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Cultural Patrimony Policy Still a Concern
 | By Richard Giedroyc, World Coin News
February 18, 2009 |
The possible change in U.S. policy toward antiquities including coins has been a constant concern in recent years, with the Ancient Coin Collectors Guild focusing particularly on Cyprus' efforts to block the import of ancient coins during 2008.
Without much fanfare even Italy has felt the effects of agreeing that ancient coins should be returned to the country of origin due to how the coins reached their soil. The Bulgarian daily newspaper Sega reported on Jan. 9 that "close to 3,800 antique coins and other archaeological objects" determined to have been smuggled into Italy during 2005 were recently returned to Bulgaria, from whence the objects originated.
This particular event is not a bad thing, if the items were truly smuggled as is yet to be proved in court. Details regarding how the coins left Bulgaria and entered Italy were not immediately available. We don't know if it has been yet been proved that the coins belong to Bulgaria, or if the coins were summarily sent to Bulgaria from Italy simply because of political demands.
Bulgaria generally forbids the export of ancient coins regardless of who holds title to the coins or where the coins were found.
In the instance reported in Sega, four Bulgarians were arrested in Verona, Italy, for trying to sell silver and bronze Roman and Byzantine coins valued at about 35,000 euros (about $40,000 US). The ACCG would likely approve of what has happened in this Bulgarian incident, since according to Bulgaria National History Museum Director Bozhidar Dimitrov, this is the same criminal group that robbed the Veliko Turnovo Museum in February 2006, stealing about 10,000 gold, silver, and bronze coins dating from the time of Alexander III ("the Great") of Macedon and later. This of course assumes Dimitrov's accusation proves to be correct.
The problem the ACCG is addressing is that in some instances the countries involved in the push for recovery of antiquities and coins are simply claiming the items should never have left the country regardless of how long ago the items were exported, and therefore should be treated as if the objects were smuggled. Left wing archaeologists in the United States that support this concept are concerned with items looted from archaeological sites, but are also against private ownership of any antique item regardless of how it was acquired. Reality suggests even if import bans are put in place accompanied by the seizure of items already in museums and in private collections all this will do is drive the trade underground.
Legal, not illegal, import concerns are what are seen as the problem by the ACCG. At the ACCG's Jan. 10 meeting held during the New York International Numismatic Convention, the ACCG Legislative Affairs Committee spokesman Peter Tompa said, "We always have to keep an eye on what is going on in [U.S.] Congress."
A ban on the future import of coins is one thing. Seizure of coins already in museums and private collections simply because a country demands their return claiming cultural patrimony is another.
The ACCG is aware of demands on coins as cultural patrimony that should be repatriated. Demands have been made by Bulgaria, China, Greece, Italy, and Turkey among others, but it is Cyprus that has been the focus of much of the recent ACCG efforts. Although no legislation has been approved by Congress banning the import of ancient coins from Cyprus, the Cypriot government has put sufficient pressure on U.S. State Department bureaucrats that an import ban is already in place.
Wayne Sayles, spokesman for the ACCG, told those attending the Jan. 10 meeting that he is against the looting of archaeological sites, but feels the views of some activist archaeologists on how to protect the sites are too severe and too left wing in their approach.
Sayles said the real question is if there is a national or an international ownership to cultural property, adding, "The credibility gap is closing."
It appears Italy is doing the right thing by returning the coins to Bulgaria, but what do you do when a country demands the return of coins found buried within their borders but struck elsewhere (as in the case of the Decadrachm Hoard), or in the case of China demands back all coins dating from 1911 or earlier simply because the coins are Chinese?
This is a problem all coin collectors, not just collectors interested in ancient coins, may have to face in the future. This is why the ACCG and other groups are watching our backs for us.
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| On February 23, 2009 Lawrence Rothfield said  On February 23, 2009 Peter Tompa said |
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