This page provides a summary and brief descriptions of the most important new additions to the coin and banknote collection as well as to the numismatic library . The lists will be updated as the occasion demands; the most recent additions are at the top of each list.
Coin and banknote collection
Henry II (the Younger), 1514-1568
The Third Imperial Mint Order was issued in Augsburg in 1599. Amongst other things, this led to the creation of a new large silver coin, the Reichsguldiner (imperial guldiner), which “shall be worth LX. kreutzer or one common old gulden, and has been named the imperial guldiner”. Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel immediately began to produce the new denomination at its mint in Goslar and inserted the prescribed denomination of 60 (kreuzers) in the lower field of the imperial orb on the reverse. On our specimen, the denomination has been almost entirely removed so that the coin could be fobbed off on an unwitting or unknowing seller at the same rate as the “common old gulden”, which was originally worth 63 kreuzers – or even as a taler worth 68 kreuzers.
Imperial Abbeys of Murbach and Lüders
Murbach Abbey in Alsace was founded in 727 and merged with Lüders Abbey in Upper Burgundy in the 16th century. In 1544, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V granted the abbeys the right to mint silver coins. Immediate use was made of this right, which continued to be exercised into the second half of the 17th century. The galero (a large broad-brimmed tasselled hat worn by cardinals) above the large quartered shield on the obverse with the coats of arms of Burgau, Hohenberg, Nellenburg and Feldkirch shows the status of the person who holds the coinage prerogative. The smaller, likewise quartered shield combines the coats of arms of Austria, the House of Habsburg, Lüders and Murbach. The Latin inscription states the name of the individual commissioning the coin as well as the offices he holds: ANDR(EAS) CARD(INALIS) AB AVST(RIA) MVR(BACENSIS) ET LVTR(ENSIS) ADMI(NISTRATOR) – Andreas, Cardinal of Austria, administrator of Murbach and Lüders. Owing to the extreme rarity of this coin, it is presumed to have been a special piece minted for representational purposes.
The world of Ancient Greece
With the beginning of silver coinage in the Ancient Greek world around 500 BC, the Thraco-Macedonian region (modern East Macedonia and Thrace, Greece ) assumed a particular position. Unlike in, say, Athens, Aegina or Corinth, whose first circulating coins weighed between roughly 8g and 17g, the abundant supply of metal meant that large silver pieces were produced by the tribes settled in this region. Researchers consider the specimens, some of which weigh over 40g, not to be the normal local currency but rather silver that was intended for export and standardised using pictorial designations, not dissimilar to precious metal ingots with standardised weights. This means that the specimen is still an article or a medium of exchange that was already standardised and not a coin in the generally accepted sense of the word. There is source documentation for some of the ethnic groups that issued them; the existence of other tribes is merely inferred with lesser or greater certainty from the inscriptions on the ingots and from finds.
Japanese Empire
For a brief period from 1872 onwards, several central banks enjoyed the authority to issue paper money, of which the banknote shown here, issued by the Imperial National Bank, is also an example. This step led to an inflationary increase in the amount of money in circulation, which is why these banks’ issuing rights were withdrawn in 1878, with the Bank of Japan (Nippon Ginko) becoming the sole national central bank in 1882. The front side of this banknote bears the Japanese Emperor’s coat of arms and an imperial seal. The reverse side shows the Japanese God of Fortune, Ebisu, who was said to bring good luck to fishermen and prosperity to men of commerce. This ties in with the image of sailors gazing out to sea on the front of the banknote. This motif of success and prosperity being dispensed by Japan’s Shinto Gods of Fortune was subsequently used by the Bank of Japan in the design of one of its first ever banknotes.
United
States of America
Issued under the Congressional Act of 4 August 1886, the certificate has
a value of five silver dollars. The obverse bears the inscription “This
certifies that there have been deposited in the Treasury of the United States,
payable to the bearer on demand, five silver dollars” all affirmed
by the Red Seal of the US Department of the Treasury.
Java, Batavian mint (Jakarta)
These coins were known as “bonks” (meaning “lump” in Dutch) because of their bar-like shape. They were made using bars of Japanese copper, from which pieces of the required size were cut. These small pieces of irregular size and weight served as emergency coinage. The manufacture of such coins in the Dutch East Indies became necessary owing to the interrupted supply of coinage from the Netherlands. The coins were first made in 1796 and were stamped with the (abbreviated) denomination on one side and the year on the other. Minted for the last time in 1818, the 8, 2, 1 and ½ stuiver pieces remained in circulation until 1826.
Carolingian Empire
The pictorial and technical traits of this early Carolingian coin, which was probably minted in Marseilles, are recognisably in the Merovingian tradition. Its precise date is still uncertain; depending on how the letters on the obverse are interpreted, the coin was minted either shortly before or shortly after 751, the year in which Pepin was anointed king, thus becoming the first ruler of the Frankish Carolingian dynasty.
Germany
At the outbreak of World War I, Notgeld (“emergency money”) began to be issued in Germany to compensate for a shortage of metal for coinage and the fact that many coins were being hoarded. Such emergency money from 1914 includes a note issued by the Hofapotheke (Court Pharmacy) in Baden-Baden, which was established in 1838 and then purchased in 1887 by Oskar Rössler, a renowned pharmacist, natural scientist, researcher and local historian. The note is for 9.35 Marks and is made out to the recipient – in this case, Eugen Rössler’s Stadt Baden Hotel – and is personally signed by Dr. O. Rössler. The brief comment written on the reverse Eigenes Papiergeld aus großer Zeit! (“Own paper money from a great time”) is not to be found on every note issued by the pharmacy and therefore represents a special feature of this issue.
