Press release -
Auction: Rare Coin from the Reign of Oluf Hunger
Coins minted under the reign of Oluf Hunger are among the most legendary rarities within Danish numismatics. But on Tuesday 7 May at Bruun Rasmussen’s auction for coins, medals and paper money in Copenhagen, the highlight will be just such a coin.
And as if this wasn’t enough, the offered penning coin was also minted by Easmun, and these variants are the rarest from the time of Oluf Hunger. The coin is probably the only one of its kind in private ownership. Oluf Hunger ruled the Kingdom of Denmark from 1086 to 1095. The motif on the coin is of Oluf Hunger's older brothers, Canute the Holy and Benedict, who were both killed in St. Alban’s Church in Odense in 1086 as a result of a peasant uprising. Canute the Holy was the first Dane to be canonized as a saint, and the coin can be characterized as an early "commemorative coin".
The Wrath of God or Global Warming?
In Oluf Hunger's first year on the throne, the Danish farmers had a poor harvest, which led to widespread famine. Many regarded this as God's punishment for the killing of Canute the Holy. The story of the murder in St. Alban’s Church has been told many times throughout history in visual arts and literature. Saxo also writes about the period: "... now one was given scorched fields during spring and midsummer – caused by heat and drought so that there was hardly an ear or straw to be found, and when it came time to harvest, one was given pouring rain and rushing floods”. This might sound like a description of today's global warming problems, but it is the period after the murder of Canute the Holy that is in focus. Because of the Danish kingdom's critical condition during this time, Oluf was bound to the sad nickname of "Hunger".
The auction offers a total of 415 catalogue numbers, and other highlights include rare paper money from the Danish West Indies, opium weights from Asia and a seal medal in commemoration of the Danish King’s Law of 1665. Everyone is welcome at the auction!
Auction: Tuesday 7 May at 10am at Baltikavej 10 in Copenhagen
Preview: At the same address on 6 May between 10am to 5pm and 7 May from 8:30am until the end of the auction
View all the lots of the auction here
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Bruun Rasmussen Auctioneers is one of Scandinavia’s leading international auction houses, and one of Denmark’s oldest. It all started on 6 October 1948, when Arne Bruun Rasmussen conducted the first traditional auction in the saleroom at Bredgade 33 in Copenhagen. Today, Jesper Bruun Rasmussen stands at the helm of the family-run business together with the third generation of the family, his son Frederik and daughter Alexa, and the company’s CEO Jakob Dupont.
In 2004, the first online auction was launched, and today the auction house has expanded to include departments in Copenhagen and Aarhus and representations in Sweden, Germany, England, France, Belgium, Luxemburg, Spain, Italy, Thailand and the US. About 100,000 lots are put up for auction each year at the traditional auctions and daily online auctions. Here you can bid on everything from art, antiques, modern design and jewellery to books, coins, stamps, wine and weaponry.
