Herbert A. Cahn

Herbert Adolf Cahn (born January 28, 1915 in Frankfurt am Main ; † April 5, 2002 in Basel ) was a German classical archaeologist , numismatist , coin and antiquities dealer; he had been a Swiss citizen since 1949.

Life

Herbert A. Cahn came from a Frankfurt coin dealer family. His grandfather Adolph E. Cahn (1840–1918) founded a coin shop in Frankfurt in 1874, which also carried out important auctions. After the First World War, his father Ludwig (Theodor) Cahn (1877–1924) and his brother Julius Cahn (1871–1935) ran their father's coin business together, after Ludwig's death supported by his widow Johanna, née Neuberger (1881 – ¬ 1963). Herbert Cahn attended the Philanthropin and the Goethe-Gymnasium in Frankfurt until he graduated at Easter 1932. Even as a schoolboy he worked in the family business and created sales catalogs for important coin collections. He began studying Classical Archeology, Ancient History and Classical Philology at the University of Frankfurt in the summer semester of 1932 ; after he was forced to emigrate to Basel in 1933, he continued at the university there from the winter semester of 1933/34 and was awarded a doctorate in 1940. phil. PhD. His first teacher was Ernst Langlotz in Frankfurt and Ernst Pfuhl in Basel .

At the beginning of October 1933 he went to Basel with his brother Erich B. Cahn . As early as 1934, they founded Münzhandlung Basel AG there , since 1942 Münzen und Medaille AG , which became one of the most important coin dealers in the world. Here he was responsible for the ancient coins. In addition, the company also dealt with antiques, Herbert Cahn continued this part after 1988 in his company H. A. C. Kunst der Antike . He was one of the most important dealers in ancient coins and works of art of his time.

In addition to the coin trade, Herbert Cahn was also always scientifically linked to ancient numismatics and classical archeology. In 1965 he became a lecturer at the University of Heidelberg , and from 1971 an honorary professor . Here he introduced numerous students to the world of ancient coins. Since 1983 he has taught at the University of Freiburg .

With Karl Schefold he was involved in the founding of the Association of Friends of Ancient Art in 1956 and in 1960 in the Basel exhibition "Masterpieces of Greek Art", which resulted in the establishment of the Antikenmuseum Basel , which opened in 1966. From 1970 to 1986 he was a board member of the Swiss Numismatic Society , 1949 to 1964 editor of the Schweizer Münzblätter , 1981 to 1987 of the Swiss Numismatic Review .

His main interest was in Greek numismatics, standard works are still today his two monographs on the coins of Naxos and Knidos . In addition, he published on many other areas of ancient numismatics, such as fundamental works on coins from the 4th century AD, on Greek vases and other areas of ancient art.

Herbert Cahn always saw ancient coins as part of ancient art and saw numismatics as part of classical archeology. Privately he collected fragments of ancient Greek vases , one of the largest and most important collections in the world, which gives an overview of the entire ancient vase production.

His daughter Miriam Cahn (* 1949) is a visual artist, his son Jean-David Cahn (* 1961) works as an antique dealer in Basel in the tradition of his father.

Publications (selection)

• The coins of the Sicilian city of Naxos. A contribution to the art history of the Greek West . Basel 1944 (= dissertation Basel 1940).
• Early Hellenistic coin art . Basel 1945.
• Greek coins of the Archaic period . Basel 1947.
• Knidos. The coins of the 6th and 5th centuries BC . Berlin 1970.
• Small writings on coinage and archeology . Basel 1975.

literature

Festschrift

• Festschrift Herbert A. Cahn . Dedicated to the 70th birthday and published by the Circulus Numismaticus Basiliensis. Basel 1985.

