Trumped Up Charges?

The report that Egyptian customs officials have seized historical coins from a Sudanese citizen on his way to Australia should raise some questions.  First, the coins appear to be modern or though old, of little value.  Second, the claim they "were likely stolen from the Islamic museum" seems a bit odd.  Does the museum really hold such insignificant modern items in its stores?  Also, didn't prior reports suggest the museum was bombed not looted?  Finally, there is the fact that the perpetrator is Sudanese, a people who have suffered discrimination in Egypt.  Could this be little more than a story about customs officials finding some old coins on a passenger and jumping to conclusions to help justify the seizure?  One thing is for sure, such a story will provide little justification for efforts to impose US import restrictions on historic Egyptian coins of the sort widely and legally collected world-wide (except these days in Egypt).

Is the Latest Bulgarian Bust for Real?

Despite the uncritical coverage in the archaeological blogosphere, one has to wonder about the accuracy of recent press reports that claim Bulgarian police have smashed a ring of  Thracian tomb raiders.  Though admittedly the photo that accompanies the story is not very clear, from what I can tell it only shows bright, regularly shaped modern coins and artifacts.  One would expect instead to see darkly colored patinas associated with long burials if this is really a major bust of "tomb raiders."

During CPAC's consideration of the proposed Bulgarian MOU, it was revealed that Bulgaria's corrupt police all too often hype such seizures in order to make it appear that their efforts are far more effective than they truly are in reality.   The picture accompanying this story raises the question if the Bulgarian police are still more interested in looking good rather than doing good in their jobs.  Hopefully, there will be some clarification of whether the image is that of the actual seizure and, if so, whether the coins are of ancient or modern origin.

Looting, Police Work and the Italian MOU

The New York Times has reported looting is on the decline in Italy due to the Carabinieri's police work. See http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/01/14/world/AP-EU-Italy-Looted-Antiquities.html?_r=2 (noting that "the number of illegal archaeological excavations discovered in 2009 decreased dramatically, from 238 in 2008 to just 58 in 2009.").

Import restrictions on ancient artifacts from Italy (excluding coins) have been in place since 2001. Such restrictions (and their shifting of the burden of proof onto collectors, museums and dealers importing cultural goods) are meant to be a temporary measure to give the source country in question time to gain control of its looting problem.

With Italy's successes, one wonders why we are even talking about extending import restrictions under the Italian MOU. Hasn't the time come to again allow Americans to enjoy imported ancient artifacts from Italy ("documented" or not)-- just as fellow collectors do in the EU?

South American Sisto Case?

The Sun Sentinel reports that the FBI has repatriated Pre-Columbian artifacts found in the home of a deceased Florida businessman to Peru and Ecuador. See http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/florida/fl-fbi-precolumbian-artifacts-20091201,0,3969102.story

A retirement home manager found the collection in the man's home when she was preparing the property for resale. She called in the FBI "after searching the Internet" and determining that the objects "were illegal to possess."

The businessman apparently had no heirs (or perhaps no one looked very hard to find them) so there was no one with an interest in asking if the retirement home manager was "jumping to a conclusion."

The FBI and Florida International University apparently were not interested in anything other than identifying which cultures produced the objects so they could be repatriated to the governments of the modern nation states that occupy the land that produced them.

This incident reminds me of the recent Sisto case and some of the the issues that raised. For more, see http://culturalpropertyobserver.blogspot.com/search?q=Sisto

I also am also highly dubious of the claim of the FBI agent in the video that suggests that these artifacts will be put on display in Peru and Ecuador. Both countries have large stashes of similar artifacts in storage. The public typically never sees such artifacts, and, indeed, they may be subject to deterioration or theft.

eBay Germany Cancels Ancient Coin Auctions

eBay Germany has cancelled ancient coin auctions under new rules requiring provenance information for even common items deemed to be archaeological in nature. See: http://groups.google.com/group/museum-security-network/browse_thread/thread/c11ad318b0a62d40?hl=en

