Collections Confiscated - Coin Collectors criminalized
Dave Welsh
German cultural authorities have begun searching private homes and seizing
entire collections of antique coins, if provenance of only a few coins in
the collection is not documented. These invasions are being conducted under
the new German laws on importation of cultural property. Coins being
subjected to such scrutiny are not restricted to ancient coins presumed to
have been excavated - medieval and antique modern coins are also subject to
the same measures. In one case, a pensioner from the Thuringian Eisenberg
recently acquired four old coins on an Internet auction site. Shortly
afterwards his house was searched, ending with seizure of his entire
collection. Collectors are understandably alarmed, because very few coins in
their collections have provenances that will satisfy the new laws. When a
collection becomes suspect only a short time is being allowed to prove licit
origin before the collection is seized, and then even if the suspicion is
unfounded, it is very difficult to recover the collection.
Not only coins, but all "cultural objects" more than 100 years old are
subject to these new cultural laws, leading to fears that stamp collections,
collections of graphic arts and antique jewelry may also be targeted. The
list of "cultural objects" in the 1970 UNESCO Convention is very extensive,
including such common things as coins, postage stamps, photographs and
printed books.
The new laws on importation of cultural property became effective in
September 2008, after the German government finally gave in to demands that
importation of unprovenanced coins and other artifacts should be prevented,
because archaeologists allege that looting of archaeological sites is driven
by the collecting market. This allegation is unproven - no verifiable,
factual evidence has yet been presented to support it.
There is however significant evidence that looting would continue unabated
even if collecting could be prevented in Europe and other areas where
cultural property laws are respected. Meanwhile German coin collectors now
feel completely insecure, like criminals suspected of breaking the law.
According to Ulf Draeger - head of the Moritzburg Landesmünzkabinetts and
chairman of the German Society of Medallic Arts - the entry into force of
these new laws, despite their laudable intentions, has led to significant
collateral damage in only a short time. His conclusion: "If this situation
continues, then we can pack up."
For a summary in English see
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Unidroit-L/message/3348
For the original articles in German see
http://www.numismatische-gesellschaft.de/
http://tinyurl.com/dfc7sp
http://tinyurl.com/bc8pqz
Google's translator conveys the sense of these articles for those who cannot
read German.
Dave Welsh
dwel...@cox.net
Arizona Coin Collector
The translation I got and read was not the
same as you posted below.
Yahoo has this web site you
can use to translate.
Go to: http://babelfish.yahoo.com/ .
Indicate language to translate to.
(German to English)
Now plug in the web link below and click
Translate.
www.numismatische-gesellschaft.de/
.-----------------------------------------------
"Dave Welsh" <dwel...@cox.net> wrote in message
news:ZH2hl.1909$Is5...@newsfe19.iad...
mazorj
"Arizona Coin Collector" <nos...@nospam.com> wrote in message
news:55udnazJD5uJIxnU...@earthlink.com...
> Hello
>
> The translation I got and read was not the
> same as you posted below.
>
> Yahoo has this web site you
> can use to translate.
>
> Go to: http://babelfish.yahoo.com/ .
>
> Indicate language to translate to.
> (German to English)
>
> Now plug in the web link below and click Translate.
>
> www.numismatische-gesellschaft.de/
His post appeared to be a summarization, not a literal translation.
Without doing the same exercise, I'll just ask whether his summary was
reasonably accurate or grossly overstated? Given the nature of what
the German authorities allegedly are doing, you don't need to
embellish the story. It's alarming enough as is. And probably is
reminding their older generation of house searches for "contraband"
like Jews, firearms, and illegal radios capable of receiving BBC
broadcasts.
Dave Welsh
was an overview of what all of them reported, with additional facts from
other sources.
Dave Welsh
dwel...@cox.net
"Arizona Coin Collector" <nos...@nospam.com> wrote in message
news:55udnazJD5uJIxnU...@earthlink.com...
William Earl Haskell
> German numismatists ring the alarm bells
>
> German cultural authorities have begun searching private homes and seizing
> entire collections of antique coins,
I thought Hermann Goering was dead.
Dave Welsh
Allied authorities conducting the Nueremburg war crimes trials. First, he
made the prosecutor who questioned him look like a complete idiot - and then
he cheated the hangman. Whatever one may think of his politics and morals,
Goering was a forceful and able personality.
As to who in the Third Reich would have been the bane of coin collectors, I
am inclined to think that Heinrich Himmler would be a far more appropriate
choice. While Goering was not the sort of person one would wish to be
associated with, he was a dedicated collector of "cultural objects."
Particularly, those that had once been owned by Jews ... the "objekte."
Dave Welsh
dwel...@cox.net
"William Earl Haskell" <for...@hal-pc.org> wrote in message
news:4989184e$0$10299$a726...@news.hal-pc.org...