It's Time for a Reset

Here is what I said, more or less, at yesterday's virtual Cultural Property Advisory Committee Meeting.  I hope to post a full report of that meeting shortly:  

            The Trump Administration’s emphasis on promoting American business and scaling back regulations requires this Committee to consider a new paradigm, one which facilitates the lawful trade in common items like coins, particularly where they are already legally available for sale in countries seeking restrictions. 

            There is no better place to start than Italy.  Since 2011 there has been an embargo in place on ancient coins of Italian types minted before 211 BC.   During this same period, Italy’s Carabinieri have mounted a successful campaign against looters without damaging Italy’s large, lawful numismatic market. 

            What does IAPN request?  First, we join hundreds of coin collectors to oppose expanding the current designated list past 211 BC  to encompass late Roman Republican and Imperial coins. 

Prior committees that considered the initial MOU in 2001 and subsequent renewals for 2005, 2011, 2016 and 2021 all came to the same conclusion buttressed by current research: One simply cannot assume that all such coins are “Italian cultural property” when only 5.24% of the 15,000 Roman Imperial coins hoards containing over 6 million coins are found within Italy itself. 

The current Italian designated list also needs to be reformed.  At a minimum—using the Greek designated list as a model—larger denomination coins which circulated in international trade should be delisted.

            We also request that any renewal be conditioned on Italy facilitating the export of any item legally available for sale within Italy itself.  Despite solemn promises, Italy has actually made it harder to export ancient coins.  Finally, this Committee should also require that US Customs accept legal exports from sister EU countries as legal imports of items on the Italian designated list.  Such a modification of the current MOU is not only consistent with the UNESCO Convention, but also with Italian law. 

            The proposed MOU with Vietnam raises similar issues.  A past IAPN President who visited the UNESCO World Heritage site of Hue (pronounced “Hugh”) earlier this week reports that cash coins up for restriction here are for sale to tourists at a gift shop there. 

More than that, any import restrictions will only cause confusion.  Chinese cash coins found in Vietnam also circulated in far greater numbers in China.  They should be restricted, if at all, under the current Chinese MOU.  No Vietnamese coins should be restricted. The earliest Vietnamese coins are virtually identical to Chinese prototypes from the post-Tang period which are not restricted under the MOU with China. Later Vietnamese coins, particularly the machine struck coins of the French protectorate struck in France or at the US Mint, do not meet the threshold requirements for either archaeological or ethnological objects.

As for the other MOUs, the designated list for Morocco does not provide fair notice to importers.  It simply recounts all the ancient and early modern civilizations whose coin types circulated within Morocco without naming specific types exclusively found there. Limiting restrictions to types that “circulated primarily” in Morocco fails to correct this problem, particularly where the vast majority  “circulated primarily” elsewhere. Accordingly, if restrictions are to continue, the current designated list must be limited to bronze coin types issued by Moroccan mints for local circulation.

Finally, there should be no new restrictions on coins for Chile or Costa Rica.  Spanish Colonial and early Republican era coinage that circulated in these countries also circulated in far greater numbers elsewhere, including as legal tender here in the United States until 1857.   They are as much part of US cultural heritage as they are of these nations. 

Thank you. 

US imposes grossly overbroad emergency import restrictions on behalf of Ukraine and new import restrictions for Yemen without a public hearing

At the behest of the State Department, US Customs has imposed grossly overbroad emergency import restrictions on behalf of Ukraine.  It has also issued revised import restrictions on behalf of  "the Republic of Yemen" without a public hearing or full statutory Cultural Property Advisory Committee review. Both sets of import restrictions again demonstrate that the Biden-Harris State Department places a  premium on expediency over legality and the interests of American collectors and the small and micro businesses of the trade in cultural goods.  

The Ukrainian emergency import restrictions cover archaeological material from the Paleolithic period (c. 1.4 million years ago) through 1774 AD and ethnological material from 200 AD to 1917.  The restrictions on widely collected coins  and medallions are exceptionally broad:

1. Coins —In gold, silver, bronze, copper, and lead. Some coin types minted in or commonly found in archaeological contexts in Ukraine in various periods are listed below.

a. Ancient Greek cities in Ukraine, including Olbia, Panticapaeum, Chersonesus, and Tyras, minted coins of various weights and metals. Cast currency in dolphin, sturgeon, and arrowhead forms was also produced in this period. See Zograph, A. Ancient Coinage, Part II, Ancient Coins of the Northern Black Sea Littoral. (Oxford, 1977). Approximate date: 600-47 B.C.E.

b. In the Roman period, Panticapaeum continued to mint coins, and other Roman imperial coins were also used. See MacDonald, D. An Introduction to the History and Coinage of the Kingdom of the Bosporus, Classical Numismatic Studies 5. (Lancaster, 2005). Approximate date: 47 B.C.E.-500 C.E.

c. Coins minted in the Kyivan Rus period include gold and silver zlatnyks with a portrait of the ruler and the trident (tryzub) symbol. Hexagonal cast ingots (hryvnia) were also produced. Bohemian deniers and dirhams of Islamic states were also used in the Medieval period. Pierced coins and exfoliated (flaked) coins, including half-coins and forgeries, were common. Approximate date: 880-1240 C.E.

d. Coins in use during the Late Medieval and Early Modern periods include, but are not limited to, Mongolian dirhams, Lithuanian denars, Polish ducats, Crimean Khanate akces, Austro-Hungarian talers, Ottoman coins, and Russian rubles. Approximate date: 1240-1774 C.E.

2. Medallions —Usually featuring relief images, known since the Early Iron Age, with gold, silver, and bronze phaleras used during the Roman period. Approximate date: 1000 B.C.E.-1774 C.E.

Such import restrictions authorize the detention, seizure and repatriation of  coin types made in what is today Ukraine or occupied Crimea that circulated in quantity elsewhere as well as issues made elsewhere that primarily circulated well outside of present day Ukraine.  Early modern issues of the surrounding nation states of Austria, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, and Russia are included.   As with ancient Roman Imperial coins, such coin types that are widely and legally sold  in legitimate markets in Europe are now in danger of confiscation on entry into the US unless the importer can "prove" they were out of Ukraine as of the September 10, 2024 effective date of the regulations.  

These concerns were raised in written and oral comments  made on behalf of the American Numismatic Association, the Ancient Coin Collectors Guild, and the International Association of Professional Numismatists, but they were ignored.  Additionally, by issuing "emergency import restrictions"  rather than entering into a cultural property MOU, the State Department avoided having to consider "less drastic measures" raised in these comments.  Such "less drastic measures" like the creation of a Portable Antiquities Scheme and a web based system for issuing export permits would have been particularly appropriate here since Ukraine allows a large internal market for the cultural goods that are now embargoed as well as the purchase and sale of metal detectors.  

In one positive move that cynics will link to the election year, the new Yemeni restrictions on ethnological material explicitly exclude Jewish ceremonial and ritual objects and manuscripts.  JIMENA, B'nai B'rith and Global Heritage Alliance have argued that such materials should exempted from cultural property MOUs with repressive Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) governments which have forced their Jewish populations into exile.  

Addendum (9/16/24):  What the administrative state "gives" with one hand, it "takes" with the other.  A further review of the Ukrainian restrictions linked above demonstrates that they explicitly include Jewish and Christian ceremonial and ritual objects.  Of course, Ukraine is no  Yemen, but such restrictions could still lead to trouble for Christians or Jews of Ukrainian decent bringing such material into the US for religious purposes.  

U.S. Cultural Property Advisory Committee Meeting About Proposed Cultural Property MOU Renewals with Ecuador and Jordan and a New MOU with Ukraine

 On June 4, 2024, the US Cultural Property Advisory Committee (“CPAC”) met in a virtual public session to hear public comments regarding proposed renewals of Memorandums of Understanding (“MOUs”) with Ecuador and Jordan and a new proposed MOU with Ukraine.  An update on the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ (“ECA’s”) website made shortly before the hearing provided further information about the scope of the requests.  See Cultural Property Advisory Committee Meeting, June 4-6, 2024, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs Media Center (April 30, 2024), available at https://eca.state.gov/highlight/cultural-property-advisory-committee-meeting-june-4-6-2024

(last visited June 5, 2024).   That document indicated that neither Ecuador nor Jordan sought restrictions on additional categories of materials.  Ukraine, however, sought restrictions on a wide variety of archaeological and ethnological objects as follows: 

 Ukraine

Protection is sought for archaeological material from the Paleolithic Period (approximately 1.4 million years ago) to 1774 CE, including metal (sculpture, jewelry, weapons, coins, vessels, and horse fittings and trappings); ceramic (sculpture, vessels, and seals); stone (sculpture, monuments, vessels, tools, and jewelry); bone, ivory, wood, horn, and other organic material; glass and faience; paintings and mosaics.  Ethnological materials for which protection is sought span from the Roman Period (3rd century CE) to 1917 CE and include religious, ritual, and ecclesiastical objects; rare books, manuscripts, and other written documents; architectural elements; objects related to funerary rites and burials, both ritual and secular; paintings; military material; and traditional folk clothing and textiles.  

