Noted collector Jonathan Kagan has gifted a hoard of coins struck in Abdera to the Athens Numismatic collection after publishing them in a study dedicated to numismatic scholar (and AIA member) John Kroll. See
http://archaeologymatters2.blogspot.com/2011/07/return-of-coin-hoard-to-greece.html
The Greek cultural establishment and archaeologists will no doubt politicize this gift as a repatriation that helps argue for support for the recently announced Greek MOU. But, what are the odds that Greek authorities would have published the hoard, particularly given cuts to Greece's cultural establishment? And if the Greeks and archaeologists are so concerned about unprovenanced coins, why don't we hear more about the unprovenanced coins in Greek public and private collections, most notably valuable unprovenanced Athenian Decadrachms, recently added to the collections of both the Alpha Bank and Numismatic Collection in Athens? Scholarly publications place the find spots of virtually all of these coins as being outside of Greece. David Gill and Paul Barford, where are you?
http://archaeologymatters2.blogspot.com/2011/07/return-of-coin-hoard-to-greece.html
The Greek cultural establishment and archaeologists will no doubt politicize this gift as a repatriation that helps argue for support for the recently announced Greek MOU. But, what are the odds that Greek authorities would have published the hoard, particularly given cuts to Greece's cultural establishment? And if the Greeks and archaeologists are so concerned about unprovenanced coins, why don't we hear more about the unprovenanced coins in Greek public and private collections, most notably valuable unprovenanced Athenian Decadrachms, recently added to the collections of both the Alpha Bank and Numismatic Collection in Athens? Scholarly publications place the find spots of virtually all of these coins as being outside of Greece. David Gill and Paul Barford, where are you?
Image: Unprovenanced Athenian Decadrachm in Alpha Bank Collection
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