Italian Cultural Heritage Export Licence

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by fred13, Jun 1, 2021.

  1. fred13

    fred13 Junior Member

    I recently won a French 15th Century coin from an Italian Auction house and the auction house is asking me for an additional 20 euros along with a 6-8 week wait period to obtain said licence. Is this a correct interpretation of the law as it should be or is the auction house potentially misinformed?

    If it was an Ancient Roman coin fair game but under the pretext above I'm ever confused. Looking up the law on google also appears to lead to more questions than answers.

    For what its worth the coin is minted minted in a French city that was never apart of Italy and under a French King(Francois I)

    I reckon someone here has had to deal with the above so I reckon couldn't hurt to get some deeper insight than the broken english reply I'll get from the auction house :)
     
    ominus1, rrdenarius and DonnaML like this.
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  3. ycon

    ycon Renaissance Man

    I don't know the law precisely but this is very standard for Italian Auction Houses. I believe that any object over about 100 years old, residing in the country, is subject to the cultural heritage export rules, so the place of manufacture does not matter. Just out of curiosity, was your win from Bolaffi?
     
    ominus1 likes this.
  4. tibor

    tibor Supporter! Supporter

    Late November 2019 I won a 1495 German gold gulden. After I paid,I
    was told the same 6-8 week wait for export license. December and January
    roll by and nothing. After several Emails I was told mid March that the
    Italian government was shut down due to COVID. Offices open up part
    time mid July. Nothing. Another Email and I find out that the whole
    country shuts down in August for a nation wide vacation. Mid September I
    get a package that looked like it barely survived the Pallio in Sienna.
    I will light candles and say a prayer for you and the quick arrival of
    your package.
     
    Last edited: Jun 2, 2021
  5. tibor

    tibor Supporter! Supporter

    I-376a  Brandenberg Gold.jpg
    This is the coin in question.
     
  6. tibor

    tibor Supporter! Supporter

    @ycon Mine was from Bolaffi. I think they should have an icon with each
    lot that will have to go thru this process.
     
  7. ycon

    ycon Renaissance Man

    I believe they have an icon for all coins that *don't* go through the process (because they've been temporarily imported from abroad). When bidding with Italian auction houses patience is virtue sorely needed... I often try to bid/buy from the San Marino based firms (Artemide, Nomisma) because they don't have the same export restrictions.
     
  8. rrdenarius

    rrdenarius non omnibus dormio

    one of my favorite Italian sellers had had this note on his web site for a while:
    Please note: SHIPPING only to ITALY & EU.
    The note applies to sale of modern and not controlled items. He said getting papers to ship to non-EU countries is too difficult, partly due to covid.
     
    fred13 likes this.
  9. fred13

    fred13 Junior Member


    Thats good to know I do appreciate the insight and yes from Bolaffi. I suppose it can't be helped. The laws are what they are. Lighting the candle and saying a prayer that my story doesn't resemble the tragic comedy that is Tibors gold gulden is all I can do at this point . I'll update this thread in time to share my experience.
     
    ominus1 likes this.
  10. fred13

    fred13 Junior Member

    I'm unsure of whether to laugh more or to cry more haha. I am glad you obtained the coin though!
     
    tibor and ominus1 like this.
  11. Andrew McCabe

    Andrew McCabe Well-Known Member

    I bought a book from an Italian seller recently. It came with the same format export permit as one sees for coins (but rarely nowadays). Seller had obtained the export permit prior to offering the book for sale.
     
    rrdenarius likes this.
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