 Id.   

 The CPAC members did not introduce themselves before the public section, but CPAC currently includes the following members: (1) Alexandra Jones (Chair, Represents/Expertise Archaeology, Anthropology, related fields, CEO Archaeology in the Community, Washington, DC); (2) Alex Barker (Represents/Expertise Archaeology, Anthropology, related fields) Director, Arkansas Archeological Survey, Arkansas); (3) Mirriam Stark, Represents/Expertise Archaeology, Anthropology, related fields, Professor of Anthropology, University of Hawaii); (4) Nii Otokunor Quarcoopome (Represents/Expertise Museums, Curator and Department head, Detroit Museum of Art); ( (5) Andrew Conners (Represents/Expertise Museums, Director, Albuquerque Museum, New Mexico); (6) Michael Findlay (Represents/Expertise: International Sale of Cultural Property, Director, Acquavella Galleries, New York); (7) Amy Cappellazzo, Represents/Expertise: International Sale of Cultural Property, Principal, Art Intelligence Global; (8) Cynthia Herbert (Represents/Expertise: International Sale of Cultural Property President, Appretium Appraisal Services LLC, Connecticut); (9) Thomas R. Lamont (Represents Public, President of Lamont Consulting Services, LLC, Illinois);  (10) Susan Schoenfeld Harrington  (Represents Public, Past Deputy Finance Chair, Democratic National Committee, Past Board member, China Art Foundation); and, (11) William Teitelman (Represents General Public, Legislative Counsel to the PA Trial Lawyers Association, Attorney (Retired)).

 The meeting was conducted entirely on Zoom.  At least the following members were present:  Jones; Teitelman; Quarcoopome; and Stark.  CPAC’s executive director, Allison Davis, was also present.

 The Chair, Alexandra Jones, welcomed the speakers.  She indicated that speakers would be given four minutes each given the number of oral comments. 

Dr. Chris Jasparro, Associate Professor in the National Security Affairs Department and Director of the Africa Regional Studies Group at the Naval War College, spoke first.  He indicated that a MOU with Ukraine would be an important tool to fight organized crime and Russian aggression.  Jasparro maintained that Russian forces destroyed archaeological sites, but also looted small items which would then enter international markets.  He also indicated that a MOU could act as a token of American support for Ukraine.  He further maintained that “stolen antiquities” were used to test smuggling routes for other, more dangerous items.  The factual basis for this contention is unclear. 

Dr. Patricial Juninska of Artyfact, an archaeological management company, spoke next.  She indicated that 341 Kurgans or burial mounds have been damaged during the war.  She believed that a MOU will demonstrate our support for Ukraine and its efforts at preservation during a difficult time.

Dr. Sam Hardy of the Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research (NIKU) spoke next.  He indicated that Ukraine has struggled for years against looters.  Russian looting and destruction of cultural heritage is being investigated as a war crime.  Looting incentivizes corruption.  Hardy has found social media indicating that Russian mercenaries have been trading in antiquities. One of these individuals was pictured with Russian President Putin and former Russian Defense Minister Shoigu.

 Adam Rabinowitz, an Associate Professor at University of Texas at Austin, spoke next.  Rabinowitz is familiar with Ukraine through his prior work at Chersonesus.  Rabinowitz believes that much of the looting caused by the war is of small metal objects.  He noted that metal detectors are widely available in Ukraine and that artifacts like coins will be found by farmers during demining operations.  He believed that farmers and others will be tempted to sell such material on eBay, and this material should be kept off the market.  He maintained Ukrainian officials are doing the best they can under the circumstances and have thus have met the Cultural Property Implementation Act’s (“CPIA’s”) self-help requirements.

His written testimony may be found here:  https://www.regulations.gov/comment/DOS-2024-0015-0049 (last visited June 5, 2024).

 Randolph Myers next spoke on behalf of the Ancient Coin Collectors Guild (“ACCG”).   Myers chastised the State Department for failing to meet the notice requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act.  He indicated that circulation of coinage is complex, and one cannot assume many coin types are found in Ukraine given their much wider circulation patterns.  He also indicated that the United Kingdom’s Portable Antiquities Scheme provides an excellent example of a “less drastic measure” that should be adopted before import restrictions are imposed. 

 The ACCG’s and the American Numismatic Association’s testimony on Ukraine can be found here:

https://www.regulations.gov/comment/DOS-2024-0015-0010 (last visited June 5, 2024).

 Their testimony on Jordan can be found here:

https://www.regulations.gov/comment/DOS-2024-0015-0011 (last visited June 5, 2024).

 Peter Tompa next spoke as the Executive Director of the International Association of Professional Numismatists (“IAPN”).   He raised four points.  First,  political geography explains why one cannot assume that coins found in Ecuador, Jordan or Ukraine, are only found there.  Each of these countries were small parts of larger political entities for much of their histories, meaning that coins that circulated within their current boundaries also circulated in quantity elsewhere.  Second, CPAC must consider the realities on the ground, in particular the existence of large open markets in both Jordan and Ukraine.  Given these markets, assisting Jordan and Ukraine to create workable web-based systems of providing export certificates for common items like coins should be contemplated.  Another reality is the use of metal detectors.  The best way to deal with metal detectors is to help Jordan and Ukraine create a working Portable Antiquities Scheme.  Congressional appropriators have highlighted the importance of the CPIA’s reporting requirements, particularly the mandate that “less drastic measures” have to be considered before import restrictions are imposed.  The creation of a workable system of export permits, a portable antiquities scheme and more focused enforcement are just such “less drastic measures” that Congress contemplated. 

 Peter Tompa’s oral comments can be found here:

https://culturalpropertyobserver.blogspot.com/2024/06/cpac-meeting-to-discuss-renewals-of.html (last visited June 6, 2024).

 His personal comments can be found here:

https://www.regulations.gov/comment/DOS-2024-0015-0039 (last visited June 6, 2024).

 IAPN’s comments on the proposed renewal of the MOU with Ecuador can be found here:

https://www.regulations.gov/comment/DOS-2024-0015-0003  (Last visited June 6, 2024).

 IAPN’s comments on the proposed renewal of the MOU with Jordan can be found here:

https://www.regulations.gov/comment/DOS-2024-0015-0004  (last visited June 6, 2024)

 IAPN’s comments on the proposed MOU with Ukraine can be found here:

https://www.regulations.gov/comment/DOS-2024-0015-0012 (last visited June 6, 2024).

 Elias Gerasoulis next spoke on behalf of the Global Heritage Alliance (“GHA”) as its executive director.  GHA submitted joint testimony with its sister organization, the Committee for Cultural Policy (“CCP”).  Gerasoulis focused his comments on Jordan.  He also indicated that Kate FitzGibbon, his colleague from the CCP was unavailable, so he would also be available to answer any questions about Ecuador and Ukraine.  He noted that the State Department previously approved its MOU with Jordan based on historic looting that took place in the 19^th and 20^th centuries.  He also called out Jordan for allowing sales of coins at the Petra archaeological site and at a bourse in Amman.   He argued that such internal sales of coins to locals and tourists was inconsistent with any effort to embargo their entry into the United States.  He mentioned that the coin bourse in Amman was opened by a Jordanian princess, which suggested that it was an event sanctioned by the Jordanian government. 

 One CPAC member asked Gerasoulis about the lack of evidence being provided regarding current looting in Jordan.  Gerasoulis indicates he would welcome such evidence, but none had been provided publicly by either the State Department or Jordan for purposes of justifying this renewal. 

 GHA’s and CCP’s comments regarding the renewal of the MOU with Ecuador can be found here:

https://www.regulations.gov/comment/DOS-2024-0015-0045 (last visited June 6, 2024).

