Described by numismatic experts as the auction of the decade, if not the century, this coin and medal auction featured an extraordinary collection that had been meticulously curated over the past fifty years – one which offered a comprehensive testimony to the history of minting and coin circulation in the territory of the present-day Czech Republic, spanning from antiquity to the era of the First Czechoslovak Republic.
An exceptional collection of coins and medals
We were honoured to have the opportunity to hold an auction of the numismatic collection of the prominent collector Dr. Václav Bruna. The collection was created with great insight and life perspective of a man who lived and still lives a colorful life. As a military doctor, he came to Slovakia after finishing his studies and met his present wife. He was convicted by the communist regime for anti-state activities and served a prison sentence of several years. Later, he emigrated to Austria via Yugoslavia, where he established a dental practice after a few years. After the revolution, he began, among other things, to look after his family's estate in Zámrsk in eastern Czechia, a region closely linked to horse breeding. The most famous of these horses, called Peruán, won the Grand Pardubice Steeplechase several times. In the 1990s, Václav Bruna opened a successful dental clinic.
“My collection is exceptional in the sense that I have put it together with an educational purpose. It contains only coins of Bohemian and Czech provenance, that is, coins minted exclusively in this country, from the earliest Celtic coins, through the Middle Ages and modern times, to coins of Czechoslovakia, and that is something I am rather proud of. In a way, the collection is a minted history of the Czech nation. The only coins I regret are those I didn’t buy.” says Dr. Václav Bruna.
Václav Bruna's Lifetime Coin Collection Auctioned for Millions of Euros
The numismatic collection of Dr. Václav Bruna was auctioned on Friday, 26 April 2024, at the Mandarin Oriental Prague, followed by an eLive auction on Sunday. In total, the collection sold for 6.25 million euros including the auction premium.
Among the most notable items was a Kuttenberg 10 ducat of Leopold I from 1669, whose starting price was 300,000 euros. In the end, this extremely rare coin with a beautiful patina and mirror-like fields, sold for 780,000 euros including the auction premium. Another highlight was a 10 ducat of Frederick V of the Palatinate from 1620, with the mark of the mintmaster Pavel Škréta, which started at 100,000 euros and reached a final price of 312,000 euros including the auction premium. The auction also featured a unique 3 thaler of Rudolf II from 1603, which tripled its starting bid of 60,000 euros and sold for 180,000 euros.
Golden muschel-type staters with the inscription ‘BIATEC’, dating from 70-40 BC, also attracted significant attention. An extremely rare stater from the Bratislava oppidum, which had a starting bid of 40,000 euros, was sold for 84,000 euros including the auction premium. This coin, noted for its beautiful patina, will certainly be an ornament to any numismatic collection. It is believed to have been part of a hoard discovered in 1855 in a clay jar near the village of Deutsch Jahrndorf, at the border of Slovakia, Hungary, and Austria.
May you enjoy the auctioned coins!
"I would like to say to my fellow collectors that, like me, you have chosen the most wonderful hobby you could have, because you will learn a lot and get to know history in a way that you never could from books," says Bruna. To the new owners, he added, "May you enjoy the auctioned coins!"
"I enjoyed every coin too," Bruna reflected. "I used to keep many of them on my bedside table so that I could delight in them to the full. I hope the new owners will relish them, too. May they succeed in building a collection that will adorn not only them, but also Czech and Slovak numismatics."
