Oppose the MOU with Italy--Write now!

I suppose you know there are people who oppose ancient-coin collecting. They have some political power and repeatedly ask for collecting to be shut down by prohibiting the import of various categories of ancient coins. The MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) with Italy is up now and comments are accepted from the public until July 8. I hope you will write a comment. It could be very short, but it should oppose the renewal or extension of restrictions on imports of ancient coins originally from Italy.

I noticed this because Ed Waddell wrote an e-mail today,

"Once again we are requesting for our collector friends and colleagues to send comments to the US State Department. It is to argue against the continued restrictions on the importation of Greek and Roman coins that were produced in Italy. The deadline for comments is July 8. While many of our past lobbying efforts have fallen on deaf ears, we have made some important strides with exemptions. This issue is more important than most as it potentially affects the ability to import many commonly traded Roman coins.

"This government regulation or MOU is up for renewal every five years. Since 2011 when this restriction first applied to ancient coins, it has covered Greek coins produced in Italy as well as the earliest Roman coins. However, the vast bulk of Roman Republican and all Roman Imperial coins have thus far been exempt. This time, certain segments of American archaeological associations will likely push for the extension of restrictions to all Roman coins.

"While there are many Roman coins already in the USA that would be unaffected, it would reduce the number of coins that could enter. This reduction along with the additional costs of importation to include required documentation would likely lead to increased prices. While many of the most expensive coins do have pedigrees, there are many coins such as high grade common denarii that lacked sufficient value in the past to have recorded provenances. A strong market in Roman coins would continue even if the regulations were extended as we have learned to live with other MOUs and diligently research pedigrees. However, it would limit our ability to import some coins and generally make the dealers’ lives more difficult.

"It would be helpful for comments to request that all ancient coins produced in Italy be exempt from the restrictions. Most of these coins circulated throughout Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. Therefore Italy should have no claim on them today. It would be especially important to request that there would be no extension of the current restrictions to all Roman coins.

"For further information including suggested comments, please see < http://culturalpropertyobserver.blogspot.com/2020/06/please-help-save-roman-imperial-coin.html> by Peter Tompa, the cultural property attorney who represents the IAPN in these matters."

You can see what others have written here:
https://www.regulations.gov/docket?D=DOS-2020-0022

The link directly to the comments section is here:
https://www.regulations.gov/searchResults?rpp=25&po=0&s=DOS-2020-0022&fp=true&ns=true

I wrote a long comment opposing the inclusion of ancient coins in the MOU.

This is not a joke. Do you want your coins coming from Europe confiscated?

 

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here's another topic on this --

https://www.cointalk.com/threads/renewal-of-restrictions-on-coins-from-italy-cpac-meeting.362358/

 

If you want to give yourself high blood pressure and simultaneously inspire yourself to speak out, just spend some time browsing the blog of the notorious Paul Barford, a British archaeologist living in Poland and one of the leading voices of the "anti-coin collecting" movement. http://paul-barford.blogspot.com/

 

I don’t have a dog in this fight, but I hope that those who do, write.
When they made new import regulations for collectibles in Norway, the new rule was that the coin had to have been legal tender in the country it was sold from, to avoid 20% import tax.
I have had the pleasure of returning the bills from the government along with a map of the Roman empire several times.

 

I have submitted my comment in objection to renewal and expansion of the Italy MOU. The government site currently shows only 35 public submissions have been made. I know there are more US-based collectors than that in this discussion group alone. Please submit comment before the July 8th deadline!

 

I have said this before:

I wonder if these archaeologists EVER keep ANYTHING from a site.

I would love for the Authorities to go through the HOMES and PERSONAL POSSESSIONS of all those folks who want to stop all collecting. If they have ANYTHING that is Ancient or fall under these ridiculous "laws / MOU's / Etc." they should be prosecuted to the FULLEST. They should be the absolute FIRST examples of the laws and rules they espouse.

The example starts at the sponsor, with the strictest scrutiny.

Yeah, I have a dog in the fight! Ain't NOBODY coming to get MY DOG! MOLON LABE...