 Their comments regarding the renewal of the MOU with Jordan can be found here:

https://www.regulations.gov/comment/DOS-2024-0015-0036 (last visited June 6, 2024).

 Their comments regarding the proposed MOU with Ukraine could be found here:  https://www.regulations.gov/comment/DOS-2024-0015-0053 (last visited June 6, 2024).

 Katie Paul spoke as the founder and co-director of the Antiquities Trafficking and Heritage Anthropology Research (ATHAR) Project.  Paul discussed her advocacy group’s use of screen shots taken from eBay and other social media platforms as evidence of significant looting that must be addressed.  She maintained there was no legal market for archaeological objects in Jordan.  Despite evidence submitted by IAPN, GHA, and CCP to the contrary, she maintained that there was no legal market for coins in Jordan.  She noted that Jordan does have a numismatic museum instead.  Paul stated that Ukrainian metal detectorists sell directly to American buyers.  She indicated that a hoard of 2,500 coins from the Black Sea coast was recovered by the authorities.  She further indicated that Ukraine needs US assistance to stem widespread looting.

 ATHAR’s comments regarding the proposed renewal of the MOU with Jordan are here:

https://www.regulations.gov/comment/DOS-2024-0015-0050 (last visited June 6, 2024).

 ATHAR’s comments regarding the proposed MOU with Ukraine can be found here:

https://www.regulations.gov/comment/DOS-2024-0015-0052 (last visited June 6, 2024).

 Morag Kersel is an Associate Professor of Anthropology at DePaul University in Chicago.  She spoke from Jordan where she is working.  Professor Kersel discussed her “Follow the Pots” project which tracked looted biblical era pots on the market.  Biblical era materials are in demand in the United States.  She also discussed the cooperation of the Jordanian government with American archaeologists and museums.  She believed that the MOU should be renewed.

 Professor Kersel’s comments can be found here:

 https://www.regulations.gov/comment/DOS-2024-0015-0041 (last visited June 6, 2024).

 James Zeidler is an Emeritus Research Professor at Colorado State University.  Zeidler has excavated in Ecuador for the past 50 years.  He indicated that looting has declined in Ecuador since the 1980’s due to increased enforcement and better community engagement.  Though looting has declined, he maintained that the current MOU still should be renewed to help protect Ecuadorian cultural heritage. 

 Professor Zeidler’s comments can be found here:

https://www.regulations.gov/comment/DOS-2024-0015-0044 (last visited June 6, 2024).

Sarah Rowe is an Associate Professor Department of Anthropology at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.  Professor Rowe commended Ecuador for its efforts at community engagement including the training of local and foreign archaeologists.  She also praised the creation of the first code of archaeological ethics for Latin America in Ecuador as well as programs with local communities aimed at discouraging looting. 

 Dr. Ömür Harmanşah spoke as the Vice President for Cultural Heritage, Archaeological Institute of America (“AIA”).  Harmanşah indicated that the AIA strongly supported a MOU with Ukraine to help address Russian looting of archaeological objects.  He noted that Ukraine sent museum displays to the U.S. in the 2,000s.  He believed the MOU could also address illicit digs in the occupied Crimean Peninsula.

 The AIA’s comments on the renewals for Ecuador and Jordan and the new MOU for Ukraine are not available in the record posted in regulations.gov, but they are posted here: 

https://www.archaeological.org/aia-submits-letters-to-u-s-cultural-property-advisory-committee/ (last visited June 6, 2024).

 Tess Davis spoke as the Executive Director for the Antiquities Coalition, an archaeological advocacy group.  Ms. Davis indicated that she also serves on the faculty at Johns Hopkins University and is a member of the Council of Foreign Relations.  Ms. Davis discussed her work in Cambodia exposing the Latchford criminal network.  She maintained that import restrictions are “consumer protection measures” that help keep “stolen” artifacts off the market.  She also indicated that the Antiquities Coalition works closely with both the State Department, G-13 countries and individual source countries to facilitate cultural property MOUs and other restrictions on the trade meant to deter illicit trade.  She maintained that CPIA import restrictions can be complied with “simply”  with the required documentation. 

 Jeremy Sabaloff is an American anthropologist and past president of the Santa Fe Institute.  Sabaloff previously served as CPAC’s Chair during the Obama Administration.  Sabaloff did not speak directly about any of the MOUs.  Instead, he praised the work of CPAC and the importance of MOUs to our foreign relations and fostering “legitimate” trade. 

 Chair Alexandra Jones closed the CPAC public session about 10 minutes before the one hour allotted for the meeting expired.  Despite the additional time that was available, there were no additional questions from CPAC members. 

US Customs and State Department issue more grossly overbroad restrictions on behalf of another unfriendly authoritarian government, this time Pakistan

 The US State Department and its Cultural Heritage Center have again  deputized U.S. Customs and Homeland Security to enforce the export controls of another unfriendly, authoritarian government, this time Pakistan. It remains unclear how they will apply these exceptionally broad import restrictions, which cover a host of materials also found in Central Asia, Afghanistan, India, Sri Lanka, and, indeed, as far away as Northern Europe.  

The designated list for coins is in particular very broad.  It lists types that circulated regionally as well as internationally, including Roman Imperial coins, which the designated list itself admits are only "sometimes" found in Pakistan.  The entire designated list for coins is as follows:

(5) Coins—Ancient coins include gold, silver, copper, and copper alloy coins in a variety of denominations. Includes gold and silver ingots, which may be plain and/or inscribed. Some of the most well-known types are described below:

(a) Early coins in Pakistan include silver sigloi of the Achaemenid Empire. Gold staters and silver tetradrachms and drachms of Alexander the Great and Philip III Arrhidaeus are also found. Regionally minted Achaemenid-period coins include silver bent bars ( shatamana) with punched symbols such as wheels or suns. Local Hellenistic (Greek)-period and Mauryan imperial punch-marked silver coins ( karshapana) are covered with various symbols such as suns, crescents, six-arm designs, hills, peacocks, and others. Circular or square, die-struck cast copper alloy coins with relief symbols and/or animals on one or both sides also date to this period. Approximate Date: 6th-2nd Centuries B.C.

(b) Greco-Bactrian, Indo-Greek, Indo-Scythian, and Indo-Parthian coins include gold staters, silver tetradrachms, drachms, and obols, and copper alloy denominations. Copper alloy coins are often square. The bust of the king, the king on horseback, Greek and Hindu deities, the Buddha, elephants, bulls, and other animals are common designs. The name of the king is often written in Greek, Kharosthi or Brahmi script. Approximate Date: 2nd Century B.C.-1st Century A.D.

(c) Roman Imperial coins struck in silver and bronze are sometimes found in archaeological contexts in Pakistan. Approximate Date: 1st Century B.C.-4th Century A.D.

(d) Kushan coins include gold dinars, silver tetradrachms, and copper alloy denominations. Imagery includes the king as a portrait bust (“Augustus type”), standing figure with a fire altar, or equestrian figure; emblems ( tamgha); and figures from Greek, Zoroastrian, Buddhist, and Hindu religious traditions. Inscriptions are written in Greek, Bactrian, and/or Brahmi scripts. Approximate Date: A.D. 30-350.

(e) Sasanian coins include gold dinars, silver drachms, obols ( dang), and copper alloy denominations. Imagery includes the bust of the king wearing a large crown and Zoroastrian fire altars and deities. Inscriptions are usually written in Pahlavi, but gold dinars minted in Sindh with Brahmi inscriptions are included. Approximate Date: A.D. 240-651.

(f) Kushano-Sasanian or Kushanshah coins include gold dinars, silver tetradrachms, and copper alloy denominations. Some Kushano-Sasanian coins followed the Kushan style of imagery, while others resemble Sasanian coins. Inscriptions are written in Greek, Bactrian, Brahmi, or Pahlavi scripts. Approximate Date: A.D. 225-365.

(g) Gupta coins include gold dinars and silver and copper alloy denominations. Imagery includes the king in various postures and activities, the queen, Hindu deities, altars, and animals. Inscriptions are usually written in pseudo-Greek or Brahmi script. Approximate Date: A.D. 345-455.

(h) Coins of the Hephthalite, Kidarite, Alchon and Nezak Hun, Rai, Brahmin Chacha, and Turk Shahi Dynasties include silver and copper alloy denominations. Designs resemble Sasanian coins with a portrait bust of the ruler wearing a distinctive crown on the obverse and a fire altar or other Zoroastrian imagery on the reverse. Coins sometimes bear emblems ( tamgha s) and/or inscriptions in Bactrian, Pahlavi, Brahmi, or Nagari script. Designs are sometimes highly schematized. Approximate Date: 5th-9th Centuries A.D.

