ZIEGERT, M.

SAMMLUNG FRIEDRICH POPKEN. DIE LÖSER DER BRAUNSCHWEIGISCHEN HERZOGTÜMER 2024

FRIEDRICH POPKEN COLLECTION. THE REDEEMERS OF THE BRUNSWICK DUCHIES 2024

Numismatischer Verlag Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co. KG: Osnabrück 2024.
176 pages, with numerous color illustrations.
ISBN: 978-3-941357-20-4

Friedrich Popken is well-known far beyond the borders ofGermany. In the 1980s, he and his wife Ursula had the idea ofcreating a company that would produce fashionable clothingfor plus-size women. Today, Ulla Popken GmbH is part of thePopken Fashion Group, which sells fashion under four differentbrands in Europe and the U.S.: Ulla Popken, Gina Laura, JP1880 and Studio Untold. The origins of the fashion companydate back to 1880, when Johann Popken founded his textilecompany in Hameln. Since 2012, the fourth generation ofthe Popken family, Astrid Popken and her husband ThomasSchneider, have been carrying on the torch.

You can find out all this on Wikipedia. However, Wikipediawill not tell you that Friedrich Popken is one of Germany'smost passionate coin collectors. His interests are not onlylimited to one field - Friedrich Popken has built up variouscollections over the years. His spectrum ranges from ancientbronze coins to numismatic rarities from Lower Saxony andNorthern Germany, coins and medals of the Welf dynasty, theArchbishopric of Salzburg and much more.

He has always had a particular fondness for lösers. This is whyhe assembled one of the largest collections in this field todate. It comprises 243 pieces, including 13(!) juliuslösers, 7(!)jakobslösers, 10 unique pieces, 6 coins of a type of which onlyone other specimen is known of, two unpublished varietiesand two lösers of which only these specimens are availableon the market.

Such a collection is simply too extensive to auction off at once.That is why Friedrich Popken and Künker decided to separateit into small, manageable parts. Since 2021, five Künker auctionhave featured several dozen lösers each.

While this makes sense from an economic point of view, itcomplicates matters for those who want to reference thecollection. It was therefore decided to publish the entirecollection in one monograph. It includes consecutivenumbering, but the exact source in the auction catalog aswell as the estimate and the hammer price were also given foreach individual piece.

Friedrich Popken and Fritz Rudolf Künker have known eachother since the early 1970s. A trusting business relationshipdeveloped into a deep numismatic friendship. The catalogpresenting all lösers of the Friedrich Popken Collection,published in 2024, is a testimony to this friendship.

To read the complete article, see:
German lösers - For Those whoAppreciate Multiple Taler (Page 22)(https://www.kuenker.de/data/mitteilungen/Kuenker_Broschuere
_Jakobsloeser_Final_LowRes.pdf)

For more information, or to order, see:
ZIEGERT, M. COLLECTION FRIEDRICH POPKEN. THE REDEEMERS OF THE BRUNSWICK DUCHIES 2024(https://www.kuenker.de/de/shop/stueck/416184)

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
FRIEDRICH POPKEN (1940-2024)(https://www.coinbooks.org/v27/esylum_v27n33a08.html)