Celtic coinage describes the coinage of the Celts in the period from 300 BC. Due to the lack of documents, archaeological finds of coins are among the most important sources for research into the Celtic peoples. Here you can find out what makes up the independent sub-area of numismatics.

For more than 500 years, the Roman Empire dominated much of the known ancient world. In the process, it shaped the economy, art and culture of Europe for centuries. The Romans also laid the foundation for many later developments in coinage and money.

Due to their historical background, ancient Greek coins have a very special position in numismatics. Here you will learn about the remarkable evolution of ancient Greek coinage over the centuries and what ancient Greek coin hoards are worth today.

The Roman Empire did not fall until the late Middle Ages - at least in Eastern Europe. With the division of the Imperium Romanum after the death of Emperor Theodosius I in 395, the "Byzantine Empire", named after its capital, emerged in the eastern part. The term actually originates from modern historical research. The contemporaries always understood and referred to themselves as "Romans" and never as "Byzantines".

The older idea of hordes of barbarian peoples overrunning the Limes and bringing down the Roman Empire is no longer tenable in today's research. On the one hand, Germanic tribes had already been in Roman military service in larger numbers before that, and on the other hand, they were not uniform tribes, but rather mixed alliances of convenience that confronted the late antique armies.

The Middle Ages open up a large number of exciting collecting areas with interesting coinage from a period in which the foundations of the European coinage and monetary system of the modern era were laid. In addition, for large parts of medieval history, coins are often the only written and pictorial source at all, providing "first-hand" accounts, so to speak, of events such as changes of rulers, wars and marriages.

Hardly any other event had such a social and cultural impact on the world of the Middle Ages between the 11th and 13th centuries as the Crusades and the associated formation of Christian states in Palestine and the Mediterranean region. With their different cultural influences, the coins of the crusaders are a fascinating collector's area from an eventful historical epoch.

Between the end of the Middle Ages and the founding of the German Empire in 1871, there were several different types of coins and currencies in the territory of the German Empire. This makes the coinage of this period one of the most diverse and varied numismatic collecting areas at all.

Rudolf I was the first Habsburg to ascend the Roman-German throne in 1273, thereby founding a dynasty that can be traced back to Charles I, the last Emperor of Austria.

European coins and medals of the modern era are closely related to profound historical developments and cultural events. Accordingly, modern numismatics shows an enormous variety of types and images. Here you will gain an insight into the history of coins and the flourishing medal art of Europe.

Rubles, poltina, kopeks - Russian coins are popular collector's items today and fetch top prices. Here you will learn more about the artistic coin treasures from Russia, their history of origin and what makes Russian coins so valuable.

Oriental coins can be assigned to many different collecting areas due to the differentiation of the Arabian Empire. Here you will learn more about the fascinating oriental coinage and why especially Islamic coins are considered as information carriers of history.

Old colony coins from Africa and overseas are an important record of world history. The most diverse coinages from all over the world give scholars an insight into the way of life and culture of past civilizations and into the power influences of colonial empires. Here you can learn more about the background to the coinage of the individual continents and see, that foreign coins are worth something.

With more than one billion inhabitants, China is now the most populous country on earth and looks back on a history of more than 2000 years, dating back to Chinese "antiquity". The use of money is also documented in China as early as the Neolithic Age – at that time, however, still in the form of primitive and implement money. Such means of payment included rice sacks, silk, but also bronze goods in the form of knives (bu), spades (dao) or jewellery. Bowls or the well-known brass money, which were ancient chinese coins with square holes in the middle.

With the Constitution of the German Empire of April 16th, 1871 the authority for the imperial currency was transferred from the individual federal states to the imperial government. Reform which had long been needed toward the creation of a unified measurement, currency, and weight system could thus be carried out in the form of the imperial coinage.

The story of paper money is just as fascinating and diverse as that of metal money. In the beginning there were two archetypes: the receipt and the “IOU”.

As early as the time of the ancient Greeks, medals and badges of honor were awarded for military services, in the form of small metal discs or half-moons. The Romans adopted this custom for their army and called these decorations “phalera”, a play on the similar-sounding Greek “tá fálára”. From this Latin word, as well, we derive the term for the scientific expression “Ordenskunde” (German) or “phaleristics”.

Long before coins had an embossed and guaranteed value (face value), it was above all the precious metal content which was decisive regarding their buying power. Thus the coin scale was for centuries the constant companion of the merchant and the moneychanger. Many denomination-related terms such as shekel (“the weighed”) and dupondius (“two pounds”) are derived from weights.