(i) Hindu Shahi silver coins often bear inscriptions in Nagari or Sharada script and depict a horseman and a bull, or an elephant and a lion. Approximate Date: A.D. 822-1026.

(j) The Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphates and the Ghaznavid and Ghurid Empires issued gold dinars, silver dirhams, and copper alloy fulus (singular fals) bearing Arabic inscriptions on both faces. Inscriptions are often enclosed in circles, squares, rings of dots, or an inscription band. Silver and copper alloy denominations of local governors, the Habbari Dynasty of Sindh, and the Emirate of Multan are similar, but some coins of Multan carry inscriptions in Nagari or Sharada. Some Ghaznavid coins carry bilingual inscriptions in Arabic and Sharada scripts, and some bear images of a bull and horseman. Some Ghurid coins bear inscriptions in Devanagari and/or stylized images of a flower, bull, horseman, and/or goddess. Approximate Date: A.D. 712-1206.

(k) The Delhi Sultanate issued gold tankas, silver tankas and jitals, and copper alloy denominations bearing Arabic inscriptions, either enclosed in a circle, scalloped circle, octofoil, flower, square, or inscription band, or covering the full face of the coins. Some bear inscriptions in Devanagari and/or stylized images of a bull, horseman, lion, or goddess. Some coins are square. Approximate Date: A.D. 1206-1526.

(l) The Mughal Empire issued coins such as gold mohurs; silver shahrukhis, rupees, and tankas; copper and copper alloy dams, and other denominations. Coins bear Arabic inscriptions enclosed in a circle, ring of dots, square, or inscription band, or covering the entire face. Some coins are square. Some coins bear an image of the seated emperor, a portrait bust of the emperor, a sun, and/or Zodiac symbols. Approximate Date: A.D. 1526-1749.

It is also frustrating that the very same coins now subject to a State Department embargo are sold quite openly in Pakistan.  Moreover, despite the claim that Assistant Secretary, ECA Lee Satterfield considered "less drastic remedies" before imposing restrictions on coins, the coin trade's suggestions related to focusing restrictions solely on coins traced back to Pakistani contexts, the provision of export certificates, and the creation of a Pakistani Portable Antiquities Scheme were evidently ignored.  

State Department Offers Advance Notice of CPAC Hearing to Address New MOU with Ukraine and Renewals of Current MOUs with Ecuador and Jordan-- UPDATED 4/26/24, 5/6/24

The State Department Cultural Heritage Center has provided advance notice of a proposed MOU with Ukraine and renewals of current MOUs with Ecuador and Jordan. According to this preliminary notice, written comments and requests to speak at the June 4, 2024, CPAC hearing must be received on or before May 28, 2024.

Sympathy for the Ukrainian people and their struggle against Russian imperialism makes it difficult to oppose any MOU, but the State Department must still honor the CPIA’s statutory requirements in processing the request.

The CPIA closely defines archaeological and ethnological objects that may be subject to restrictions.  A threshold consideration for objects to be considered “archaeological or ethnological material” of Ukraine is that they were “first discovered within” Ukrainian territory and “subject to” Ukrainian export control.

This raises a serious question as to coins and other artifacts from the sites of ancient Greek Black Sea colonies that are now in occupied Crimea.   While Ukraine still maintains that Crimea remains part of that country, the reality is that Russia, which has occupied the peninsula since 2014, is unlikely to give up its conquest. 

Of course, there are other issues, particularly related to coins, including whether common types are of “cultural significance” and whether it is proper to assume that they were found on current Ukrainian territory when they were types that circulated regionally or even internationally.  

Overbroad designated lists enforced as embargos are a major concern for collectors.  Although the State Department and their "partner" archaeological advocacy groups claim that import restrictions are directed at current looting of archaeological sites, their impact is much broader.  In fact, they have allowed foreign governments to "claw back" coins and other cultural goods legally sold and available for export on open markets in Europe.   State and Customs then conduct elaborate "repatriation ceremonies" where they claim they are returning "stolen property."  The reality most often is simply that  some unfortunate collector was unable to provide provenance information that just does not exist for most low value items like coins.  Of course, all this goes against the fundamental Anglo-American view that the burden of proof always is on the government to prove guilt, but it is expediency in the name of "soft power" that prevails here.  

The issue of an overbroad designated list certainly already applies to the current import restrictions with Jordan.  Those import restrictions include coins that circulated regionally.  

The Jordanian MOU and its related import restrictions should also raise different questions because the very same types of coins (and pottery) that are now restricted to American citizens are openly available for sale there. 

At least, the current designated list with Ecuador does not include coins.  That makes sense because Spanish Colonial and Republican era coinage that circulated in Ecuador fails to fit the definition of either “archaeological” or “ethnological” objects.   

Nevertheless, the designated list for Ecuador remains overly broad, including colonial era art that stretches the definition of “ethnological objects.”

The legislative history makes clear that the CPIA’s drafters  believed that "ethnological objects" must be the products of what was at the time referred to as “primitive cultures.”  

Update: April 26, 2024-   The regulations.gov link to comment on the proposed MOU with Ukraine and renewals with Ecuador and Jordan is now live and can be found HERE.  

Update: May 6, 2025-  The State Department Cultural Heritage Center has confirmed fears that Ukraine is asking for very broad based import restrictions in a blog post dated April 30, 2024.  The request includes archaeological objects (including coins) created as recently as 1774 and ethnographic artifacts created as recently as 1917. More here.

 

Public Session of the US Cultural Property Advisory Committee to Review Proposed Renewals of MOUs with Bulgaria and China, June 5, 2023

                 On June 5, 2023, the US Cultural Property Advisory Committee (CPAC) met in a virtual public session to hear testimony regarding the proposed renewals of MOUs with Bulgaria and the People’s Republic of China (PRC).  An update on the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ (ECA’s) website made shortly before the hearing provided further information about the requests.  See https://eca.state.gov/highlight/cultural-property-advisory-committee-meeting-april-26-27-2023 (last visited June 7, 2023).  According to that website, Bulgaria has asked for import restrictions on additional categories of archaeological material dating from the Paleolithic Period to the Neolithic (c. 1.6 million years ago – 7500 B.C.) and on additional ethnological material of an ecclesiastical nature dating from 1750 through the 20^th century.  Id.  In contrast, the PRC does not seek any additional restrictions.  Id. 

                The public session was postponed from April 26-27, 2023, presumably to allow all the remaining Trump appointees to be replaced by Biden appointees to CPAC.  Those replaced included Anthony Wisniewski, the sole coin collector representative on the Committee.  One of the replacements, Susan Schoenfeld Harrington, has discernable links to the PRC, as a past Board Member of the China Art Foundation.  See http://culturalpropertyobserver.blogspot.com/2023/04/new-cpac-members.html (last visited June 7, 2023).

                Despite the postponement, the public was only allowed an exceptionally short time to comment on these MOUs on the regulations.gov website.  See https://www.regulations.gov/document/DOS-2023-0016-0001  (last visited June 7, 2023).  Although the Federal Register notice was posted on Friday, May 19, 2023, due to a snafu, the regulations.gov website did not accept comments until midday Monday, May 22, 2023.  The comment period closed only 4 days later, on Friday, May 26, 2023.  An analysis of the comments that were submitted can be found here.  See http://culturalpropertyobserver.blogspot.com/2023/05/low-public-support-for-mous-with.html  (last visited June 7, 2023). 

                Oral comments during the public session were also circumscribed.  Rather than the usual 5 minutes, each speaker was only allotted 4 minutes to speak.   

                At least the following CPAC members were present for the meeting:  (1) Alexandra Jones (Chair, Represents/Expertise Archaeology, Anthropology, related fields, CEO Archaeology in the Community, Washington, DC); (2) Alex Barker (Represents/Expertise Archaeology, Anthropology, related fields) Director, Arkansas Archeological Survey, Arkansas); (3) Nii Otokunor Quarcoopome (Represents/Expertise Museums, Curator and Department head, Detroit Museum of Art); (4) William Teitelman (Represents General Public, Legislative Counsel to the PA Trial Lawyers Association, Attorney (Retired)); (4) Andrew Conners (Represents/Expertise Museums, Director, Albuquerque Museum, New Mexico); (5) Michael Findlay (Represents/Expertise: International Sale of Cultural Property, Director, Acquavella Galleries, New York); (6) Susan Schoenfeld Harrington  (Represents Public?, Past Deputy Finance Chair, Democratic National Committee, Past Board member, China Art Foundation); (7) Cynthia Herbert (Represents/Expertise: International Sale of Cultural Property President, Appretium Appraisal Services LLC, Connecticut); and (8) Thomas R. Lamont (Represents Public?, President of Lamont Consulting Services, LLC, Illinois).

