Lars Emil Bruun (29 March 1852 – 21 November 1923) was a Danish merchant and

numismatist A numismatist is a specialist, researcher, and/or well-informed collector of numismatics, numismatics/coins ("of coins"; from Late Latin , genitive of ). Numismatists can include collectors, specialist dealers, and scholar-researchers who use coi ...

. He established a company in 1883 that specialized in the packing and wholesaling of butter. His collection of coins and medals, valued at 500 million Danish kroner, or 73 million USD, is kept at the

National Museum of Denmark The National Museum of Denmark (Nationalmuseet) in Copenhagen is Denmark, Denmark's largest museum of cultural history, comprising the histories of Danish and foreign cultures, alike. The museum's main building is located a short distance from S ...

but will be sold in auction 100 years after his death.

Early life and education

Bruun was born in Ulvemose Huse, in the parish of

Havdrup Havdrup is a small railway town straddling the boundary between Solrød and Roskilde municipalities, some 30 km southwest of Copenhagen, Denmark. Havdrup station serves the Little South railway line between Roskilde and Køge. Havdrup had a popul ...

, in 1852. He apprenticed as a merchant in

Holbæk Holbæk () is a town in Denmark and the County seat, seat of Holbæk municipality with a population of 30,903 (1 January 2025).Northumberland Northumberland ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England, on the Anglo-Scottish border, border with Scotland. It is bordered by the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, Cumb ...

East Anglia East Anglia is an area of the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, with parts of Essex sometimes also included. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, ...

and

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, which were donated to the Royal Danish Coin and Medal Collection at the

. According to Bruun's will, his collection of coins, bank notes and medals from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Schlesvig and Holstein, as well as his numismatic library, was to act as a back-up for the Royal Danish Coin and Medal Collection for a period of one hundred years, before being sold for the benefit of his descendants. It was initially deposited at the Museum of National History at

Frederiksborg Castle Frederiksborg Castle () is a palatial complex in Hillerød, Denmark. It was built as a royal residence for Christian IV of Denmark, King Christian IV of Denmark-Norway in the early 17th century, replacing an older castle acquired by Frederick II ...

, but was transferred to Nationalbanken (the central bank of Denmark) in Copenhagen. On 17 September 2024, the first batch of coins, in 286 lots, was sold at auction for 14.82 million euros ($16.5 million).

References

External links

Lars Emil Bruun's testament
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bruun, Lars Emil 19th-century Danish businesspeople 20th-century Danish businesspeople Danish dairy industry businesspeople Danish numismatists 1852 births 1923 deaths People from Solrød Municipality