Sale of Old Coins Irks Archaeologists 

The ACCG, a numismatic advocacy group, is currently selling ancient coins donated by its members to fund a legal challenge of recent U.S. State Department (DOS) sanctions that they say were applied contrary to law and threaten their hobby. The benefit sale, closing on August 17, is being held at the online venue http://www.vauctions.com .

In July of 2007, DOS imposed import restrictions, reportedly against the advice of its own advisory committee, on coins produced in Cyprus during antiquity. The ACCG ( http://accg.us ) contests these restrictions and may challenge the actions of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs in federal court. The guild already has the bureau in court over Freedom of Information Act issues.

Within a 1970 UNESCO resolution, coins join a long list of innocuous objects classified as cultural property. The list includes postage stamps, old books, property relating to the lives of national leaders, thinkers, scientists and artists, pictures, paintings, furniture or musical instruments, and many other objects more than 100 years old. The resolution proposes to control the transfer of these objects between nations through government-imposed regulations and restrictions. In spite of anti-collector efforts, the private collecting of coins from antiquity remains legal in virtually all of the UNESCO signatory states (though many states have various export restrictions). American coin collectors, who view personal property rights as a fundamental aspect of their citizenship, seek to affirm their rights legally in the face of what they see as overreaching regulation on the part of the U.S. government.

Contact: Wayne Sayles
417-679-2142
wgs@wgs.cc
http://www.accg.us

Source: Ancient Coin Collectors Guild

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