© Bundesbank

Nicolaus Seeländer was appointed by Leibniz as copper engraver at the Hanover court library in 1716. Unlike privy councillor Carl Wilhelm Becker, Seeländer was not proved to be a counterfeiter during his lifetime.

Over a period of more than 20 years, a collection containing many of the pieces ascribed to Seeländer has been compiled, supplemented by some other old counterfeits of bracteates. These items form an important reference collection for this branch of mediaeval numismatics and, like Becker’s work, are now available for research purposes as part of the coin and banknote collection of the Deutsche Bundesbank.