                Additionally, at least the following State Department employees were present for the meeting:  Allison Davis (Executive Director, CPAC) and Andrew Zander. 

                These individuals spoke at the public session about one or both MOUs: (1) Kate FitzGibbon (Committee for Cultural Policy/PRC); (2) Elias Gerasoulis (Global Heritage Alliance/PRC); (3) Peter Tompa (International Association of Professional Numismatists/Bulgaria and PRC); (4) Doug Davis (Anti-Counterfeiting Educational Foundation/PRC); (5) Ömür Harmanşah (Archaeological Institute of America/Bulgaria and PRC); (6) Douglas Mudd (American Numismatic Association, Ancient Coin Collectors Guild/Bulgaria); (7) Louisa Greve (Uyghur Human Rights Project/PRC); (8) Peter Irwin (Uyghur Human Rights Project/PRC); (8) Josh Knerly (Hahn, Loeser & Parks, LLP for Association of Art Museum Directors/PRC); (9) Dr. Rowan Flad (Harvard Department of Anthropology/Society for American Archaeology/PRC); (10) Dr. Anne Underhill (Yale/Society for American Archaeology/PRC); and (11) Dr. Rian Thum (University of Manchester/PRC). 

                Alexandra Jones (AJ), CPAC’s chairperson, indicated that the Committee had reviewed all the testimony, and asked the speakers to limit their remarks to 4 minutes each.  AJ indicated that she would allow CPAC members to ask questions after each speaker finished their prepared remarks.  Very few questions were actually posed. 

                Kate FitzGibbon (KFG) spoke first.  She indicated that none of the criteria for renewal of the MOU found in the Cultural Property Implementation Act (CPIA) could be met.  The second determination, related to the PRC taking measures consistent with the UNESCO Convention concerning the protection of its cultural patrimony, has not been met because of the PRC’s intentional destruction of the cultural heritage of its Uyghur population.  KFG pointed to the creation of concentration camps as well as the destruction of over 500 Uyghur sites in her testimony.  Moreover, the first and third determinations, related to the PRC’s cultural patrimony being in jeopardy, and the effectiveness of the response, could not be met given the booming internal Chinese market for cultural goods.  The fourth determination relating to benefits to the international system could not be met given the PRC’s mercantilist approach to repatriating artifacts and failing to follow through on museum loans. 

                The Committee for Cultural Policy’s and the Global Heritage Alliance’s joint written testimony can be found here:  https://www.regulations.gov/comment/DOS-2023-0016-0044 ) (last visited June 7, 2023).

                Elias Gerasoulis (EG) echoed many of the concerns that KFG raised about the PRC’s intentional destruction of minority culture.  He also noted that current import restrictions have the perverse effect of promoting the interests of PRC auction houses associated with the government over their American competitors.  It makes no sense for ECA to undertake to renew the MOU given the anti-American actions the PRC has taken, including the recent spy balloon overflight.  EG believes that renewing the MOU would be tantamount to committing diplomatic malpractice.

                Peter Tompa (PT) asked CPAC to oppose any effort to expand current import restrictions on behalf of Bulgaria to Roman Republican and Roman Imperial coins.  He explained that one cannot assume that such coins come from Bulgarian archaeological contexts.  Only a very small percentage of such coins circulated there compared to those which circulated elsewhere.  He also indicated that it is important to distinguish Roman Republican and Roman Imperial coins from Roman Provincial coins, which are currently restricted.  Roman Provincial coins were struck for local use in contrast to Roman Republican and Roman Imperial coins which were meant to circulate through the Empire.   Due to time constraints, PT was only able to express general concerns about the MOU with the PRC.  He mentioned that the PRC should not be rewarded for destroying the cultural property of its minority populations or for its failure to address counterfeiting of US historical coins.

                PT’s planned oral comments can be found here:  https://culturalpropertyobserver.blogspot.com/2023/06/cpac-should-be-skeptical-about-new.html (last visited June 7, 2023).

                The International Association of Professional Numismatist’s (IAPN’s) written comments about the MOU with Bulgaria can be found here:  https://www.regulations.gov/comment/DOS-2023-0016-0010 (last visited June 7, 2023).

                IAPN’s written comments about the MOU with the PRC can be found here:  https://www.regulations.gov/comment/DOS-2023-0016-0009 (last visited June 7, 2023).

                PT’s personal written comments can be found here:  https://www.regulations.gov/comment/DOS-2023-0016-0056 (last visited June 7, 2023).

                Doug Davis (DD) indicated that the PRC is a major source of counterfeits with 100,000s of coins being faked.  These are exported in bulk to the US for resale, often to unsuspecting buyers.   The Anti-Counterfeiting Educational Foundation Task Force has worked with US law enforcement on seizing $46 million worth of counterfeit US coins.  In addition to historical US coins, counterfeiters are also faking modern US Mint products including bullion pieces like silver eagles.  This is a global problem because Chinese counterfeiters are faking coins of all nations. 

                CPAC member Alex Barker asks DD about what kinds of bullion are being faked. DD indicates the fakes include silver bars. 

                The Anti-Counterfeiting Educational Foundation’s written comments can be found here: https://www.regulations.gov/comment/DOS-2023-0016-0067 (last visited June 7, 2023).

                Ömür Harmanşah (OH) indicates that the Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) supports the renewals of both MOUs.  The AIA maintains that each of the four criteria for renewal found in the CPIA are met for both MOUs.  OH mentions that the PRC recovered 66,000 stolen archaeological artifacts in the year 2021 showing that the PRC’s cultural patrimony is in jeopardy.  OH states that it is important to ensure restrictions are imposed on mass produced items like coins to promote their study.  He further indicates that the PRC has worked to ensure that there is extensive collaboration with US archaeologists and museums.  For example, an exhibition featuring the famous “Terracotta warriors” has been exhibited in a number of venues around the United States. 

                The AIA’s written testimony regarding the MOU with Bulgaria can be found here:  https://www.regulations.gov/comment/DOS-2023-0016-0068 (last visited June 7, 2023).

                The AIA’s written testimony regarding the PRC renewal can be found here:  https://www.regulations.gov/comment/DOS-2023-0016-0066 (last visited June 7, 2023). 

                Douglas Mudd (DM) speaks on behalf of the American Numismatic Association (ANA) and the Ancient Coin Collectors Guild (ACCG), a member organization.  DM indicates that import restrictions have negatively impacted the study of coins.  Because coins are so durable many have come down to us from ancient times. There are far too few trained archaeologists to study the numbers of coins that have been found and there is no reason to sequester them all in museums.  The most important thing that can be accomplished is to ensure they are properly recorded, something that can be achieved through programs like the UK’s Portable Antiquity Scheme.  DM also asks that import restrictions not be imposed on widely circulating Roman Imperial coins.  He further believes that the current designated list should be subject to expert review because many of the coin types currently on that list circulated in quantity outside of the confines of Bulgaria. 

                The ANA’s written comments can be found here:  https://www.regulations.gov/comment/DOS-2023-0016-0006  (last visited June 7, 2023).

                The ACCG’s written comments can be found here:  https://www.regulations.gov/comment/DOS-2023-0016-0031 (last visited June 7, 2023).

                Louisa Greve (LG) opposes the MOU with the PRC.  The PRC is committing genocide against the Uyghurs.  CPAC should not brush aside this genocide and cultural cleansing in order to approve the renewal.  The current MOU authorizes import restrictions through the Tang period.  The PRC has sought to rewrite history through cultural cleansing to create a false narrative that Han was the dominant culture throughout what is today the PRC.  If CPAC and ECA approves this MOU, the Uyghur Human Rights Project (UYRP) will protest the decision. 

                The UYRP’s written comments can be found here:  https://www.regulations.gov/comment/DOS-2023-0016-0069 (last visited June 7, 2023).

