a medal dedicated to them.
Colossus Mercurio – or: Hamburg and the Privilege of the Elbe
When emperor Ferdinand II. confirmed the so-called Grand Privilege of the Elbe to the city of Hamburg during the Thirty Years’ War, the city was so glad that it ordered a magnificent medal to be made. This precious medal – one of the most beautiful, Dadler has created – will be sold at the upcoming Künker sale.
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.
Patrona Bavariae
The depiction of the Virgin Mother is characteristic of Bavarian coins. What’s the reason for that? How did the Mary and her child take over the Bavarian coin obverses?