Articles

Thanks to Flavius Josephus, we know a lot about the Jewish-Roman War. And thanks to the coins, we know how it was perceived by the Romans. On the example of coins from the upcoming Künker antiques auction 318, we recount what happened back then, and why it became such an important topic in Flavian coinage.

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.

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.

When the euro was introduced, each country was faced with the question how to best represent itself on the new coins. Why Italy chose Dante and why this great poet deserves his own coin will be the concern of this episode.

Gaining access to the San Francisco Mint is not that easy. And it is outright prohibited to take photographs, strictly speaking. We can still provide you with interesting insights: old and new photographs of one of the world’s biggest mints.

The coronation of Maximilian II in Frankfurt set the tone for a period of religious peace in the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation: The pragmatic politician was willing to break new ground, including for his own coronation.

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.