Articles

Why was the human head the motif on coins for centuries, no, for millennia? And why did that change in the last 200 years? In today’s episode, we’ll tell you the story of an Italian prince who admired Hercules so much that he named his son after him.

In May 2015 the research network DAMIN organized a meeting in Copenhagen. It focused on mints, technology and coin production. On this occasion Ursula Kampmann gave a lecture summarizing today’s coin manufacturing. We publish this lecture here.

In the early 18th century, 100 Bernese founded a small settlement in North Carolina. After some initial setbacks, this settlement developed into a thriving city. Ruedi Kunzmann traces the history of this city on the basis of its banknotes, which will be for sale at the upcoming Sincona auction.

The history of Sicily is shaped by the geographical situation of the island in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. Many peoples went through the country. Their trading, their wars and their peaceful coexistence are reflected on the coins.

The war between Segesta and Selinunte did not come to an end with the Syracusan victory over Athens. Now, the Carthaginians got involved and the Syracusans made Dionysius their tyrant in order to save their city.

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.

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.

From dishwasher to millionaire, or: from mercenary to Duke of Milan. Francesco Sforza did the impossible and founded one of the most influential families in Renaissance Italy.

For centuries, no, for millennia, human faces were the most popular choice for the decoration of a coin obverse. That the coin’s reverse can be just as fascinating will be shown in this episode of our series.

The early modern era was much more democratic that we are inclined to believe. The Polish chose a Swedish king, and the Swedes forced that Polish king to make great concessions. A unique coin which will be sold at Leipziger Münzhandlung on October 24, 2015, bears testimony to these events.