ROMAN Republic,
Aes Grave Issue, Æ Quadrans, 59.82g
Mint of Rome Anonymous issue
Obv: dog walking left, three pellets below
Rev six-spoked wheel, three pellets between
Ref: Cr 26/6a; Thurlow-Vecchi 34
Comments Dark green patina, fine.
Ex: from the David Sellwood Collection

(And, yes, I do know it is for only future incoming items... but, how are we sure that it honestly stops THERE?)

 

There should be at least 36 now. I've submitted my comment.

 

It seems that the count doesn't update immediately. I'm "assuming" mine was submitted successfully but the count hasn't changed for at least a day here.

 

I show only 26 comments right now. The one I wrote earlier today is not on there.

This is all so depressing.

 

It takes a day or two for comments to be posted to the website. CPAC needs to confirm it's not pornographic or offensive first. I recall this from the last MOU - not because my comment was pornographic, but because it took a few days to appear. I think the website also states that the comment will be reviewed before posting.

 

I posted my comment, to wit:

As a long time coin collector of ancient coins, I believe allowing new language restricting the import of Roman Republican and Imperial coinage into the MOU would be a grave mistake. First of all, the territories controlled by the Republic and Empire were vast, with an extensive system of mints in both Europe, Western Asia, and the Middle East, not necessarily Italy per se. The coinage circulated far and wide, for centuries. It's hard to see how restrictions will benefit Italy given this fact. If collecting were restricted and newly found coins had to be placed in museums then consider how few museums actually display the coins in their possession. Rather, tens of thousands of collectors actively involved in the presentation and exchange of their coins offers a much better system for preserving cultural heritage and the history behind the coins than something which is inaccessible to the average citizen. I hope these comments are taken into consideration as the effective date for the MOU approaches.

 

Number of comments now up to 90. Still only 26 shown, but that will change daily.

 

This really has nothing to do with coins, but I've long wondered why ancient Greek statues and other art discovered in Italy are considered by the Italian government to be part of Italian cultural heritage, and to belong to the Italian state, given that a large percentage of them ended up in Italy only because (a) they were looted or stolen by the ancient Romans, or bought at extortionately low prices by virtue of their position as conquerors and imperialist occupiers, or (b) they were created by the inhabitants of the Greek colonies in Southern Italy and Sicily, all of whom probably considered themselves to be culturally Greek.

 

Done. Thanks for shining a light on this. I hope our words don't fall on deaf ears...

 

Deleted - possible error

 

None that I have ever known would, but that can't be a blanket statement.

The value to an archaeologist is the knowledge gained and spiriting away any object, coin or otherwise, would undermine the integrity of their work and compromise funding and sponsorship for future work. If there is a flaw to this type of academic it is displayed by the types of attitude DonnaML pointed out in Paul Bradford; academic snobbery. This very snobbery would make them even less interested in compromising their work.

-Cheers

 

Deadline for comments has been extended from July 8 to July 14. Wayne Sayles believes it is to drum up more support from archaeologists to comment.

Please continue to submit your comments asking for the MOU to lapse.

 

I wrote as well. Among other points I mentioned there are millions in the US alone with Italian heritage and cultural affiliation. Are we to be denied because we are no longer bound by the geography of Italy? Can we not share and explain our heritage with our progeny?

I think even the Carthaginians would support us on this.

 

What is the reason for the restrictions? I'd like to be objective about it and not just do a knee jerk reaction. Maybe there is a good reason for the restrictions?

 

I saw an article on the television concerning museums that have coins and other collectibles that are sitting in drawers in storage that will never see the light of day due to the number of items that the government in the United States have seized. They reported one case that when a custodian passed, he had willed all of his collectibles to the Smithsonian, but when they checked them in, they belonged to them, but due to them sitting in drawers and other storage facilities, no one knew they were missing. Evidently, the Smithsonian does not do a regular inventory to ensure nothing is missing.
Just how many of the coins that are referred to in this forum are they talking about that they want returned? This is the first time I have read this article, so I'm a little late to send anything. Anyway, 99% of my collection is U.S. I hope they don't want us to return our collections to the Smithsonian!