[MSN] FW: Cyprus Import Restrictions Signing Ceremony

[Museum Security Network Mailing list]

Dear list members,

In regard to Mr. Welsh’s ‘commentary’ on the dialogue
between Under Secretary Burns and Ambassador Kakouris
at the Cyprus MOA signing ceremony, I feel some of his
remarks were oversimplified.

The problem of plunder is one of global concern.  The
simple fact that there are not multitudes of
publications directly addressing the looting of
ancient coins from archaeological sites in Cyprus does
not mean that it is not being done.  Especially since,
until recent years, little attention has been paid to
the trade in ancient coins and illegal excavations to
procure them.  In fact, ancient coins are among the
most widely collected objects from the ancient world
and hundreds of thousands or even millions of these
are sold in American marketplaces alone each year.  In
1993, McFadden estimated that 80% of ancient coins in
the marketplace were dug up within the past 30 years
and that number is probably even greater today since
technological advances have allowed metal detectorists
to plunder sites with increasing speed and
thoroughness and since the fall of the Iron Curtain
has prompted the widespread looting of archaeological
sites in Eastern Europe.  Indeed, many coins on the
American marketplace come from looted sites in Eastern
Europe and many coin dealers (especially dealers of
bulk lots on VCoins and eBay) acknowledge this in
their item descriptions that their coins come from
Eastern Europe.  One published report indicates that a
single smuggler shipped a ton (c. 340,000) ancient to
the United States, where they have presumably filled
dealer inventories and been sold on the market.  (See
R. Dietrich. 2002. “Cultural Property on the Move –
Legally, Illegally,” International Journal of Cultural
Property 11.2: 294-304).  Additionally, if coin
dealers do not fill their inventories with ‘fresh’
coins from Cyprus or any other state, then it is
difficult to understand the obsessive interest of the
ancient coin dealer lobby in America in Cyprus’
request and the U.S. government’s response. 

The commentary also alleged a secretive collusion
between the ‘archaeology lobby,’ the U.S. State
Department, and the government of Cyprus in order to
extend the agreement and include coins.  This
allegation is false, however, since the public (both
archaeological professionals, coin collectors and
dealers, and the general public) had an identical
amount of time to voice their concern to CPAC.  Both
sides had the opportunity to make their concerns known
and those who did not favor the import restrictions
did make their voice heard.  In fact, the Executive
Director of the ancient coin dealer lobby (the Ancient
Coin Collectors Guild) reported on the Moneta-L list
on Yahoo groups that 1,069 faxes were sent supporting
“collector’s rights” from individuals using the fax
wizard on the ACCG’s webpage alone.  Welsh’s assertion
that the Cultural Property Advisory Committee was
“packed” with “members aligned with the archaeology
lobby is a gross falsification.  The current
composition of the advisory committee (which is
slightly different than earlier this year when the
Cyprus issue was on the table) includes one
archaeologist, two anthropologists, two museum
employees (one of whom is also a professor of law),
three members of the general pubic and two
international sales experts (see
http://exchanges.state.gov/culprop/committee.html). 
Although this committee is not identical to the one in
place earlier this year, I do recall that a coin
dealer from Heritage Auction Galleries, a firm which
deals in ancient and modern coins, was a member of the
committee. 

It is also stated that the State Department’s decision
to extend and include coins in agreement with Cyprus
alienated a majority of Americans in order to promote
short term relations with the government of Cyprus. 
We must assume, however, that ancient coin collectors
in the United States number only in the thousands and
cannot represent a majority of American interests.  In
fact, a 2000 Harris Interactive poll (see
http://www.saa.org/pubEdu/nrptdraft4.pdf) indicated
that 96% of a random sampling of American adults
supported laws to protect cultural heritage.  Are the
ambassador’s words, “It may be your hobby, but it’s
our heritage,” really that disparaging to the American
people at large?  For the sake of argument, I wonder
how outraged the American government and the American
people would be if there were a large demand for early
American artifacts in European or Asian markets and
our own historic battlefield or colonial sites began
to be looted to fill the inventories of foreign
dealers and the collections of foreign collectors. 
Foreign governments are free to adopt their own laws
to protect cultural heritage, but the only hope for
any degree of success is if nations that import
cultural heritage, such as the U.S., are willing to
combat the illicit trade in antiquities and respect
one another’s laws. 

-----------------------------------
Nathan T. Elkins, B.A., M.A.
Ph.D. Candidate, Greek and Roman Art and Archaeology
Dept. of Art History and Archaeology
The University of Missouri - Columbia
http://students.missouri.edu/~ahagsa/whoweare.html

2006-2007 DAAD Visiting Researcher, Institut für
Archäologische Wissenschaften
The Johann Wolfgang Goethe Universität, Frankfurt am
Main, Germany




       
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