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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Tejas, post: 6551846, member: 84905&quot;]My point about money laundering was actually not meant as a joke. I attended an auction last year where one bidder bought all gold coins at excessive prices. The auctioneer was slightly embarrassed having to award one coin after another to one and the same bidder number, represented by a dealer in the room. Maybe the buyer was just keen to buy about 100 aurei in one go at whatever prices it took, but it is also possible that this was a money laundering scheme. It would not be the first time that the arts market was abused for money laundering purposes.</p><p><br /></p><p>People with ill gotten money and ancient coins (e.g. smuggled out of a country where export of antiquities is illegal, such a Ukraine) take the coins to an auction house. The people with the dirty money bid up the prices. The proceeds go to the person with the coins (who is probably the same as the person who has the dirty money). The auction house gets its commission, and out comes clean legal money and clean legal coins with a provenance.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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