The State Department has rescheduled a previously postponed Cultural Property Advisory Committee (CPAC) Meeting to Review a Proposed Renewal of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the United States and Italy. CPAC will also review other renewals with Chile and Morocco as well as a new, proposed MOU with Vietnam. See https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/04/23/2025-06901/cultural-property-advisory-committee The Federal Register notice also adds another country, Costa Rica.
Surprisingly, the rescheduled meeting appears to be going
forward before a CPAC composed entirely of Biden holdovers. See https://culturalpropertyobserver.blogspot.com/2025/01/upcoming-cpac-meeting-of-biden.html
When the meeting was originally
postponed, the expectation was that the Trump Administration would replace all
Biden appointees with Trump appointees just like the Biden Administration did
before approving a controversial renewal of a MOU with China.
In any event, CPAC will now reopen the record and accept additional
public comments on or before on or before May 13, 2025. To provide
written comments, use https://www.regulations.gov, enter the
docket DOS-2025-0003 and follow the prompts. Alternatively, try to
use this direct link: https://www.regulations.gov/document/DOS-2025-0003-0001
The Cultural Heritage Center website provides additional
information. It indicates that comments
uploaded for the previously postponed CPAC meeting have been retained and will
be made available for CPAC members to review.
The Cultural Heritage Center’s website can be found here: https://eca.state.gov/highlight/cultural-property-advisory-committee-meeting-may-20-23-2025 Those earlier comments can be found here: https://www.regulations.gov/document/DOS-2024-0048-0001
If you are commenting now, you do not have to be a US
Citizen to do so. In fact, it would be good for the State Department
to hear from collectors and members of the trade in Italy and elsewhere about
how import restrictions will negatively impact the people to people contacts
and appreciation of coins and the cultures that make them as well.
CPAC will also conduct a public hearing to accept oral
comments from the public on May 20, 2025 from 2:00-3:00 PM EST. Id. Those
interested in providing oral comments must contact the State Department
Cultural Heritage center at CULPROP@state.gov as
indicated in the above notice on or before May 13, 2025 to express an interest
in speaking.
The Proposed Extension with Italy and the Possible
Expansion of Import Restrictions to Include Late Roman Republican and Roman
Imperial Coins
That MOU with Italy first authorized import restrictions on
Italian cultural artifacts from the Pre-Classical, Classical and Imperial Roman
periods in 2001. The restrictions were extended 2006 and again in
2011, 2016, and 2021. The 2011 renewal added new import restrictions on
Greek, early Republican and Provincial coins from the early Imperial
Period. Coins types from the later Roman Republic (post 211 BC) and
Roman Imperial Coins were excluded from any import restrictions as were any
later Italian coins.
No additional import restrictions have been imposed for
Italy, but since the last renewal in 2021, new import restrictions have been
imposed on Roman Imperial coins on behalf of Afghanistan, Egypt,
Pakistan and Ukraine despite evidence being presented that comparatively few
such coins are found in these countries. In addition, at a meeting
attended by representatives of the numismatic community, CPAC’s executive
director indicated that she “did not see a reason” why Roman Imperial coins
could not be restricted. Given this information, the numismatic
community must assume (absent clear assurances to the contrary which have not
been provided) that the extension of the current MOU with Italy may be used to
impose new import restrictions on Roman Imperial Coins—the heart of
ancient coin collecting—as well. Accordingly, if one feels
strongly about their continued ability to collect Roman Imperial and other
historical coins and artifacts, they should comment on the regulations.gov
website. Why? Because silence will only be spun as acquiesce.
So, serious collectors should oppose yet another renewal as
unnecessary and detrimental to the appreciation of Italian culture and the
people to people contacts collecting brings. Moreover, they should
clearly state under no circumstances should import restrictions be extended to
Roman Imperial coins. Collectors should also weigh in
generally on any potentially overbroad list for Vietnam as well as the
overbroad lists already place on coins from Italy and Morocco. For
more, see https://accguild.org/news/13409276 There
are no current import restrictions for Spanish Colonial or early Republican era
coins from Chile or Costa Rica, but we shouldn’t take that for granted
either.
A. Background for Coin Collectors
There are large numbers of coin collectors and numismatic
firms in the US. Very few collectors do so to
“invest.” Most collect out of love of history, as an expression of
their own cultural identity, or out of interest in other cultures. All
firms that specialize in ancient coins in the US are small or micro businesses.
Private collectors and dealers support much academic research into coins.
A further clamp down on collecting will inevitably lead to less scholarship.
When what became the Cultural Property Implementation Act
(CPIA) was being negotiated, one of the State Department’s top lawyers assured
Congress that “it would be hard to imagine a case” where coins would be
restricted. In 2007, however, the State Department imposed
import restrictions on Cypriot coins, against CPAC’s recommendations, and then
misled the public and Congress about it in official government
reports. What also should be troubling is that the decision maker,
Assistant Secretary Dina Powell, did so AFTER she had accepted a job with
Goldman Sachs where she was recruited by and worked for the spouse of the
founder of the Antiquities Coalition, an archaeological advocacy group that has
lobbied extensively for import restrictions. Since that time,
additional import restrictions have been imposed on coins on behalf of 19
additional countries, with more import restrictions being considered.