The allusions to the Third Reich in the above thread may be needlessly inflammatory, but they reflect real frustration with eBay Germany and the authorities' construction of Germany's recent law implementing the 1970 UNESCO Convention. Adding fuel to the fire, one has to also assume that eBay's action is related to the recent seizures of entire coin collections based on the unknowing purchase of just several "suspect coins" on eBay. See: http://culturalpropertyobserver.blogspot.com/2009/02/more-on-german-coin-collection-seizures.html

I am no expert on German law, but based on my experience here in the United States, I do wonder whether the eBay Germany regulations and seizures are based on a fair reading of the governing law or some distorted version of the same being promoted by "hardliners" in the German archaeological community.

Presumably, eBay and the authorities will be called to justify their actions by members of the German numismatic community. We can only wait and see what comes of it.

German Police Run Amok Over Provenance Requirements

Various numismatic discussion lists have posted worrisome stories about the heavy handed activities of German police. In one case, German police seized a pensioner's entire coin collection after he bought four coins on an Internet auction site (eBay?). Apparently, unbeknown to pensioner, the seller was under some sort of police investigation related to cultural property issues. Hopefully, these stories are a bit overblown and this seizure and any others are just isolated incidents and the collections will be ultimately be returned to their owners. Still, such stories provide credence to the view that the recently imposed import restrictions (and their provenance requirements) on ancient coins of ancient Cypriot and Chinese type are just the beginning of a very slippery slope, here in the US as well.

In my opinion, just as troubling is news that "hardliners" within the archaeological community applaud such overzealous actions, presumably under the theory that it will "teach collectors a lesson" only to purchase coins with long established provenances (which, of course, do not exist for most coins). One thing is for sure. Those archaeologists who take pleasure in the pain of that German pensioner only feed into stereotypes of the archaeological community as a whole amongst collectors.

Here is a translation of one of the stories.

German Numismatists Ring the Alarm Bells

German cultural authorities have begun searching private homes and seizing entire collections of antique coins, if provenance of only a few coins in the collection is not documented. These invasions are being conducted under the new German laws on importation of cultural property. Coins being subjected to such scrutiny are not restricted to ancient coins presumed to have been excavated - medieval and antique modern coins are also subject to the same measures. In one case, a pensioner from the Thuringian Eisenberg recently acquired four old coins on an Internet auction site. Shortly afterwards his house was searched, ending with seizure of his entire collection. Collectors are understandably alarmed, because very few coins in their collections have provenances that will satisfy the new laws. When a collection becomes suspect only a short time is being allowed to prove licit origin before the collection is seized, and then even if the suspicion is unfounded, it is very difficult to recover the collection.

Not only coins, but all "cultural objects" more than 100 years old are subject to these new cultural laws, leading to fears that stamp collections, collections of graphic arts and antique jewelry may also be targeted. The list of "cultural objects" in the 1970 UNESCO Convention is very extensive, including such common things as coins, postage stamps, photographs and printed books.The new laws on importation of cultural property became effective in September 2008, after the German government finally gave in to demands that importation of unprovenanced coins and other artifacts should be prevented, because archaeologists allege that looting of archaeological sites is driven by the collecting market. This allegation is unproven - no verifiable, factual evidence has yet been presented to support it.

There is however significant evidence that looting would continue unabated even if collecting could be prevented in Europe and other areas where cultural property laws are respected. Meanwhile German coin collectors now feel completely insecure, like criminals suspected of breaking the law. According to Ulf Draeger - head of the Moritzburg Landesmünzkabinetts and chairman of the German Society of Medallic Arts - the entry into force of these new laws, despite their laudable intentions, has led to significant collateral damage in only a short time. His conclusion: "If this situation continues, then we can pack up."

For a summary in English see http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Unidroit-L/message/3348For the original articles in German seehttp://www.numismatische-gesellschaft.de/http://tinyurl.com/dfc7sphttp://tinyurl.com/bc8pqz

Google's translator conveys the sense of these articles for those who cannot read German.