Appreciations

• Carmen Biucchi: List of publications by Herbert A. Cahn 1929–1974 . In: Herbert A. Cahn: Small writings on coin science and archeology . Basel 1975. pp. 8-14.
• Bibliography Herbert A. Cahn, 1975–1984 . In: Antike Kunst 28 (1985) pp. 5-6.
• Hans Voegtli: Bibliography Herbert A. Cahn . In: Festschrift Herbert A. Cahn . Dedicated to the 70th birthday and published by the Circulus Numismaticus Basiliensis. Basel 1985. pp. XIII-XV.
• Peter Berghaus : Herbert A. Cahn . In: Numismatisches Nachrichten Blatt 43, 2 (1994) pp. 31–32.
• Silvia Hurter: Congratulations! , In: Schweizer Münzblätter 45 (1995) p. 1.
• Dietrich Willers : Herbert A. Cahn eighty years old, Karl Schefold ninety years old . In: Antike Kunst 38 (1995) pp. 63–64
• Bibliography Herbert A. Cahn, 1985–1995 . In: Antike Kunst 38 (1995) pp. 66–67.
• Martin Flashar : Archaeologist from Passion - On the death of Herbert A. Cahn . In: Badische Zeitung of April 11, 2002.
• Dieter Koepplin : Professor Herbert A. Cahn in memory . In: Basler Zeitung No. 86 from 13./14. April 2002, p. 31.
• Silvia Mani Hurter, Markus Peter: In memory of Herbert A. Cahn . In: Swiss Numismatic Rundschau 81 (2002) pp. 4–6 ( digitized version ).
• Hans Voegtli: Prof. Dr. Herbert A. Cahn . In: International Numismatic Newsletter 39 (2002) p. 19.
• Ute Wartenberg: Herbert A. Cahn, 1915–2002 . In: American Numismatic Society Magazine 1, 2 (2002) p. 33.
• Ute Wartenberg: Herbert A. Cahn, 1915–2002 . In: The Celator 16, 9 (2002) p. 32.
• Christof Boehringer : Herbert A. Cahn, Frankfurt am Main January 28, 1915 - April 4, 2002 Basel . In: Commission Internationale de Numismatique. Compte rendu 49 (2002), pp. 119-126 ( digitized version ).
• Adrienne Lezzi-Hafter : In memory of Herbert Cahn, 1915–2002 . In: Antike Kunst 46 (2003) p. 3.
• Hans Voegtli: Bibliography Herbert A. Cahn, 1995–2002 . In: Antike Kunst 46 (2003) p. 4.
• Marianne Kreikenbom: The Herbert A. Cahn Project: Family and Company History . In: Cahn's Quarterly 2015, 1, p. 3 ( digitized version ).

Catalogs of the Cahn vase collection

• Herbert A. Cahn: Handlist for the exhibition Attic master drawings. Vase fragments from the Herbert A. Cahn Collection, Basel. Archaeological Collection of the University of Freiburg i.Br., University Library, October 31, 1988 - March 31, 1989. Freiburg 1988.
• The broken jar. Vase fragments from the classical period from Athens and Greater Greece. HA Cahn collection. Exhibition in the Antikenmuseum Basel and the Ludwig Collection (June 13 - October 31, 1991). [Catalog edited by: Vera Slehoferova (Attic fragments No. 1–30), Margot Schmidt (Lower Italian fragments No. 31–116)]. Basel 1991.
• Bettina Kreuzer : Early draftsmen: 1500 - 500 BC. Egyptian, Greek and Etruscan vase fragments from the HA Cahn collection, Basel. An exhibition by the Friends of the Archaeological Collection of the University of Freiburg i. Br., December 4, 1992 to April 4, 1993, University Library. Waldkirch 1992.
• Herbert A. Cahn: Greek vase fragments from the Herbert A. Cahn collection, Basel: Part 2 [of the exhibition], The Attic red-figure fragments / [exhibition "Master Drawings from Hellas", ... Kestner Museum, Hanover]. Hanover 1993.
• Alexandre Cambitoglou , Jacques Chamay: Céramique de Grande Grèce. The collection de fragments Herbert A. Cahn [à l'occasion de l'exposition Morceaux Choisis - Céramique de Grande Grèce, the collection de fragments Herbert A. Cahn, Musée d'Art et d'Histoire, Genève, 26 mars - 7 septembre 1997]. Kilchberg / Zurich 1997.

Auction catalogs from the Cahn Collection

• Coins and Medals AG, Auction 87: Herbert A. Cahn Collection: European Coins from the Middle Ages to the Baroque. Thursday, June 4, 1998. Basel 1998.
• Jean-David Cahn AG, Auction 3: Works of art from antiquity: Tilly and Herbert A. Cahn Collection, Pierre Strauss Collection: Greek, Etruscan, Roman and Egyptian works of art. Auction October 18, 2002. Basel 2002.
• Numismatica Genevensis SA. Vente aux enchères no.7, 27./28.11.2012, Herbert Cahn Collection (lots 1–104) ( digital ).

Web links

• Literature by and about Herbert A. Cahn in the catalog of the German National Library
• Ueli Friedländer: Cahn, Herbert. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
• Herbert A. Cahn in the Dictionary of Art Historians
• List of publications by Herbert A. Cahn
• 150 years of Cahn - the company history from 1863–2013 .