                Peter Irwin (PI) is LG’s colleague at the UYRP.  The PRC has not worked to protect cultural heritage, but to purposefully destroy that of the Uyghurs.  Some 10,000 to 50,000 sites have been destroyed to date.  These includes mosques and up to 85% of the historic city of Kashgar. The MOU should not be extended in these circumstances. 

                Josh Knerly (JK) stated the Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD) supports the extension of the MOU with the PRC contingent on Article II being modified to provide for multi-year museum loans with more significant objects and the PRC granting immunity from seizure for art sent there for display from the US.  The 2019 MOU dropped any meaningful requirements regarding loans.  Multi-year loans are necessary to make it cost effective to bring exhibits to the US.  Only multi-year loans allow museums to share the substantial costs involved. Another issue is US tariffs of 7.5% on Chinese art, which make it impossible for US museums to purchase Chinese art internationally.  Such tariffs give Chinese museums, dealers and collectors a competitive advantage compared to their American counterparts. 

                CPAC member Susan Schoenfeld Harrington asks JK if the MOU provides an opportunity for cultural exchange with the PRC.  JK indicates for this to happen, the PRC needs to change its policies on long term loans and immunity from seizure.

                The AAMD’s written comments can be found here:  https://www.regulations.gov/comment/DOS-2023-0016-0061 (last visited June 7, 2023).

                Dr. Rowan Flad (RF) indicates that the PRC has undertaken significant self-help measures to protect its own cultural patrimony.  A database of cultural heritage has been established.  There is active collaboration with American archaeologists. 

                RF’s written testimony may be found here:  https://www.regulations.gov/comment/DOS-2023-0016-0055 (last visited June 7, 2023).

                Dr. Anne Underhill (AU) states that the PRC has met its obligations under the MOU.  It has protected archaeological sites from looting.  One innovative program has used drones to monitor a site for looting.  Another development is an increase in “indoor excavations,” for which entire depositional matrices are transported to covered labs for careful excavation in safe conditions.  In 2020, 4,200 crimes were investigated, involving 9,700 individuals. Some 93,000 artifacts were recovered.  Access to museums has improved.

                AU’s written comments can be found here: https://www.regulations.gov/comment/DOS-2023-0016-0057  (last visited June 7, 2023).

                Dr. Rian Thum (RT) indicates that he could not make policy determinations, but he could state facts.  It is an unassailable fact that the PRC has failed to take measures consistent with the UNESCO Convention to protect its cultural patrimony.   It has demolished large parts of the Silk Road city of Kashgar.  It has recently bulldozed two very important Uyghur shrines, and any archaeological artifacts beneath them.  Another target is books.  Initially PRC authorities enforced a “blacklist” of forbidden books.  Now, however, that has been replaced with a “whitelist” which deems any book not explicitly permitted to be forbidden.  This has led to the confiscation and destruction of countless books, some of which are otherwise unknown to scholarship.  It has also prompted some Uyghurs to burn their own books in an effort to avoid being sent to concentration camps.  As was discussed regarding Bulgaria, modern boundaries don’t always correspond with ancient ones.  The same is also true with the status of the Uyghur region in the PRC.  RT observes all of the PRC’s achievements prior speakers associated with archaeological advocacy groups praised relate solely to the study of the PRC’s Han culture. These studies feed the PRC’s narrative.  The PRC seeks to rewrite history to make it appear that Han culture was always the dominant culture in the Uyghur areas.  RT expresses disappointment that his colleagues are unwilling to acknowledge the PRC’s intentional destruction of Uyghur cultural heritage for political purposes.

                No CPAC members asked any additional questions, and AJ concluded the public session approximately 10 minutes early. 

CPAC Should Be Skeptical About New Restrictions on Coins

 This is what I said more or less at yesterday's CPAC hearing.  Due to the time to speak being cut to 4 minutes, I did not get to address the MOU with PRC as much as I would have liked. 

        I’m speaking on behalf of IAPN, which represents the small businesses of numismatic trade.   CPAC should be especially skeptical of US import controls on Bulgarian and Chinese coins.  Both countries have large internal markets in the exact same sorts of coins that are embargoed under US import restrictions. 

          Let me first address the MOU with Bulgaria.   The Cultural Heritage Center’s website now suggests that it does not seek new restrictions on coins, but IAPN nonetheless urges CPAC to oppose any effort to expand the current designated list to include widely circulating Roman Republican and Roman Imperial coins.  CPAC previously rejected such import restrictions during its past deliberations in 2011 and 2018.   Currently, only “Roman Provincial coins” are restricted.  They are completely different than Roman Republican and Roman Imperial coins.  Roman Provincial coins, usually of bronze, were struck by local authorities and were meant to circulate locally.  In contrast, Roman Republican and Roman Imperial coins were struck under the authority of Roman Republican or Imperial officials and were designed to circulate throughout the Roman Empire.

          The Cultural Property Implementation Act limits any restrictions to coins “first discovered within, and … subject to the export control by” Bulgaria.  However, Roman Imperial coins found in Bulgaria represent a very small portion of those found internationally. Only 3.2% of hoards containing Roman Imperial coins struck at the late Roman branch mint at Serdica (modern day Sofia) are found within Bulgaria and 96.8% are found outside that country. Moreover, only 6.58% of hoards containing coins from the most prolific Roman Imperial Mint, that at Rome, are found in Bulgaria with the remainder of such coins found elsewhere.  Thus, hoard evidence proves that one simply cannot make the required assumption that such coins were necessarily found in Bulgaria before they can be placed on the designated list. 

          CPAC also should not confuse the Roman Provincial Mint that operated in Serdica during the early Imperial period with the Roman Imperial Mint that operated there in the late 3^rd and early 4^th century A.D.   Coins of the Roman Provincial Mint at Serdica are restricted already.  Those of the Roman Imperial mint of Serdica are not; nor should they be because again only a small fraction of the entire universe of such coins are found in Bulgaria today.  

          CPAC should also consider the failure of the State Department to hold Bulgaria to its prior promise to facilitate the legal export of coins of the sort that Bulgarians already collect.  Given this failure, CPAC should recommend that U.S. Customs harmonize U.S. import controls with E.U. export controls. The CPIA was passed before the E.U. created a system of export controls for cultural goods.  MOUs with E.U. countries like Cyprus, Italy, Greece and Bulgaria should be consistent with these E.U. export controls.  This can be done simply by making import restrictions under such MOUs subject to E.U. export controls which have supremacy within the E.U.  This would allow Americans to import coins exported lawfully from Bulgaria’s fellow E.U. members even if they are subject to import restrictions. 

          The current MOU with China should be allowed to lapse.  The PRC should not be rewarded for destroying the cultural heritage of its repressed minorities.   Nor should the US reimpose import restrictions on Chinese coins when its government turns a blind eye to the counterfeiting of US historical coins.   The PRC is also the world’s most sophisticated surveillance state, and simply does not need U.S. help to stop looting.  The PRC government also prides itself on fostering a brisk trade in cultural goods, including coins.  While IAPN commends China for allowing its own citizens to collect common ancient coins, this also means that US import restrictions have the perverse effect of providing Chinese dealers and auction houses with a competitive advantage over their American counterparts.  Indeed, while the US has been enforcing its embargo on Americans importing ancient Chinese coins and other art, Chinese auction houses and dealers have been opening up shop in the US for the express purpose of exporting Chinese art bought here back to China for resale.  Thank you for listening to our concerns. 

CPAC to Meet on Jan. 30th to Consider New MOUs with North Macedonia and Uzbekistan as well as a renewal of a current MOU with Cambodia.

The State Department has provided advance notice of a Cultural Property Advisory Committee (CPAC) meeting that will take place from Jan. 30-Feb. 2, 2023.  See 

 https://eca.state.gov/highlight/cultural-property-advisory-committee-meeting-January-30-February-02-2023

During that meeting, CPAC will (1) consider extending and amending the cultural property agreement with the Government of Cambodia, (2) review a new request from the Government of North Macedonia, and (3) review a new request from the Government of Uzbekistan for cultural property import restrictions.  The Committee invites public comment on these proposals through the regulations.gov website, but that site is not active as yet.  When it does become active, comments will be accepted through Jan. 23, 2022.  CPO will be updated to include the link where to comment once a Federal Register notice with this information is published. 