Central bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Hand-stamped 5,000-dinar novčani bon (money coupon) from the period of the Bosnian war of 1992 to 1995. It was part of one of the first provisional issues by the Bosnian central bank after Bosnia and Herzegovina declared its independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia on 2 March 1992. The hand stamp indicates the place of issue, in this case, Donji Vakuf, a small town in central Bosnia.
Russian Empire
Following the Russian occupation of Moldavia and Wallachia during the Russo-Turkish War of 1768-1774, new coins had to be minted for the newly subjugated territories. The metal needed for striking the coins came from the captured Turkish cannons. The crudely made pieces principally reflected the circumstances of everyday life rather than the new political reality. The reverse shows the value of the local currency, based on the Turkish system, in relation to the Russian currency system – in this case, 1 Turkish para = 3 Russian dengi; the second value issued was 2 para = 3 kopeks.
British Isles
The political and religious upheavals in Britain during the reign of Charles I also affected Ireland. In these violent times of the Great Rebellion, it was not always possible to ensure an orderly supply of cash, especially as there had been no regular minting of coinage for Ireland under this Stuart monarch. Crudely made local coinages of silver plate and gold were produced, of which “Inchiquin Money” and “Ormonde Money” are the best known. The issue of “Inchiquin Money”, struck in 1642 from silver that had been requisitioned from local inhabitants, was originally ascribed to Lord Inchiquin, Vice-President of the Province of Munster. Each of the coins bears an inscription showing its weight, not its value. The second coin is from the series named after Earl of Ormonde, commander-in-chief of Royalist forces in Ireland, and shows C(arolus) R(ex) under a crown on one side and the value of 5 shillings (abbreviated as s V) on the other.
City of Zara (Zadar) under French occupation
In 1797, following a long period of Venetian supremacy, the city of Zara (Zadar) on the Adriatic Sea came under the rule of Austria, which, in turn, had to cede it to France in 1805. After being besieged by Austrian troops, the city fell in December 1813 and came once again under the sovereignty of the House of Habsburg. The coin depicted bears witness to the great efforts to maintain the circulation of money during the siege. The coin blanks, made partly of church silver and weighing one, two and four ounces – abbreviated as 1, 2 and 4 O. – were punched in an improvised manner with the French municipal coat of arms on one side and the relevant value and the corresponding unit of weight on the other: one ounce = 4 francs 60 centimes, two ounces = 9 f 20 c and four ounces = 18 f 40 c. Thus, reduced to information required to instil trust and confidence, the acceptance of the coins in payments was ensured.
Ancient Greek World
In the developmental sequence ranging from non-pictorial coins to those displaying images on both sides, this coin is still quite close to the starting point. Coins minted with a pattern of strokes point to the emergence of a more or less regular structure from what were initially unorganised lines. By the addition of a single bar, which crosses the parallel lines almost at a right angle, this item marks a clear step forward towards a more complex pictorial design. 1.17 g, AV 67.13%, AR 31.82%, Cu 0.95% (median values of four RFA measurements)
Collection of 202 bracteate counterfeits of the 18th and 19th centuries; most of which were made by Nicolaus Seeländer (1683-1744)
Nicolaus Seeländer was appointed by Leibniz as copper engraver at the Hanover court library in 1716. Unlike privy councillor Carl Wilhelm Becker, Seeländer was not proved to be a counterfeiter during his lifetime. Over a period of more than 20 years, a collection containing many of the pieces ascribed to Seeländer has been compiled, supplemented by some other old counterfeits of bracteates. These items form an important reference collection for this branch of mediaeval numismatics and, like Becker’s work, are now available for research purposes as part of the coin and banknote collection of the Deutsche Bundesbank.
Empire of Russia
Russian five-kopek coin struck by order of the Swedish king in 1788 for use along the Swedish-Russian border during military conflicts between the two countries. In order to conceal this measure, the coins were “backdated” and minted with the years 1764, 1778 and 1787. In a diary entry, the Tsarina’s secretary remarked on the extremely high quality of these forgeries.
Anonymous
The two coins were struck in Philadelphia by the United States Mint on behalf of the Arabian American Oil Company (Aramco), which was established in 1944. These “coins” were used solely for the payment of oil production royalties in Saudi Arabia, where most of them were melted down to make gold bullion. One side of the coin shows the seal of the mint, while the other side states its weight and degree of fineness.
Austrian Empire
Handwritten emergency money of the vintner and innkeeper Wenzel Lezel from Nachod (Bohemia). The coins were issued during the turbulent times of Hungary’s attempts to secede from the Habsburg Empire.
Kingdom of Poland
Issued by General Tadeusz Kościuszko, leader of the Polish freedom struggle against Russia and Prussia. The two banknotes are the highest denominations in the earliest Polish banknote series.
Carolingian Empire
Pepin the Short denarius, struck in Trier, perhaps from the period before he was proclaimed king in 751, and thus one of the earliest Carolingian coins to be minted.
Roman Empire
Anonymous coin minted in 68 B.C. adopting the familiar obverse motif of the Brutus coins and exploiting it in the current political setting.
Ancient Greek World
5.84 g (AV 74.5%, AR 24.4%, Cu 0.57%, Fe 0.4% [average values of three RFA measurements]) Coin made of a naturally occurring gold and silver alloy; a specimen documenting the earliest days of coinage.
German Empire
Die link known only as a unique specimen, between Jaeger 1 and 10..
Fortress of Jülich
Emergency coin made from a piece of silver tableware during the siege of the fortress from 28. July to 1 September 1610; it could later be exchanged for money in general circulation.
Mediatised Principality of Pückler-Muskau
Issued by Prince Hermann von Pückler-Muskau (1785-1871), the celebrated landscape gardener, traveller and writer, as the higher of only two denominations issued (1 and 5 Taler).
May 16, 2012, 19:18 CET
