The Opinion of a Highly Respected Collector
giganews
Society, an organization notable for having no political agenda, which
sponsors numerous valuable scholarly publications, maintains one of the
world's greatest numismatic collections and also has a superb library.
Please take the time to read his thoughts, and then follow his
recommendations.
********************************
From: Mone...@yahoogroups.com [mailto:Mone...@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf
Of Charlie Karukstis
Sent: Sunday, September 19, 2010 11:19 AM
Subject: [Moneta-L] The Greek MOU and the Politics of Defeat
There was an exchange of messages on this list a few days ago regarding the
upcoming Greek request for import restrictions, and several of the posts
(all from the same author) left me deeply troubled. It's not like the entire
situation isn't depressing in itself, but the language used by that writer
was very disturbing, with verbiage such as these phrases appearing:
* "The future is inevitable, the way things have been and continue to be
progressing"
* "...what's happening now in this country and abroad is the result of the
chickens coming home to roost"
* "There's no conceivable way that private collections of ancient coins or
artifacts would ever be confiscated..."
* "No 'jack-booted government thugs' are going to barge into people's homes
demanding paperwork..."
The most illogical utterance amongst these was:
* "A half century ago the trade should have said to source countries, Here's
a huge chunk of tax revenue you could make if you rationalize your laws and
legalize the market for ancient goods..."
These are the words of, at best, someone ill-informed, but at worst a
propagandist or collaborator. Hiding behind a veil of "pro-truth" makes this
all the worse. While this type of hand-wringing may be fashionable, it is
wrong.
Make no mistake: those who love numismatics and the study and preservation
of these objects of our common heritage are under assault. Our adversaries
may include zealots and eccentrics among them, but they are led by elites
with a shrewd and formidable strategy. Those adversaries may distract us
with various slogans about cultural heritage, but their clear motivation is
control of all artifacts - aiding and abetting the source countries, and
encouraging their rank and file to prattle on with political epithets, are
simply practicalities of achieving their goal. The fact that millions of
coins are caught up in the debate about singular artifacts which might be
considered of "cultural" importance is of no concern to them. It is
imperative for us to understand that these adversaries will not listen to
reason, they will not compromise, they will not "work out a deal", and most
important, they will not desist, ever.
The future may not be inevitable, but it is about to get much worse in the
short term. The litigation involving the Cypriot and Chinese MOUs is still
in progress, so the true impact on customs procedures is not visible yet.
Assuming private property laws will protect one's collection is farcical,
since the seizures in Cicero and Germany over the past year suggest that
even the most baseless sovereign request will always trump private property
laws. Assuming all this will go away is folly of the highest order. This is
not a battle over looting (which all of us oppose) - this is a struggle for
control of all artifacts, by source countries for their propaganda and
monetary value, and by academics for publication rights.
There was a brief bright spot earlier this year with the letters sent
regarding the Italian MOU. The number of responses caught CPAC off guard,
and the current implementation of restricting communication to a web form is
a result of our efforts. It appears that the Italian MOU may not include
coins, but one should definitely not assume the same result with the current
MOU, and an adverse result here would be considerably more damaging due to
the complexities of Customs enforcement (think Greek epigraphy....) I urge
anyone who cares even the slightest about preserving access to our common
heritage to take three minutes to express their views. The direct link to
the comment page is here:
http://www.regulations.gov/search/Regs/home.html#submitComment?R=0900006480b
3b3c6
<http://www.regulations.gov/search/Regs/home.html#submitComment?R=0900006480
b3b3c6http://www.regulations.gov/search/Regs/home.html%23submitComment?R=090
0006480b3b3c6>
If you're having difficulty using the form email me for help. Remember these
web forms time out after fifteen to twenty minutes, so if you feel like
writing a lot do it in a text editor first and then go to the web page to
cut and paste it in. Prose worthy of Shakespeare is not necessary - just say
what you feel. The deadline is noon Wednesday.
While our adversaries will indeed never stop, if we do not successfully
defend our rights this time the future will definitely be inevitable. Get
involved.
Charlie Karukstis
******************************
Forwarded to the list by:
Dave Welsh
Unidroit-L Listowner
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Unidroit-L
giganews
Peter
> The Opinion of a Highly Respected Collector
>
> Charles Karukstis is a Life Fellow and a Director of the American Numismatic
> Society, an organization notable for having no political agenda, which
> sponsors numerous valuable scholarly publications, maintains one of the
> world's greatest numismatic collections and also has a superb library.
> Please take the time to read his thoughts, and then follow his
> recommendations.
>
> ********************************
>
> Of Charlie Karukstis
>
> Sent: Sunday, September 19, 2010 11:19 AM
>
>
> 3b3c6
>
> <http://www.regulations.gov/search/Regs/home.html#submitComment?R=0900...
>
> b3b3c6http://www.regulations.gov/search/Regs/home.html%23submitComment?R=090
>
> 0006480b3b3c6>
>
> If you're having difficulty using the form email me for help. Remember these
> web forms time out after fifteen to twenty minutes, so if you feel like
> writing a lot do it in a text editor first and then go to the web page to
> cut and paste it in. Prose worthy of Shakespeare is not necessary - just say
> what you feel. The deadline is noon Wednesday.
>
> While our adversaries will indeed never stop, if we do not successfully
> defend our rights this time the future will definitely be inevitable. Get
> involved.
>
> Charlie Karukstis
>
>
> ******************************
>
> Forwarded to the list by:
>
> Dave Welsh
>
> Unidroit-L Listowner
>
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Unidroit-L
>
Links don't seem to lead directly to subjects of interest; what should
we do?
giganews
http://www.regulations.gov/search/Regs/home.html#submitComment?R=0900006480b3b3c6
I've tested it and it works.
What happened with the other link appears to have been an artifact of the
list server. This link may wrap; if so be sure to copy the part that wrapped
and paste it back in to the URL.
COMMENTS ARE DUE BY NOON ON WEDNESDAY
Dave Welsh
Unidroit-L Listowner
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Unidroit-L
"Peter" <w2...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:d6b23cc5-a2cd-4632...@y3g2000vbm.googlegroups.com...
Peter
>
> I've tested it and it works.
>
> What happened with the other link appears to have been an artifact of the
> list server. This link may wrap; if so be sure to copy the part that wrapped
> and paste it back in to the URL.
>
> COMMENTS ARE DUE BY NOON ON WEDNESDAY
>
> Dave Welsh
> Unidroit-L Listownerhttp://groups.yahoo.com/group/Unidroit-L
>
> - Show quoted text -
I get to a search page for regulations using that URL. When I get to
the search page, then what shall I do?
giganews
There have been a lot of problems with the long URL of the Government
comments page being truncated by list servers or being split by wrapping -
this link will get you there.
Posted to the list by:
Dave Welsh
Unidroit-L Listowner
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Unidroit-L
"Peter" <w2...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:8090e58b-0606-445f...@q26g2000vbn.googlegroups.com...