Stack’s Bowers Galleries is thrilled to announce the upcoming auction of Part II of the renowned L. E. Bruun Collection, widely regarded as the most exceptional private collection of Scandinavian coinage in the world. With an insurance value of 500 million Danish kroner (around US$72.5 million), this auction will take place from March 13-16, 2025, at the luxurious Hotel Baur au Lac in Zurich, Switzerland.
Part II of the collection follows the highly successful first auction of the L. E. Bruun Collection: A Corpus of Scandinavian Monetary History, held on September 14, 2024, in Copenhagen. The first sale achieved a remarkable total of €14,820,900 (approximately US$16.5 million), setting a new record for a single numismatic auction in Scandinavia. Among the 286 coins from Denmark, Norway, and Sweden offered, notable highlights included the rare Danish gold Noble of King Hans, which fetched €1,200,000 (around US$1.33 million), more than triple the previous world record for a Scandinavian coin.
Part II promises to present an even wider range of Scandinavian numismatics, spanning from the Viking era to the 19th century. In addition to the core Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish coins, the auction will feature a highly anticipated selection of coins from the Danish duchies of Schleswig-Holstein, a region that was under Danish rule until its loss to Germany in the Second Schleswig War of 1864.
The second part of the collection will feature approximately 700 lots, with an estimated total value between €5 to €7 million (roughly US$5.46 million to US$7.64 million). The auction will offer a broader spectrum of price points, with items ranging from €1,000 to several hundred thousand euros. This contrasts with Part I, where most items sold for over €10,000 each. Michael Fornitz, Director of Stack’s Bowers Galleries Denmark, expressed excitement about this, noting that the auction would give collectors with more modest budgets a chance to acquire pieces from this extraordinary collection.
Lars Emil Bruun, also known as L. E. Bruun, was a Danish businessman who made his fortune in the butter industry during the late 19th century. He invested his wealth in real estate and used part of it to build one of the world’s greatest private coin collections, focusing on Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish coins, medals, and paper money. Bruun began collecting coins as a young boy in the 1850s, and by the time of his death in 1923, he had amassed over 20,000 items.
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Upon his death, Bruun devised a unique will for his collection. It stipulated that the coins would be held for 100 years as a reserve for the Royal Danish Coin and Medal Collection. If that collection were damaged or stolen, Bruun’s collection would be gifted to the Danish state. However, if the Royal Collection remained intact, the Bruun collection would be sold, with the proceeds benefiting his descendants. On November 21, 2023, the 100-year waiting period expired, and with the Royal Danish Coin and Medal Collection preserved, Bruun’s numismatic treasures were cleared for auction.
This auction marks a significant milestone in the numismatic world, as it will include some of the finest and most valuable coins ever offered at public sale. The collection will be sold in a series of live auctions over the next three to five years, complemented by online-only sales featuring more affordable coins starting in early 2025.