The potential MOU with North Macedonia could have the most impact on coin collectors.   There is a substantial overlap among coins thought to have been struck in the area that circulated regionally in Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Kosovo, modern North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, and Turkey. Other types known to be struck elsewhere, like Alexander III tetradrachms, Roman Republican and Imperial coins, Byzantine issues, and Venetian and Ottoman coins circulated even further afield in international commerce.  That makes it impossible to assume that coins of types that circulated in these countries (and beyond) are exclusively found in North Macedonia or even that they “circulated primarily” there. 

The potential MOU with Uzbekistan could further impact Kushan and Bactrian coins which are already covered under emergency import restrictions for Afghanistan.  The same issue of regional circulation is raised for such coins which also may be found in Pakistan and India.  There is a pending MOU with Pakistan, but none with India.

In contrast, the proposed renewal of the MOU with Cambodia should raise few issues.  There currently are no import restrictions on coins and the State Department would be hard pressed to find that Cambodian coins meet the threshold requirements for either archaeological or ethnological artifacts. They don’t appear to be typically found in the ground.  Nor are they the products of tribal cultures.  Coins came to Cambodia quite late, and most were made with modern minting machinery. 

Addendum (12/22/22):  It is now possible to post comments for a renewal and possible amendment of the current MOU with Cambodia, and new proposed MOUs with North Macedonia and Uzbekistan here:  https://www.regulations.gov/document/DOS-2022-0048-0001

Summary of July 26, 2022, Cultural Property Advisory Committee Meeting to Discuss Proposed MOU Renewals with Belize and Libya

         On July 26, 2022, the US Cultural Property Advisory Committee (CPAC) met to consider proposed renewals of MOUs with Belize and Libya.  CPAC is comprised of the following members: (1) Stefan Passantino (Chairman- Public); (2) Steven Bledsoe (Public); (3) Karol Wight (Museums); (4) J.D. Demming (Public); (5) Ricardo St. Hilaire (Archaeology); (6) Joan Connelly (Archaeology); Rachael Fulton Brown (Archaeology); (7) Anthony Wisniewski (Collector-Sale of International Cultural Property); (8) Mark Hendricks (Sale of International Cultural Property); and (9) David Tamasi (International Sale of Cultural Property).  Because CPAC was meeting in person after a long hiatus due to the pandemic, it was unfortunately impossible to determine if all members were present. 

            Michelle Prior, a program officer for the Cultural Heritage Center, was also present to run the Zoom presentation.   Again, other Cultural Heritage Center staff may have been in the room, but it was impossible to tell given the Zoom image quality. 

                Chairman Passantino welcomed the speakers.  He acknowledged “familiar faces” and commented there were new speakers for this session.  He indicated that each speaker would be given 5 minutes for their presentation.  He asked Committee members to hold questions to the end.  He further indicated that speakers would be grouped, with those discussing Belize alone or Belize and Libya speaking first.

                Dr. Eleanor King (Howard University) spoke on her own behalf as well as for the Society for American Archaeology.  Belize meets all the criteria for a renewal.  Its cultural heritage is still in danger due to looting which is exacerbated by its rugged terrain and porous borders.  Belize does take self-help measures in the form of awareness campaigns against looting, posters warning about purchasing looted objects, and workshops devoted to the subject.  Import restrictions are not only the best available method to prevent importation of stolen objects, but they are also the only real ones available. Given the porous nature of Belize’s borders and the country’s restricted resources, it would be impossible to seal all exit points from the country.  Finally, there are extensive collaborative efforts between US and Belizean archaeologists.

                Dr. King’s written comments can be found here: 

https://www.regulations.gov/comment/DOS-2022-0015-0037

                Dr. Brian Daniels (Smithsonian and University of Pennsylvania) spoke on behalf of the Archaeological Institute of America (“AIA”).  Dr. Daniels indicated that the AIA’s membership comprised of approximately 200,000 professional archaeologists, corresponding members, students, and enthusiasts.  Both Belize and Libya have met all the necessary criteria for renewal.  Both Libya and Belize still suffer from looting.  Both have dedicated archaeological departments. Although the archaeological departments in Libya must answer to different governments, they operate with the same common purpose.  Dr. Daniels indicates ASOR will provide further information on Libya.  There are a host of collaborative projects with Belize.  Before the 2011 Revolution, the AIA ran tours to Libya. The AIA also ran tours to Belize before Covid.

                The AIA’s written comments on Belize can be found here:

https://www.regulations.gov/comment/DOS-2022-0015-0049

                The AIA’s written comments on Libya can be found here:

https://www.regulations.gov/comment/DOS-2022-0015-0050

                Stephen Knerly (Hahn Loeser) spoke on behalf of the Association of Art Museum Directors (“AAMD”).  He first addressed Libya.  He first questioned if Jewish artifacts can be considered Libyan state property now because antiques held prior to 1968 were not state property under Libyan law.   He noted there are a host of issues related to the scope of the designated list if CPAC decides to recommend a renewal of the MOU with Libya.  With regard to the MOU with Belize, he criticized the open-ended nature of the designated list of archaeological material, effectively being extended an extra five years with every renewal.  He also criticized the Form Article II that has been put in place in more recent agreements.  These should be tailored to the individual countries. 

                The AAMD’s written comments on Libya and Belize may be found here:

https://www.regulations.gov/comment/DOS-2022-0015-0054   

                Peter Tompa (Peter Tompa Law) spoke on behalf of the International Association of Professional Numismatists (“IAPN”).  His comments focused on Libya.  ASOR received $800,000 in State Department grants that paid for work that was then used to justify renewing this MOU.  However, on a closer look, the report ASOR submitted actually demonstrates that Libya has not taken adequate self-help measures to justify a renewal.  He also noted that one cannot assume most coins on the designated list are only found in Libya, or even that they “circulated primarily” there, which is the State Department’s own standard.  The State Department should at least be held to its own standard and the coin types that do not meet it should be delisted.  Tompa  finally indicated we should all look forward to the day Libya is at peace and the $800,000 given to ASOR to help justify a renewed MOU with Libya can instead be used to fund a Portable Antiquities Scheme in Libya. 

                Peter Tompa’s complete oral comments can be found here:

http://culturalpropertyobserver.blogspot.com/2022/07/cpac-should-focus-on-facts-not-false.html

                His personal written comments can be found here:

https://www.regulations.gov/comment/DOS-2022-0015-0012

                IAPN’s written comments on Libya may be found here:

https://www.regulations.gov/comment/DOS-2022-0015-0018

                IAPN’s written comments on Belize may be found here:

https://www.regulations.gov/comment/DOS-2022-0015-0015

                Randolph Myers spoke on behalf of the Ancient Coin Collectors Guild (“ACCG”).  He first noted that the 28-day notice provided for public comment, while far better than the 5 days allowed for comment on proposed emergency import restrictions for Afghanistan, still falls far short of the 60 days public notice period under the Administrative Procedure Act.  He also noted the injustice of import restrictions on Jewish cultural artifacts. He indicated that hoard evidence proved that most types of coins on the current designated list are found in far greater frequency outside of Libya than they are found inside Libya.  This is particularly true for the famous type with the Silphium plant on the reverse which was made to pay mercenaries from Crete.  He further indicated that the MOU has not been effective with only one Immigration and Customs Enforcement seizure of an artifact that left Libya at least 10 years prior to the MOU. 

                The ACCG’s written comments may be found here: 

https://www.regulations.gov/comment/DOS-2022-0015-0002

                Kate FitzGibbon spoke on behalf of the Committee for Cultural Policy (“CCP”) and the Global Heritage Alliance (“GHA”).  She focused on Libya.  One cannot conflate Libya and Belize.  There is no functioning government in Libya.  Reports from British archaeologists do not paint the same picture as in the ASOR report.  There is poor stewardship of Libya’s cultural heritage.  The overbroad designated list encompasses 13,000 years of Libyan history.  Ambiguities in that list recognize Libya as the de-facto custodian of the cultural heritage of its displaced Jewish population.  The MOU should be terminated.  Alternatively, CPAC should only recommend new emergency restrictions on limited numbers of cultural goods consistent with the statute. 

