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Letters regarding the Coins of the Sicilian City of Naxos by Herbert A. Cahn, 1978, Archives, American Numismatic Society.
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Herbert A. Cahn (1915-2002) was as a classical archaeologist, numismatist, coin-dealer and antiquities-dealer. Born in Germany, he became a Swiss citizen in 1949. As a boy he assisted in compiling the sales catalogs for his father's firm. He studied classical archaeology and philology at the Universität Frankfurt under Ernst Langlotz. With the Nazi rise to power in Germany, Cahn, who was a Jew, emigrated to Switzerland in 1933 and continued his studies at Basel. His brother, Erich B. Cahn (1913-1993), also emigrated, establishing a coin dealership there the same year; the brothers began a long association together. Herbert Cahn received his doctorate in 1940 under Ernst Pfuh, writing on the coinage of Naxos which was published a few years later under the title Die Münzen der sizilischen Stadt Naxos. Ein Beitrag zur Kunstgeschichte des griechischen Westen. (“The Coins of the Sicilian City of Nexos”). This landmark die study is considered the standard reference for the coinage of Sicilian Naxos. Cahn joined the ANS in 1936 and was made a Corresponding Member in 1977. He received in 1983 the ANS's Huntington Award in recognition of his substantial contribution to the field of numismatics.
Three letters: (1) Copyright Office, Library of Congress, undated but presumably written early in May 1978, to Obol International; (2) Law Firm of Black & Shopiro to Obol International, July 12 1978; and (3) Soterios Gardiakos, publisher of Obol International to Georges Le Rider and Margaret Thompson, president and vice president, respectively of International Numismatic Commission, August 15 1978. Obol International, established in 1967, is private book dealer specializing in the reprinting of scholarly numismatic works. The letters, most notably that of August 15, 1978, refers to Obol International’s intention to reprint H.A. Cahn’s the Coins of the Sicilian City of Naxos (1944). At the 1978 International Association of Professional Numismatists Congress in Malta, Cahn reportedly “made somewhat muddled complaints against” Obol. Gardiakos contends that the book was not copyrighted, that Cahn was informed of the reprinting, and that he sent Cahn thirty-one copies of the reprint, comprising ten percent of the total number printed. The letter staunchly defends Obol’s actions and publishing activities.