Hess Divo Takes a Numismatic Journey to Rhodes with the Kornfeld Collection

Have you ever been to Rhodes? If you have not, you will start planning a trip there after studying this catalog. After all, the coins from Rhodes and Lindos–not to forget those of the powerful Order of St John–are magnificent ambassadors of this Greek island that Eberhard W. Kornfeld loved so much. Of course, the name of Kornfeld is well-known among art connoisseurs. Kornfeld was fortunate enough to be the friend and adviser of many great artists. Among them were Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall, Alberto Giacometti, Jean Tinguely, and Niki de Saint Phalle. His collection of paintings and graphics is legendary. It was exhibited in the Albertina Museum in Vienna and served as the basis for the Kirchner Museum in Davos. The incredible quality of the collection can be demonstrated by the fact that Kornfeld’s 102(!) Rembrandt etchings are now part of the world-famous graphic art collection of the Kunstmuseum Basel. The gifted art collector and gallery owner Kornfeld died on 13 April 2023 at the biblical age of 99.

Only a few people knew that Eberhard W. Kornfeld was also interested in coins and appreciated the beauty of these small works of art. With the trained eye of an aesthete, the assembled, well-organized, and extremely remarkable collection forms the core of the upcoming Hess Divo auction. These coins are well worth looking at. They were all assembled with exquisite taste and acquired from the best coin dealers of the time. We would like to demonstrate Kornfeld’s unerring eye with two very special pieces.

Let us take this tetradrachm from Side as our first example. The port, which was very active in Hellenistic times, minted an enormous quantity of coins of this denomination. They all depicted Athena with a Corinthian helmet on the obverse and Nike on the reverse. However, the relief of most coins is flat, the engraving is rather simple, and the pieces show little artistic ambition. The die-cutter of this tetradrachm, however, rivals the best artists of his time. The face of Athena is majestic, and Nike enchants the observer with her natural movement. The masterpiece was purchased from one of the two leading Swiss coin dealerships of the time, Münzen und Medaillen AG.

Kornfeld also had a fine eye for portraits. The denarius of Vespasian, one of many extremely rare and exquisite aurei, also stands out for the quality of the emperor’s portrait. Vespasian is perfectly captured, majestic, and yet shown as the cunning son of a banker from the Italian provinces. Few coins of the Roman imperial period are characterized by such a masterly portrait.

Kornfeld fell in love with the island of Rhodes, whose rich history is reflected in its numismatic heritage. He particularly enjoyed buying coins from the ancient cities of Ialysos, Kameiros, and Lindos, which founded a new joint city on the northern tip of the island in the early 4th century BC, whose Hellenistic coinage is excellently represented in the auction sale.

Kornfeld was also interested in medieval coins from Rhodes, which is why coin enthusiasts will find a small series of coins of the Order of Saint John, whose knights conquered Rhodes in 1309. They built the palace of their Grand Master on Rhodes, and their powerful fleet defended the eastern Mediterranean against Turkish expansion. The motifs on the coins are strongly reminiscent of Venetian coinage. This means that they were inspired by the most well-known trade coins of the time.

Although the quality and the style of this aureus of C. Cassius Longinus are above average, its provenance is even more fascinating. For it can be traced back to 1889. By the time Max von Bahrfeldt published the coin in his book on Roman gold coinage, it had already been part of two prestigious collections: that of Vicomte Albéric du Chastel and of Ernst Julius Haeberlin. However, the coin’s real adventure took place in the 1930s. Unsold at the auction of the Cahn coin shop on 17 July 1933, it was still part of the dealer’s stock and, therefore, taken to Switzerland by Herbert and Erich Cahn when they fled to Basel after Hitler’s seizure of power. The aureus was put on the market again on 5 March 1935, featuring in auction 3 of Münzhandlung Basel. So, with this piece, you will not only acquire a piece of Roman history but also a testimony to the political events of the 20th century and the history of the coin trade.

In Hess Divo’s auction, collectors can choose from 365 lots with Russian coins at favorable estimates. Most of them are gold and silver coins of Tsar Nicholas II that used to be in circulation. Nevertheless, there are some pieces of excellent quality as well as rare years and denominations among the offer.

The auction can be found online at Sixbid.

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