The cumulative impact of import restrictions has been very
problematical for collectors since outside of some valuable Greek coins, most
coins simply lack the document trail necessary for legal import under the “safe
harbor” provisions of 19 U.S.C. § 2606. The CPIA only authorizes the
government to impose import restrictions on coins and other artifacts first
discovered within and subject to the export control of Italy. (19 U.S.C. §
2601). Furthermore, seizure is only appropriate for items on the designated
list exported from the State Party after the effective date of
regulations. (19 U.S.C. § 2606). Unfortunately, the
State Department and Customs view this authority far more
broadly. In particular, designated lists have been prepared based on
where coins are made and sometimes found, not where they are actually found and
hence are subject to export control. Furthermore, restrictions are
not applied prospectively solely to illegal exports made after the effective
date of regulations, but rather are enforced against any import into the U.S.
made after the effective date of regulations, i.e., an embargo, not targeted,
prospective import restrictions.
While enforcement has
been spotty, the Ancient Coin Collectors Guild has uncovered
information about situations where coins have been detained, seized and
repatriated where the importer cannot produce information to prove his or her
coins were outside of a country for which import restrictions were granted
before the date of restrictions. See https://new.coinsweekly.com/news-en/customs-repatriation-to-greece-raises-questions/
B. What You Can Do
Admittedly, CPAC seems to be little more than a rubber stamp
these days. Still, to remain silent is to give those with an ax to grind
against collectors exactly what they want-- the claim that any restrictions
will not be controversial. Moreover, a past CPAC member who is a coin
collector has confirmed that comments do matter because they give
support to those CPAC members supportive of collectors and collecting.
For written comments, use http://www.regulations.gov, enter
the docket [DOS-2025-0003] and follow the prompts to submit your
comments. Alternatively, click this link: https://www.regulations.gov/document/DOS-2025-0003-0001
and click on the Blue “Comment Now” Button which should pull up a screen that
allows you to comment. (Please note comments may be posted only UNTIL May
13, 2025 at 11:59 PM.) As noted above,
if you commented on these MOUs before, the State Department’s website indicates
that it is not necessary to resubmit those comments now.
Please also note comments submitted in electronic form are
not private. They will be posted on http://www.regulations.gov.
Because the comments cannot be edited to remove any identifying or contact
information, the Department of State cautions against including any information
in an electronic submission that one does not want publicly disclosed
(including trade secrets and commercial or financial information that is
privileged or confidential pursuant to 19 U.S.C. 2605(i)(1)).
C. What Should You Say?
What should you say? Provide a brief, polite
explanation about why the renewal with Italy should be allowed to expire or be
limited. Question CPAC why it’s necessary to renew the Italian MOU
yet again when looting is under control due to Italy’s aggressive enforcement
efforts as well as economic development. Indicate how
restrictions will negatively impact your business and/or the cultural
understanding and people to people contacts collecting provides. Coin
collectors should add that it’s typically impossible to assume a particular
coin (especially Roman ones) was “first discovered within” and “subject to the
export control” of Italy. In fact, by far most Roman Imperial coins
are found not in Italy, but on the Empire’s frontiers. You might add
that Roman coins are very common (The Coin Hoards of the Roman Empire
database lists over 6 million such coins. See https://chre.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/.) and
widely and legally available for sale elsewhere, and point out the absurdity of
restricting coins freely available in Italy itself. Finally, you
don’t have to be an American citizen to comment—you just need to be concerned
enough to spend ten or so minutes to express your views
on-line. Comments from Italian collectors and members of the trade
are particularly welcome!
To the extent you also want comment on the proposed MOU with
Vietnam, as well as the proposed renewals with Chile, Costa Rica and Morocco,
you can again make the point that for the most part, coins found in those
countries circulated well outside their borders as well so it’s difficult to
assume that any particular coin is the “cultural property” of a given country.
Personalized comments are best, but feel free to use this
submission as a model:
Dear CPAC:
Enough is enough. The current MOU with Italy, which has been
in effect since 2001, should be allowed to lapse. It is no longer necessary
because Italy’s own aggressive enforcement efforts as well economic development
have greatly diminished any looting. Moreover, the MOU negatively
impacts legitimate collecting, the appreciation of Italian culture and people
to people contacts collecting brings.
At a minimum, please free all ancient coins from restriction
or at least recognize legal exports from Italy’s fellow European Union members
as legal imports into the US. Such coins are openly and legally available for
sale within Italy itself. It makes absolutely no sense to continue to restrict
American access to what Italians themselves have enjoyed since the Renaissance.
Finally, please do not recommend new restrictions on late
Roman Republican and Roman Imperial Coins. These coins are extremely
common, with at least 6 million known to scholars. As the products of a great
empire, these coins circulated throughout Europe, the Middle East and beyond.
They “belong” not to Italy, but to us all.
As for current and potential restrictions on other coins
from Vietnam, Chile, Costa Rica, and Morocco, I also oppose such
restrictions. Again, as a general rule coins circulated outside
their modern borders in quantity, and one cannot assume that they are the
“cultural property’ of a given country.
Sincerely,
