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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Orielensis, post: 6451714, member: 96898&quot;]I am very confused by the whole statement. I limit myself to the four weirdest points:</p><p><br /></p><p>1.) Quote from UW library: &quot;Beyond their value as currency, ancient coins like these represent the beginning of communication and bookmaking.&quot;</p><p>I have absolutely no idea why ancient coins should represent the beginning of communication, or what they have to do with the origins of bookmaking. Writing by far predates coinage. The earliest cuneiform records are commonly dated to the 34th century BC, while the earliest known coins come from the 7th century BC. If UW library issued such a statement, that doesn&#039;t speak very well of the education of their staff.</p><p><br /></p><p>2.) Quote from HSI: &quot;HSI consulted with subject matter experts, who determined the coins were authentic and showed signs of Bronze Disease, which is an indication the coins were taken from the ground illegally.&quot;</p><p>Why should a typical chemical reaction of bronze with chlorides be any indication of whether an object was excavated and imported legally or illegally? The reasoning behind this is obscure to me.</p><p><br /></p><p>3.) Quote from HSI: &quot;A cursory examination and research determined some of the coins appeared similar to coins found on the Red List of Afghanistan Antiquities at Risk and no government representative from Afghanistan (or elsewhere) made claim to the coins.&quot;</p><p>The 26 coins shown in the article consist of:</p><p>- 14 Afghan silver coins from the 19th century. These are about as ancient as Morgan dollars and younger than some coins still circulating in Switzerland. It would thus surprise me if they were subject to any import or export restrictions, but I don&#039;t know much about this topic.</p><p>- 5 early medieval Abbasid and Umayyad dirhams clearly not minted in Afghanistan but, according to the collector tickets, in Iraq.</p><p>- 4 ancient Kushan bronze coins which, since the location of Kushan mints is uncertain, might have been minted in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, or India.</p><p>- 2 medieval Ghaznavid coins which might have been produced in Iran, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, or Pakistan.</p><p>- 1 ancient Roman provincial coin from Macedonia.</p><p>The only coins of undoubtedly Afghan origin in this group (representing about half of the seized coins) thus are the modern ones. The vast age difference of the coins furthermore shows that this is not a hoard find but a numismatic collection likely assembled from different sources by a collector generally interested in central Asian coinage. I therefore wonder how it is possible to support the claim that all of these were imported illegally from Afganistan and the surrounding countries, and thus had to be seized.</p><p><br /></p><p>4.) Quote from HSI: &quot;The individual in possession of the coins had no legal provenance to validate if they were lawfully acquired and imported to the United States.&quot;</p><p>I am very interested in what counts as &#039;legal provenance&#039; in such cases. For example, when I moved internationally with my coin collection in my hand luggage, I had a binder with receipts and invoices from coin dealers and auction houses with me. Would that be enough? (I wasn&#039;t stopped by customs, thus I had no chance to find out.)[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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