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<p>[QUOTE="GinoLR, post: 22188256, member: 128351"]Collectors do not only collect ancient coins just for the beauty of the thing, like bunches of flowers in vases on the dining table. They also research about them, read numismatic literature, they are interested in the history behind the coins. But how can academics work if the material is taken away from within their reach, if information and metadata are purposely destroyed? </p><p>Coins have a provenance, I do not mean which collection they were previously in but where they have been found. The nicest specimens were part of hoards, and it's critical to know where a hoard was discovered, in what context, which coins were in it. When a hoard has been studied and published, it can be dispersed on the market or kept by some public academic institution like a university or a museum, so future numismatists will be able to study and analyse the coins with new methods. In all events, the top priority is the preservation of the coins' metadata. </p><p>Looters and traffickers just destroy all this info. They act like those who melt ancient gold coins to cast an anonymous ingot which will be easier to sell than a very rare coin. It's just erasing history, library arson, ISIS style destruction of non-islamic heritage. And this just for personal profit. Civilized nations cannot turn a blind eye in the name of free trade. When an important auctioning firm like Roma Numismatics cynically introduces extremely rare coins in the market with false informations about their provenance and their context, they are acting as rogue traffickers. </p><p>I personally don't know Mr Beale, never met him, never bought anything from Roma Numismatics, but I know that the firm has been ill-reputed for some time now. Some major bidders (top collectors, public institutions) refrain from bidding for extremely rare and important coins auctioned by Roma, for they don't trust their catalogues, the alleged provenances, and suspect the sale could be found illegal some day. In London, Roma Numismatics employees (even Richard Beale himself probably) have been warned. Questions were asked by journalists and academics, but the only answer they got was: "prove it". </p><p>In London the laws are in favour of unlawful cultural property concealers and handlers. I know a London collector who possessed in full light two objects stolen from antiquities storage facilities, which was proved by photographs, but had the right to keep them just by pretending he had bought them not knowing their origin. </p><p>This is why Richard Beale was arrested in New York, when he could quietly run his business in London, laughing at those who dared ask questions. Same for the person from whom he had bought looted coins, "a convicted antiquities trafficker, who is known to the District Attorney's Office", a guy who used to run his business in the USA, was caught and convicted some years ago, after what he moved to Canada and carried on his business in London, where it's safer to do it.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="GinoLR, post: 22188256, member: 128351"]Collectors do not only collect ancient coins just for the beauty of the thing, like bunches of flowers in vases on the dining table. They also research about them, read numismatic literature, they are interested in the history behind the coins. But how can academics work if the material is taken away from within their reach, if information and metadata are purposely destroyed? Coins have a provenance, I do not mean which collection they were previously in but where they have been found. The nicest specimens were part of hoards, and it's critical to know where a hoard was discovered, in what context, which coins were in it. When a hoard has been studied and published, it can be dispersed on the market or kept by some public academic institution like a university or a museum, so future numismatists will be able to study and analyse the coins with new methods. In all events, the top priority is the preservation of the coins' metadata. Looters and traffickers just destroy all this info. They act like those who melt ancient gold coins to cast an anonymous ingot which will be easier to sell than a very rare coin. It's just erasing history, library arson, ISIS style destruction of non-islamic heritage. And this just for personal profit. Civilized nations cannot turn a blind eye in the name of free trade. When an important auctioning firm like Roma Numismatics cynically introduces extremely rare coins in the market with false informations about their provenance and their context, they are acting as rogue traffickers. I personally don't know Mr Beale, never met him, never bought anything from Roma Numismatics, but I know that the firm has been ill-reputed for some time now. Some major bidders (top collectors, public institutions) refrain from bidding for extremely rare and important coins auctioned by Roma, for they don't trust their catalogues, the alleged provenances, and suspect the sale could be found illegal some day. In London, Roma Numismatics employees (even Richard Beale himself probably) have been warned. Questions were asked by journalists and academics, but the only answer they got was: "prove it". In London the laws are in favour of unlawful cultural property concealers and handlers. I know a London collector who possessed in full light two objects stolen from antiquities storage facilities, which was proved by photographs, but had the right to keep them just by pretending he had bought them not knowing their origin. This is why Richard Beale was arrested in New York, when he could quietly run his business in London, laughing at those who dared ask questions. Same for the person from whom he had bought looted coins, "a convicted antiquities trafficker, who is known to the District Attorney's Office", a guy who used to run his business in the USA, was caught and convicted some years ago, after what he moved to Canada and carried on his business in London, where it's safer to do it.[/QUOTE]
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