Coin Collection to be Sold 100 Years after Owner’s Death

A Danish businessman’s large coin collection is set to go on sale one hundred years after his death. The collection could be worth up to $72 million.

一位丹麦商人的大量硬币收藏将在他去世一百年后出售。 该藏品的价值可能高达 7200 万美元。

Lars Emil Bruun directed lawyers what to do with the coin collection after his death in a legal document called a will. In it, Bruun required that his collection of about 20,000 coins be kept safe for 100 years before being sold. Deeply moved by the destruction of World War I and fearing another war, Bruun wanted the collection to be a reserve for Denmark.

拉尔斯·埃米尔·布鲁恩 (Lars Emil Bruun) 在一份名为遗嘱的法律文件中指示律师如何处理他死后收集的硬币。 在其中，布鲁恩要求他收藏的约 20,000 枚硬币在出售前必须安全保存 100 年。 布鲁恩对第一次世界大战的破坏深感感动，并担心另一场战争，希望将这些藏品作为丹麦的储备。

Now, over a hundred years since Bruun’s death at the age of 71 in 1923, the collection will begin to be sold.

现在，距离布鲁恩于 1923 年去世，享年 71 岁，已经过去一百多年了，该藏品将开始出售。

New York-based Stack’s Bowers, a rare coin auction house, will begin selling the collection this fall. Several sales are planned. On its website, the auction house calls it the “most valuable collection of world coins to ever come to market.” The collection’s existence has not been widely known, and the public has never seen it before.

总部位于纽约的 Stack’s Bowers 是一家稀有钱币拍卖行，将于今年秋季开始出售该藏品。 计划进行多次销售。 该拍卖行在其网站上称其为“有史以来市场上最有价值的世界硬币收藏品”。 该藏品的存在并未广为人知，公众也从未见过它。

“When I first heard about the collection, I was in disbelief,” said Vicken Yegparian of Stack’s Bowers Galleries.

“当我第一次听说这个系列时，我简直不敢相信，”Stack’s Bowers Galleries 的维肯·叶格帕里安 (Vicken Yegparian) 说道。

“We’ve had collections that have been off the market for 100 years plus,” he said. “But they’re extremely well known internationally. This one has been the best open secret ever.”

“我们的藏品已经退出市场 100 多年了，”他说。 “但他们在国际上非常有名。 这是有史以来最好的公开秘密。”

Born in 1852, Bruun began to collect coins as a boy in the 1850s and 1860s. Years later, he grew very rich selling the milk product, butter.

布鲁恩出生于 1852 年，在 1850 年代和 1860 年代还是个男孩时就开始收集硬币。 多年后，他因销售奶制品黄油而变得非常富有。

His wealth permitted him to continue his hobby. Bruun went to auctions, and he built a large collection that came to include 20,000 coins, medals, tokens and banknotes from Denmark, Norway and Sweden.

他的财富使他能够继续他的爱好。 布鲁恩参加了拍卖会，并收集了大量藏品，其中包括来自丹麦、挪威和瑞典的 20,000 枚硬币、奖章、代币和纸币。

Following World War I, Bruun left exact instructions in his will for the collection.

第一次世界大战结束后，布鲁恩在他的遗嘱中留下了关于收藏品的确切说明。

“For a period of 100 years after my death, the collection shall serve as a reserve for the Royal Coin and Medal Collection,” the will said.

遗嘱中写道：“在我去世后的 100 年内，这些藏品将作为皇家硬币和奖章收藏的储备。”

It added, “Should the next century pass with the national collection intact, it shall be sold at public auction and the proceeds shall accrue to the persons who are my direct descendants.”

它补充说，“如果下个世纪过去了，国家收藏完好无损，它将公开拍卖，所得收益将归我的直系后裔所有。”

Some descendants tried to break the will and get money early. But they were not successful. “I think the will and testament were pretty ironclad. There was no loophole,” Yegparian said.

有的后人试图违背遗嘱，早点拿到钱。 但他们没有成功。 “我认为遗嘱是铁定的。 没有漏洞，”耶格帕里安说。

Yegparian estimated some pieces may sell for just $50, but others could be sold for over $1 million. He said possible buyers were requesting a list of the objects before the auction was announced.

Yegparian 估计，有些作品可能售价仅为 50 美元，但其他作品可能售价超过 100 万美元。 他说，可能的买家在拍卖宣布之前索要一份物品清单。

The collection first remained at the former Danish royal residence of Frederiksborg Castle. Later, it was stored at Denmark’s National Bank.

这些藏品最初保存在前丹麦皇家住所腓特烈堡。 后来，它被存放在丹麦国家银行。

Denmark’s National Museum had the right to purchase some of the coins before the public. The National Museum purchased seven rare coins from Bruun’s collection. Six of the coins were gold and one was silver. They all were made between the 15th and 17th centuries by Danish or Norwegian rulers. A supporting group paid the cost of over $1.1 million.

丹麦国家博物馆有权在公众面前购买部分硬币。 国家博物馆从布鲁恩的收藏中购买了七枚稀有硬币。 其中六枚硬币是金币，一枚是银币。 它们都是由丹麦或挪威统治者于 15 世纪至 17 世纪期间建造的。 一个支持团体支付了超过 110 万美元的费用。

Helle Horsnaes, a coin expert at the national museum, used the term unique – meaning one of a kind – to talk about those coins. She said, “We chose coins that were unique. They are described…as the only existing specimen of this kind.”

国家博物馆的硬币专家 Helle Horsnaes 使用“独特”一词来谈论这些硬币，意思是独一无二的。 她说：“我们选择了独特的硬币。 它们被描述为……唯一现存的此类标本。”

Horsnaes expressed wonder about the collection: “The pure fact that this collection has been closed for a hundred years makes it a legend.”

霍斯奈斯表达了对这个藏品的好奇：“这个藏品已经封闭一百年了，这一事实使它成为一个传奇。”