Please forgive this intrusion. Whether you collect coins over 250 years old or not, this is an issue that should concern not only every coin collector, but any world citizen who believes in the right to own property, and the rule of law. The question being considered by a secretive, unelected panel in Washington DC is whether coins, which have passed freely from hand to hand for centuries according to the intent of their issuers, have morphed into something that radical archaeologists and nationalistic politicians call "cultural property," which you are not fit to own. And the practical question this biased and unaccountable committee will decide in two weeks is whether U.S. Customs will be mandated to seize virtually all older coins they think are of Italian origin, with no practical recourse. Your fax can help stop this threat to our hobby.

The U.S. State Department has announced a date of May 6-7 for Cultural Property Advisory Committee hearings on the request for renewal of the Memorandum of Understanding with Italy. In practical terms, the U.S. government is about to decide whether antiquities and other forms of cultural property that Italy claims as its heritage ought to be restricted from entry into the U.S. unless accompanied by Italian export permits. There is already such an agreement in place, but ancient coins have been exempted twice before in these renewal requests that cover a 5-year window. We have very good reason to believe that Italy and certain members of the archaeological community will this time seek to add coins to the list of restricted items. There is a period open for public comment on the issue only until April 22 and the best way to comment is by fax.

Why oppose these import restrictions? Because Roman coins are at the very core of the cultural experience that we all treasure. They have circulated all over the known world in antiquity and since through trade and collector markets. It is impossible to distinguish a Roman coin found in Britain, for example, from exactly the same type, mint, etc. found in Italy. Requiring an export permit from Italy on a coin found and legally exported from Britain would not only be impractical, it would not have any legal foundation. Still, any court challenge by an individual is unlikely since the legal costs usually far exceed the value of seized objects. Import restrictions are simply not a viable solution to protecting archaeological sites. They are an idealist panacea that cause far more harm to society than any possible good. Excluding the U.S. collector and trade from the legitimate world market for Roman coins, or unilaterally forcing draconian documentation req
uirements on Americans, would be grossly prejudicial and would certainly be against the interests of American citizens and their traditional freedoms.

If restrictions are imposed, Customs will treat any coin on the designated list as presumptively stolen from Italy. The importer can only rebut that presumption with an Italian export license or through certifications of the exporter and importer detailing provenance back to the date when the restrictions were imposed (which is often unavailable-- and even more impossible to procure as time goes on). This rule would only discriminate against American collectors. Collectors in the EU-- including in Italy itself-- do not have to make such a showing when they purchase ancient coins.

While archaeologists are rightly concerned about looting of archaeological sites, the guilty until proven innocent remedy suggested represents overkill and will only act to punish those who want to abide by the law.

The US State Department has announced an extremely short two week time
frame for commenting on the renewal of the current Memorandum Of Understanding with Italy. Comments must be submitted by April 22.

If you are interested in commenting about the upcoming MOU and the
possible inclusion of coins from the Greek and Roman cultures of
Italy, you can take advantage of the Ancient Coin Collectors Guild Fax Wizard. See
http://www.accg.us/issues/news/fax-wizard-is-open-for-comment-to-us-state-department or http://www.vcoins.com/fax/

For further information, please see on my website http://www.joelscoins.com/majorthreat.html

Thank you for your help.

Joel Anderson
www.joelscoins.com
PO Box 365
Grover Beach, CA 93483-0365