Kurt Zimmermann (1937-2025)

He was one of those people who kept to the background. Only those who were prepared to engage in serious conversation with him realized just how much knowledge and enthusiasm for numismatics Kurt Zimmermann possessed. But then it quickly became clear that Kurt Zimmermann was one of the foremost experts on Roman numismatics. He specialized in portraits, knew exactly which ones he liked and which ones he didn’t, and above all, why. At the same time, he was considered one of the true numismatic all-rounders. He knew at least a little bit about all areas of numismatics. Now Kurt Zimmermann has passed away at the age of 88 after a serious illness.

A witness to change in numismatics

Kurt Zimmermann was born on January 8, 1937, in Winterthur-Veltheim. With a practical mindset, as was necessary in the post-war period, he decided to pursue a career in business, even though his passion since childhood had been numismatics. Like many Swiss people, he began by collecting rare and long-forgotten coins from everyday circulation before turning his attention to cantonal coins. He was self-taught in the best sense of the word, conquering one numismatic field after another with the help of his extensive library, and was particularly fascinated by (Roman) antiquity.

Kurt Zimmermann witnessed the global explosion in the price of silver. At that time, a large proportion of Swiss currency still had a relatively high silver content. With silver prices on the rise, this made it interesting to melt down 1/2, 1, 2, and 5 franc coins. Many customers of SKA, the Swiss Credit Institution, showed their treasures at the bank counter before going to the precious metal dealer, in order to have the “experts” confirm that there were no rare vintages among the material to be melted down. The daily inquiries became so overwhelming that the company management considered an alternative.

At the same time, the number of coin collectors had grown enormously. Coin trading developed into a profitable line of business. This prompted SKA to expand its small numismatic department at its headquarters into a retail store. This required additional staff. And so a commercial employee named Kurt Zimmermann was given the opportunity to do what he loved most as a coin dealer at Monetarium: deal with coins.

At 17 St. Peterstrasse, then at 89 Bahnhofstrasse, Kurt Zimmermann bought and sold coins for the Monetarium. The inventory lists he compiled contained everything coin collectors could dream of.

Dream job: coin dealer

The coin trade boomed in the 1970s. Many who witnessed this boom still rave about it today. Kurt Zimmermann is one of them. He spoke enthusiastically about his numismatic travels, which took him to the most important auctions of the era. Unforgettable was the auction held by the London firm Glendining, at which the Albert Henry Baldwin collection was sold off. It consisted of Roman coins with the finest portraits imaginable. Kurt Zimmermann was so fascinated by them that he immediately purchased 22 specimens for his private collection.

Kurt Zimmermann had an incorruptible, even hypercritical eye. Not even the smallest scratch or the tiniest minting error escaped his notice. He meticulously described what he saw to his counterpart. He never embellished anything. Yes, colleagues occasionally joked that he could talk down even the most beautiful coin. But in doing so, they misunderstood the service Kurt Zimmermann offered his customers. With every purchase, they knew exactly what they were getting into. This is another reason why he became a sought-after partner to whom collectors entrusted their highest bids. Kurt liked to talk about his appearance at the Sotheby’s auction, where the first part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s coin collection was offered for sale. It consisted of 347 Roman gold coins of exceptional quality and provenance – Kurt Zimmermann raved about the fact that he had purchased around half of the lots on behalf of his customers.

The crisis in coin trading

Sometime after the boom in coin trading, the crisis began in the late 1980s. The established Monetarium fell victim to it. In 1996, the bank’s management decided that it was entirely sufficient to operate a numismatic business within the Credit Suisse Group. Bank Leu, with its numismatic department headed by Silvia Hurter, was part of this group at the time. And so the Monetarium was closed. Kurt Zimmermann was “loaned” to Leu. He now worked at Gassen 20.

In this new role, he experienced the management buyout of Leu by Heiner Stotz at the end of 2005/beginning of 2006. Leu became LHS until the auction house was liquidated in 2012. At that point, however, Kurt Zimmermann was no longer there. He had retired in 2011.

An alert companion to numismatic life

As a coin dealer, Kurt Zimmermann thus missed out on the second boom in numismatics. After all, since the turn of the millennium, coin trading has gained dramatically in importance, with only minor slumps. But like many coin enthusiasts, Kurt Zimmermann remained loyal to numismatics. He still regularly attended the larger Swiss coin exchanges and many lectures in Zurich. He always enjoyed a detailed chat and was meticulously up-to-date on numismatic events.

He also cultivated his hobbies: horse racing, fine wines, and collecting graphic art. And time and again, it was the Roman portraits that captivated him.

At the end of his life, Kurt Zimmermann decided to have his collection auctioned at Leu in Winterthur. He lived to see the success of the first auction before passing away before the second auction took place.

In Kurt Zimmermann, we have lost a person who can be considered the embodiment of traditional Swiss virtues: honesty, reliability, and precision, not to mention loyalty to his customers.

We will miss him.

Text by Ursula Kampmann