By Richard Giedroyc, World Coin News March 10, 2010

The “Around the World” column of World Coin News, has been reporting some of the efforts to discourage the United States from entering into agreements with such countries as China, Cyprus, Greece, Italy, and Turkey regarding the repatriation of antiquities including coins that are determined to be the cultural patrimony of any of those nations.

The 1970 UNESCO agreement, to which the United States is not yet a signatory, that would obligate the U.S. to seize and returning such objects from museums and private collections has also been the subject of this column.

What we as coin collectors don’t see is the proverbial “other side of the coin” – why these countries are so adamant about protecting their cultural patrimony. Is it greed on the part of these governments, or in some situations is it that they want to safeguard their culture from irresponsible plunder?

Cyprus has been in the news recently for this reason. On Feb. 25 the island nation announced it had arrested 10 people and was seeking others in what local authorities are calling the largest antiquities theft case in Cyprus’s history.

The antiquities involved are from several historical periods described by the press as ranging from the Copper Age to about 400 B.C. Police didn’t provide details regarding the coins involved, however United Press International quoted Cyprus Antiquities Curator Maria Hadjicosti as saying, “Most of the artifacts are urns primarily found around the southern coastal towns of Limassol and Paphos … Some of the coins could date to Hellenistic and Roman times.”

Several press reports indicated the seized coins are composed of copper and silver. Other objects seized included clay and limestone figurines, small gold objects, and a curious small gold coffin likely to have originated from somewhere other than Cyprus.

The locations from which the coins and artifacts were discovered is important, since northern Cyprus is controlled by Turkey, while the rest of the island is ethnically Greek. Authorities from Greece as well as British authorities from local military bases on the island cooperated with the Cypriot police in the sweep. The coins and other artifacts were said to have been hidden in homes, storage sheds, and vehicles.

Cypriot law enforcement was seeking another five persons at the time this article was being written, with indications at least one of these suspects is from Syria. This could be important since the gold coffin and some of the other “dozens” of ancient artifacts and coins seized may not be able to be attributed to Cyprus, according to several press reports.

The same press reports indicated the seized items have a market value of about €11 million or about $5.5 million US.

Cyprus Communications Minister Nicos Nicolaides was quoted by the British Broadcasting Corporation as saying, “This is our heritage and the most precious things we have so they should be made safe.”

The Feb. 25 Straits Times newspaper commented about Nicolaides’ statement, saying: “The case also raises questions about security surrounding the island’s archaeological sites.”

Reports indicated the coins and other objects were planned to be sold to an unnamed person on Cyprus, rather than to be smuggled directly out of the country. Police, however, are also investigating if the suspects are linked to a much wider international smuggling network.

It is smuggling activities such as these in which coins and other objects have been looted from archaeological sites that fuel the arguments for the United States and other nations to sign the UNESCO 1970 and other agreements regarding repatriation of cultural patrimony. On the other hand, it can be argued that if the antiquities laws weren’t so strict, the antiquities trade wouldn’t be driven underground, encouraging such illegal activities.



Richard Giedroyc is a full-time coin dealer based in Ohio. He can be contacted at Giedroyc@Bright.net.



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