Great Britain

Since 1952 Queen Elizabeth II is reigning Great Britain. In 2012 she celebrates her Diamond Jubilee looking back on a period that has changed her country profoundly. By examining 12 coins we have strolled through Great Britain’s history – this is the last part...

William McKivor presents a medal from his own collection telling the history of its origin: It was struck in the Soho Mint in 1803, and played a role in an argument conducted in three countries in three languages on two medals, between the English manufacturer Matthew Boulton and the French Engineer J. P. Droz.

Beyond price - no, great art has never been beyond price. Quite the opposite actually, as it had a clearly defined price. We will see, just how high that price was in this article about Shakespeare.

An impressive gold medal that is being put to auction on 16 March 2017 with Künker conveys the official version of a story, we are more likely to know from folk songs, novels and the cinema: On 16 April 1746, Bonnie Prince Charles was defeated in the Battle of Culloden.

The Channel Island of Guernsey is a popular destination with tourists. The island doesn’t form part of Great Britain, but, as Bailiwick, has been Crown dependency of the English monarchs since the Middle Ages. The local coins still bear witness to this.

For a few years during the English civil war, Oxford acted as royal capital. This article presents an extremely fine “triple unit” of Charles I from this period in time, which will be put to auction in the upcoming Künker auction on June 21, 2018.

The Virgin Queen she was called by her contemporaries – and she made them tremble. Elizabeth I was a key figure of the 16th century, her navy controlled the oceans, England flourished. By examining 12 coins we are going to stroll through Great Britain’s history – this is part 7.

In the 17th century England experienced a period without king when the officer Oliver Cromwell was trying to establish a republic – even at the cost of precipitating the whole country into a civil war. By examining 12 coins we are going to stroll through Great Britain’s history – this is part 8.

Besides the fear of having no king at all the English feared always the scenario of a Catholic king. In 1688 dread of becoming re-Catholicised led the aristocrats to call a Protestant from the Netherlands to be their new king. By examining 12 coins we are going to stroll through Great Britain’s history – this is part 9.

To bar the Catholic Stuarts from the throne of England Queen Anne designated a German to become her successor: George I. But nevertheless he was a Protestant, the English were not satisfied with their new monarch. By examining 12 coins we are going to stroll through Great Britain’s history – this is part 10.