                The CCP’s and GHA’s written comments about Libya can be found here:

https://www.regulations.gov/comment/DOS-2022-0015-0041

                The CCP’s and GHA’s written comments about Belize can be found here:

https://www.regulations.gov/comment/DOS-2022-0015-0003

                Gina Waldman spoke on her own behalf as well as Jews Indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa (“JIMENA”).  She was born in Tripoli, from which she and her family were brutally expelled.  The driver of the bus meant to take her out of the country instead set it afire with her and her family in it.  She was saved by British Christians and eventually settled in California.  MOUs are supposed to stop looted property, but here the Libyan government was the looter.  Libya took all the Jewish community’s religious artifacts, and all its private and communal property.  Unless the current MOU is re-written to explicitly exclude Jewish and Christian property, the MOU will legitimize Libya’s confiscations of minority cultural heritage and property.  There was a carve out done in the MOU with Morocco and the same should be done here.  Libya has desecrated the synagogue where Ms. Waldman worshiped by turning it into an Islamic Center.  She has presented CPAC with a video showing this desecration.  The person who took the video was arrested and was sentenced to 8 months in a Libyan prison.  Libyan authorities have robbed the Jewish community, desecrated its synagogues, and even erected skyscrapers over its cemeteries.  Libya cannot be considered a custodian of Jewish cultural heritage.

                JIMENA’s written comments can be found here:

https://www.regulations.gov/comment/DOS-2022-0015-0048

                Raphael Luzon was born in Benghazi.  This MOU will just justify the Libyan Government’s taking of Jewish property.  CPAC should follow the Moroccan example and recommend an exemption for Jewish cultural heritage.  There needs to be a carve-out for Jewish religious articles. Libya has robbed its Jewish citizens.  He understands Libyan Jewish cultural heritage was carted up and put in a storeroom.  He does not know what happened to it.  A Synagogue he attended has now been converted into a Coptic Church. 

                David Gerbi is a doctor in psychology and the President of “ASTREL,” an organization which represents the Jews of Libya in exile.  He now lives in Israel and appeared on zoom from a museum in Israel devoted to commemorating Libya’s Jewish diaspora.  In 1967, when he was 12 years of age, he spent days hiding with his family from a rampaging mob that was looting and destroying Jewish homes and businesses.  In 2002, Ghaddafi invited him to Libya to visit his aunt, the last Libyan Jew.  Ghaddafi wanted his help in normalizing relations with the United States.  He was fearful he would suffer the same fate as Saddam Hussein.  Mr. Gerbi worked with Congressman Tom Lantos on this issue and after relations with the U.S. were normalized Qaddafi invited him to Libya in 2007 to see Jewish sites and restore DAR BISHI Synagogue.  However, during his trip he was arrested and the money he raised to restore the Synagogue was stolen.  He was deported to Malta without any money.   After he got back to Rome, there was an assassination attempt and he moved to Israel.  In 2009, Qaddafi reconciled with him and again invited him home to restore the Synagogue, but this never happened.  After the 2011 Revolution, he was invited back to serve in the government, but on his arrival, he was threatened with death and fled again with the help of the Italian Government.  He recently was invited back to Tripoli to restore Synagogues but was again threatened with death and was forced to leave again. 

                Rabbi Eric Fusfield spoke on behalf of B’nai B’rith International.  B’nai B’rith is our nation’s oldest and best-known Jewish advocacy and social service organization, promoting the rights and concerns of the Jewish community on a wide range of issues.  No issue is of greater importance to the Jewish community than the rights of the nearly one million Jewish refugees from the Middle East and North Africa.  Nowhere did this Jewish presence end more tragically than in Libya, where Jews had lived since the 4th Century B.C.E. and numbered as many as 40,000 in the early 1900s but lost their entire population as a result of anti-Semitic pogroms and immigration to Israel.  The cultural patrimony of the Libyan Jewish diaspora is gravely threatened by the absence of guarantees to custody of materials that are rightfully theirs. The Jewish community wrote a letter in December 2018 requesting the exclusion of Jewish ritual items from the current Memorandum of Understanding between the United States and Libya. However, the previous administration’s refusal to acknowledge the letter amounted to a de facto U.S. recognition of Libya’s confiscation of Jewish properties in 1958 and 1969 and to the persecution Libyan Jewry suffered at the hands of the regime.  This MOU legitimizes the confiscation of Jewish property seized by Libya’s government when Jews were forced from the country.  B’nai B’rith strongly urges the Committee to include a derogation, or carve-out, for Jewish personal and communal property should this MOU be renewed. We have seen a precedent for this in the Morocco MOU, which clearly and explicitly excluded Jewish property from its scope. To do less would be nothing short of a betrayal of American values.

                B’nai B’rith’s written comments can be found here:

https://www.regulations.gov/comment/DOS-2022-0015-0030

                 Panina Meghnagi is from the Libyan diaspora.  She had to flee her home in Tripoli with one suitcase.  Her family had to leave everything behind.  They were stripped searched on leaving the country.  Jews lived in Libya for 2,000 years before being driven out.  Their cultural heritage has been destroyed, buried under Autostradas and Skyscrapers.   There were 40,000 Jews living in Libya in the 1940’s.  Pogroms took place in the 1950s.  During the 1960’s most Jews and Christians fled the country.  She implored the Committee to “love us” and do not renew this MOU.  Morocco is a good example of a country that preserves its Jewish heritage. 

                Dr. Andrew Vaughn is the Executive Director of the American Society of Overseas Research (“ASOR”) and as Co-Director of ASOR Cultural Heritage Initiatives (“ASOR CHI”).  Dr. Vaughn participated in meetings with Libyan cultural heritage officials in Tunisia.  He was impressed with their motivation to work cooperatively to protect Libya’s cultural assets.  Government actors and supporting militias are not involved in the antiquities trade which helps with enforcement.  There have been instances where the public has returned chance finds to members of the Department of Antiquities.  He has been working with Libya’s Department of Antiquities (“DOA”) towards creating temporary exhibitions in the US of material seized under the MOU. The DOA looks on ASOR as partners.  Preservation efforts include that of materials of minority populations as a counter to extremism.  Dr. Vaughn polled Libyan cultural heritage officials who indicated that ancient coins are the most looted item.  (Note- they are also one of the most common ancient artifacts, see Tompa individual comments).

                Dr. Vaughn’s written comments on behalf of ASOR can be found here:

https://www.regulations.gov/comment/DOS-2022-0015-0051

                Will Raynolds is the co-director of ASOR-Cultural Heritage Initiative. Despite the division of the DOA under two separate governments, the separate entities work well together.  ASOR has intensive collaborations with both DOAs and smaller, local groups.  Since the signing of the MOU, there have been sincere efforts to protect Libya’s cultural heritage.  Raynolds was particularly heartened by voluntary returns of objects by Libyan citizens. 

                Raynold’s written comments on behalf of ASOR can be found here:

https://www.regulations.gov/comment/DOS-2022-0015-0038

                As more than an hour had already been devoted to public comment, Chairman Passantino asked questions from members of the Committee to be kept short. 

                An unidentified CPAC member indicated that he believed speakers from the Jewish Diaspora had made a compelling case for exempting Jewish artifacts from any new import restrictions.  He asked Dr. Vaughn about his views on the subject.  Dr. Vaughn does not answer the question, and instead indicates he is not familiar with the legal aspects of such a decision. 

                Anthony Wisniewski asked Stephen Knerly if there were credible enforcement efforts taking place in Libya.  He indicated that there are no such efforts and that is but one piece of Libya’s failure to undertake self-help measures. 

                Anthony Wisniewski pointed Kate FitzGibbon to page 18 of her submission where she discussed the State Department’s application of a “circulated primarily” standard as a trigger for import restrictions on coins.  Ms. FitzGibbon confirmed that the standard contradicts the governing statute’s limitation of import restrictions to coins “first discovered within, and subject to export control” by Libya.

                She also noted that with two DOAs in Libya there is no effective enforcement of cultural heritage laws.

                Anthony Wisniewski pointed Peter Tompa to page 7 of IAPN’s submission which discussed the current designated list for Libya.  He asked if there were any Roman Imperial coins struck in Libya.  Mr. Tompa indicated that such coins were not struck in Libya and as stated in a footnote only 0.18 % of all Roman Imperial coin hoards with Italian mint coins are found in Libya.  Anthony Wisniewski also asked about Greek Coins.  Mr. Tompa agreed with Mr. Wisniewski that the Greek designated list excludes large denomination stater and tetradrachm coins.  Mr. Tompa stated that hoard evidence indicates that Greek silver and gold coins from Libyan mints did not “circulate primarily” there because the vast majority are found outside Libya.  This includes high denomination tetradrachm coins from Cyrene and Barce as well as the stater size coins with the silphium plant on the reverse mostly found in Crete as described in Randolph Myer’s testimony.