Tycoon’s 100-Year-Old Coin Collection Fetches $16.5 Million at First Auction

Nearly a century after Danish butter tycoon Lars Emil Bruun’s passing, the first portion of his vast 20,000-piece coin collection has been sold at auction, fetching an astounding $16.5 million. Bruun’s will, written in 1923, mandated that his prized coins, notes, and medals remain untouched for 100 years to serve as an emergency reserve for Denmark’s national collection. If not needed by the state, the coins would then be sold for the benefit of his descendants. On Tuesday, the first set of 286 lots from this numismatic treasure went under the hammer in Copenhagen, after the century-old moratorium expired.

The auction, held by Stack’s Bowers, lasted nearly eight hours and is the first in a series of sales planned to liquidate the collection, which has been insured for a staggering $72.5 million. Once fully sold, it is expected to be the most expensive international coin collection ever auctioned. According to Stack’s Bowers, the L.E. Bruun Collection is one of the most valuable collections of world coins ever to enter the market.

The collection’s most notable piece, a rare 1496 gold noble of King Hans, set a new world record for a Scandinavian coin, selling for $1.34 million. The coin holds immense historical significance as Denmark’s first gold and dated coin, and is the only one of its kind in private hands.

Bruun, a passionate coin collector since childhood, amassed his fortune through butter exports but devoted much of his wealth to building one of the world’s most impressive coin collections. His passion for numismatics was well known, and he was a founding member of the Danish Numismatic Society in 1885.

During the sale, other rare coins from Denmark, Norway, and Sweden dating from the 15th century were also auctioned. In the lead-up to the auction, the coins toured various fairs and were displayed in Stack’s Bowers galleries as well as in Copenhagen.