Stack's Bowers Galleries proudly announces auction details for Part I of the L. E. BruunCollection, the world's finest private collection of Scandinavian coinage, which has been insured for 500 millionDanish kroner (about US$72.5 million). This inaugural auction will be held September 14, 2024 at Odd FellowPalace in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Nearly 300 gold and silver rarities from Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, will be featured in this debut offering fromBruun's 20,000-piece collection. The coins to be offered stretch from the late 15 th century to within a few years ofBruun's death in the early 20 th century, and are valued at over US$10 million.

Beginning in the late 19th century, Lars Emil Bruun, better known as L. E. Bruun, amassed his fortune from the saleand export of countless millions of tins of world-renowned Danish butter. He invested some of that fortune in realestate on the outskirts of Copenhagen, which saw a marked rise in value as the population of Copenhagen tripledfrom 1890 and 1920. These business successes allowed him to expand the modest coin collection he had begun as aboy in the 1850s into the world's greatest private collection of the coins, medals and paper money of Denmark,Norway, and Sweden. When the final coin from the Bruun Collection has been auctioned off, this cabinet will standas the most valuable collection of international coins ever to have been sold.

Bruun, who passed away on November 21, 1923, left behind not only an impressive estate, but also an unusualdestiny for his coin collection. Having seen the destruction wreaked by World War I, and keenly aware that theBritish bombardment of Copenhagen in 1807 had destroyed nearly the entirety of the Danish capital, L. E. Bruunformulated a unique and innovative will and testament: his collection of over 20,000 coins, medals, tokens, andnotes would be held as a reserve for the Royal Danish Coin and Medal Collection for a period of 100 years after hisdeath. If the Royal Collection was damaged or stolen during that century, the L. E. Bruun Collection would becomea gift to the Danish state. But if the Royal Collection remained intact, the collection would be sold at auction, withthe proceeds benefiting Bruun's direct descendants. On November 21, 2023, that 100-year waiting period ran out,and with the Royal Danish Coin and Medal Collection intact, L. E. Bruun's fantastic collection of Danish,Norwegian and Swedish numismatics became destined for the auction block. Stack's Bowers Galleries will bring thecollection to market through several public auctions over the coming years, beginning September 14, 2024 inBruun's native Copenhagen.

The inaugural Bruun auction has been curated to include a balanced array of history, quality, and rarity. commented Matt Orsini, Director of World and Ancient Numismatics at Stack's Bowers Galleries. Hecontinued,

commented Vicken Yegparian, Vice President of Numismatics at Stack's Bowers Galleries. He added:

These are just two of the nearly 300 diverse coins offered in Part I of the Bruun Collection, with select highlights tobe exhibited at coin fairs around the globe in the months leading up to the auction. The entirety of Part I will be onexhibition in Stack's Bowers Galleries' California and New York City galleries, at the American NumismaticAssociation World's Fair of Money in Chicago, Illinois, and in the firm's Hong Kong gallery before going ondisplay in Copenhagen immediately preceding the September 14 auction. Please visit www.StacksBowers.com/the-L-E-Bruun-Collection for additional information and to view a full online preview of the auction after June 1. Forcatalog requests or inquiries about the Bruun auctions, telephone +1 949.253.0916 or emailinfo@StacksBowers.com.

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
THE BRUUN COLLECTION GETS COVERAGE(https://www.coinbooks.org/v27/esylum_v27n20a22.html)