Initial Bruun Collection Sale Results

Part of a Danish coin collection belonging to butter magnate Lars Emil Bruun, went under the hammer in Copenhagen, initially collecting €14.8 million on Saturday.

The 20,000-piece collection had been kept off the market for a century as a stipulation of Bruun's will, forged soon after the destruction of the first World War.

The collection includes rare coins and medals from Denmark, Norway, Sweden and England dating back to the Viking age and is expected to be the most valuable non-US coin collection ever sold.

An eight-hour auction in the Danish capital saw the 286 coins on sale for the day bring in €14,820,900 (about $16.4 million), news agency Ritzau reported.

Auctioneer Stack's Bowers published data on the individual sold lots, showing one 15th century gold coin known as a "Hans Noble" fetching €1.2 million, well past the predicted sum of between €300,000 and €600,000. The auctioneers said there were only two confirmed coins of this type in museums, and no others in private hands prior to Saturday's sale.

To read the complete article, see:
Denmark: Rare coin collection goes on sale after a century(https://www.dw.com/en/denmark-rare-coin-collection-goes-on-sale-after-a-century/a-70219680)

Pennies and Private Equity

Private equity controls both sides of ... well, the coin.

Artazn: This is the maker of zinc "blanks" that the U.S. Mint stamps into pennies, and has been for over four decades. It has been owned by One Rock Capital Partners since 2019, via a carveout of the "process solutions business" of Newell Brands. One Rock renamed Artazn's parent company as Jadex.

Coinstar: This is the kiosk company that's become a linchpin to America's currency logistics. One source tells me that Coinstar last year recycled 14.6 billion pennies - around 4x what the U.S. Mint produced - with those coins then packaged and shipped to banks.

To read the complete article, see:
Private equity is in the middle of America's penny problem(https://www.axios.com/2024/09/04/private-equity-penny-problem)

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
THE PERPETUAL PENNY PARADOX(https://www.coinbooks.org/v27/esylum_v27n35a23.html)

Byzantine Gold Coins Found in Bulgaria

Archaeologists discovered ancient gold coins in an unexpected location during a recent excavation in Bulgaria.

The five Byzantine coins, which date back to the reign of Justinian the Great, were uncovered by archaeologists digging at a site in the northern Bulgarian village of Debnevo. The excavation was announced by Dr. Stiliyan Ivanov, an associate professor at the National Institute of Archaeology and Museum, on Aug. 27.

The village, which is close to a fifth-century fortress, has been the site of excavation projects for the past five years. But researchers were stumped when they found the coins in the remains of a 10th-century house.

To read the complete article, see:
Archaeologists stumble upon priceless gold coins in unusual location(https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/article/archaeologists-stumble-upon-priceless-gold-coins-in-unusual-location/ar-AA1qhGED)