Renewal of U.S. Import Restrictions on Cypriot Coins Being Considered

GAINESVILLE, Mo., Jan. 24, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- At the Cultural Property Advisory Committee meeting on January 18th, oral submissions on whether the MoU between the U.S. and Cyprus should be renewed were heard at the State Department offices in Washington D.C. This followed the public submission process that closed on January 3rd.

Representing coin collectors and the numismatic trade were Wayne Sayles, (Ancient Coin Collectors Guild); Peter K. Tompa (International Association of Professional Numismatists and Professional Numismatists Guild) and Eloise Ullmann (Industry Council for Tangible Assets).

Wayne Sayles stressed that if import restrictions are to be imposed, then all stakeholders including government agencies must follow the law. This follows on his public submission for ACCG .

Peter K. Tompa's presentation included the fact that "The CPIA requires less drastic remedies to be tried first before import restrictions are imposed" and referenced the 77% of public respondents opposed to the renewal of the MoU.

Many of these respondents recommended less drastic measures that have proven to be workable, such as England and Wales' Treasure Act and The U.K. Portable Antiquities Scheme. Also, evidence was presented on how such drastic measures as import restrictions can actually lessen the number of finds reported.

Eloise Ullmann emphasized the President's commitment to small business and questioned why his committee could not do the same.

Arguing for the continuation of import restrictions on coins were Carmen Biucchi (Harvard), who claimed she was not against collectors, although fully understanding what such restrictions entail; Jane Evans (Temple), who claimed that coins were necessary to date sites, and Nathan Elkins (Baylor), who did reveal that as many as 20% of ancient Cypriot coins are actually found outside of that country. A number of people have suggested that this number might even be larger as Elkins figures only included coins from hoards outside of Cyprus and did not include foreign individual finds.

The import restrictions from similar MoU restrictions on coins of other types are already preventing U.S. collectors and scholars from obtaining these coins as this German dealer explains in refusing shipments to the U.S. for certain coins freely available to all other countries. The coin in question, with its "cabinet toning", is clearly an old find, yet apparently does not have the paperwork to confirm this.

Contact: Wayne G. Sayles, 417-679-2142, [email protected]

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Wayne G. Sayles
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SOURCE Ancient Coin Collectors Guild