Articles

On June 25, 2015, Künker auctions a sensation of post-WWII German numismatics: a pattern for the rejected draft by Karl Roth for the first German commemorative coin ‘Germanisches Museum’ (‘Germanic Museum’). Until now, a plaster cast model was the only known testimony!

Religion was of secondary importance in the Thirty Years’ War. It was all about power and money. Ursula Kampmann brings that era alive. The war performs another volte-face: now, it is the Protestants’ move.

Why was the human head the motif on coins for centuries, no, for millennia? Discussions about the precise nature of these heads could be highly entertaining as the example of the Swiss Vreneli demonstrates.

Do you know the coins from Himera with the crab of Acragas on the reverse? More about the coinage of these two cities and the historical background of this particular reverse motif can be found here.

In 1683, Johann Jacob Wolrab created one of the most beautiful medals showing the relief of Vienna, which marked the end of the second Ottoman siege. Incredibly rich in details, this strike depicts the dramatic battle at Kahlenberg Mountain.

Why is it that for centuries – or rather thousands of years – the head has served as the motif for the side of a coin? And why has this changed in the last 200? In this episode, Frederick II proves that the sword is not the only way to gain a throne.

Carolina, Georgia, California – many people were attracted to set out for the unknown by the prospect of an easy yield in the gold fields. That makes the gold rush one of the foundation myths of the United States of America. In the Berlin auction Künker offers a range of numismatic testimonies to this eventful era.

There is a special coin among the lots offered at the Auction 42 of the Münzen & Medaillen GmbH: It’s a so called Wiener Stadtbancozettel Teilungsmünze, coined in 1807. The name sounds quite strange: What does it mean?

“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.

During the upcoming Künker March Auction of 2016 an innovative coin of the Roman Civil War will be auctioned off. Sextus Pompey created an aureus referring to his father, Pompey the Great and his brother, Gnaeus Pompeius.