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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;WuntBeDruv, post: 24705273, member: 115520&quot;]Mr Davis, you are trotting out the oft-cited old chestnut that people selling finds from these countries are doing it a) as individuals, b) selling directly to the buyer, c) doing it to feed their families. This is an egregious misunderstanding of how the process actually works and who is involved in it.</p><p><br /></p><p>We&#039;re not dealing in the vast majority of instances here with individual, poverty-stricken people trying to get by. In many instances finds from places like Gaza, Syria, bits of Turkey and parts of Eastern Europe are being dug up by highly organised criminal gangs who are also involved in other types of crime. Sometimes they masquerade as practitioners of honest professions (in particular, construction work, fishing etc) to hide their activities. Looting and selling antiquities merely makes up a part of these people&#039;s &#039;criminal portfolio&#039; - and it is a very useful way of funding their other activities too. These are bad people who do bad things, intimidation, coercion and violence are their watchwords. In a few instances, there&#039;s clear evidence they are linked with terrorist groups.</p><p><br /></p><p>The trope of the poor person trying to feed their family is an attractive story to latch onto because it dispels any guilt on the part of the purchaser - the person buying the coin feels like they are directly benefitting someone down on their luck. But it is highly patronising (&#039;saviour complex&#039;), romanticised and rarely fits the reality of what lurks behind. It can in fact undermine societal stability by bankrolling those who engage in drug manufacture and human trafficking amongst other things.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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