Prize to Manfred Dunker, the Innovator of the Modern Commemorative Coin Market

In connection with its 30th anniversary, to be celebrated during the World Money Fair 2025 in Berlin, the company will pay tribute to its most important employee, Manfred Dunker on 29 January 2025. Manfred Dunker retired more than ten years ago.

Manfred Dunker will forever be known as the foremost innovator of the commemorative coin industry in the 80s, 90s and 00s.

Manfred Dunker (right), receiving his lifetime achievement recognition from his colleague, Ole Bjørn Fausa, of Samler Huset. (Photograph by John Feigenbaum)

Manfred Dunker started his career as a product manager with Dr Oetker, the famous German food producer. Here he became famous for innovating and launching the world’s first frozen pizza. Frozen pizza has since become a leading product category in the grocery sector of Europe.

Manfred Dunker was a collector from childhood, collecting stamps and coins. After his time with Dr Oetker, he went on to take charge of the tiny coin unit of Richard Borek, joining in 1985. He had a vision that it could be made into a driving force in coins. He renamed the company to MDM. It did not mean Manfred Dunker Münzenhandel as some suggested, but Münzhandelsgesellschaft Deutsche Münze.

During his time, MDM increased from a small entity to 600 people. Before Manfred joined MDM, commemorative coins were much less common than today. Many European countries issued them only on rare occasions. Manfred Dunker inspired national banks and state mints across the globe to expand their issuance of such coins, both as base metal, silver and gold coins. MDM helped with sales and distribution. Manfred was particularly influential in the development of Olympic coins for events such as Barcelona, Albertville, Lillehammer, Sydney, Torino and Beijing.

Manfred Dunker left MDM in the mid-90s. After a noncompetition period he rejoined the coin industry, becoming managing director for Samlerhuset in Germany. Samlerhuset shortly thereafter acquired MDM and merged the two. The Richard Borek company took a 1/3 stake and the Norwegian shareholders Reidar Nilsen and Ole Bjørn Fausa the other 2/3 together with a team of smaller Norwegian shareholders.

Manfred Dunker was the brain of the new German coin company in Europe. MDM was in dire straits when Samlerhuset bought it in 2001, but within a short while in quadrupled sales and regained a prominent position in the German coin industry, thanks to the commercial nous of Manfred Dunker. Samlerhuset sold MDM back to the Borek family in 2008.

Manfred Dunker is known for having introduced subscription of new issues to the coin industry. Moreover, he was the innovator that included the many small countries of the world into the family of coins, helping to make commemorative coins an important source of income for Pacific islands and other countries all over the world. Manfred played a prominent role in making Olympic coin collecting very popular in the 90s and 00s, with more than a million people collecting one or more Olympic coins.

Manfred Dunker is probably the most influential person in the history of modern commemorative coins. There is probably no other European person that has recruited more collectors to the hobby.