Tomb Raiders

The History Channel aired a program yesterday about the problem of
illegal trafficking in antiquities. They briefly mentioned coins as an
item sometimes plundered from tombs.

I would like to begin collecting ancients, but don't want to support
these criminals. So I have two questions: Do you think this is a problem
for coin collectors? And, for which cultures was it common to bury coins
with their dead?

Thanks.

The History Channel aired a program yesterday about the problem of
illegal trafficking in antiquities. They briefly mentioned coins as an
item sometimes plundered from tombs. BRBR

Yeah, some archeologists want to keep all antiquities for themselves.

I would like to begin collecting ancients, but don't want to support
these criminals. BRBR

Then don't collect coins at all. Anything more than a hundred years old is an
antiquity and is thus the provenance of archeologists only.

Do you think this is a problem
for coin collectors? BRBR

Hell, yeah!

Going around with a metal detector and finding a sixty year old coin is no
different from finding a thousand year old sword hilt. This is plundering the
past. Don't DO it!

eric l.

On Tue, 17 Feb 2004 12:10:58 -0500, Jim M wrote:

I would like to begin collecting ancients, but don't want to support
these criminals. So I have two questions: Do you think this is a problem
for coin collectors? And, for which cultures was it common to bury coins
with their dead?

You wouldn't want coins buried with a dead guy anyway. Icky corrosion.

All you have to do is figure out which coins you are buying are from a tomb
and which coins you are buying are not.

BLReed

To email me click he http://tinyurl.com/nd66
For collector coins and supplies at fair prices: http://tinyurl.com/pt9r
Cool things: http://www.byronreed.com/byrons_collections/default.htm
Talk bust coins: http://www.byronreed.com/phpBB2/index.php

I like the History channel but sometimes they throw their liberal
opinions in with the history they are showing which should not be done.

Byron L. Reed wrote:
You wouldn't want coins buried with a dead guy anyway. ...
All you have to do is figure out which coins you are buying are from a tomb
and which coins you are buying are not.

The Undead speaks! Sir, the ancient Greeks especially, but others into
modern times as well, buried the dead with coins, two obols over the
eyes to pay Chiron the boatman.

In our time, we have the Beatles' "Taxman"
Now my advice for those who die
Declare the pennies on your eyes
'Cause I'm the taxman, yeah, I'm the taxman.

And the lesser known, Dark at Dawn one-hit wonder,
Don't Pay the Ferryman:
Don't pay the ferryman!
Don't even fix a price!
Don't pay the ferryman
Until he gets you to the other side.

(Sheesh, Byron, not enough Seated Bust Half-Trime traffic this week?)

Mike M.
ANA R-162953

Jim M wrote:
The History Channel ... illegal trafficking in antiquities.
... but don't want to support these criminals. ... Do you think this is
a problem for coin collectors? And, for which cultures was it common to
bury coins with their dead?

Since the invention of coins about 600 BC, every culture with coins
(or other money objects) has done this to some extent. It was common
among the Greeks and even the British of the 19th century. (See
Beatles lyrics for "Taxman.")

Just about all ancient coins are illegal in some way. Greece, Turkey,
Israel, etc., etc., all have laws against exporting their so-called
"national heritage." The United States has begun supporting this in
some way. The highly respected numismatist Arthur Kagan was busted at
the Oklahoma City airport for possession of beads from Turkey.

Numismatists have volumnes of argumentation against the monopolization
of stuff from the ground by national university archaeologists and
their tax-based national museums. You have to put this into context.

Most of the so-called "mational heritage" of Turkey is from GREEKS who
today have no special regard for the Ottoman Turks who occupied their
lands for hundreds of years. The Greeks also settled southern Italy
and Sicily, and on Sicily fought the Cartheginians. Vikings, Arabs,
and others followed. Today, Sicily is occupied by the Italians of Rome
who have made it a "semi-autonomous" region: Sicily's problems are its
own, but its resources belong to Rome. That's an old, old story. Do
you want to get in the middle of the Israeli-Arab-Palestinian problem?
I don't. They all sit on lands long ago occupied by other people
long since gone. Yet, they all claim these objects as their "national
heritage."

Look at any coin in your pocket: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. LIBERTY. E
PLURIBUS UNUM. Those are Latin words. You have as much "cultural
heritage" in the ancient world as anyone else.

Mike Marotta
AKA Gaius Marius Mercurialis to the denizens of www.novaroma.org

Michael E. Marotta wrote:

And the lesser known, Dark at Dawn one-hit wonder,
Don't Pay the Ferryman:

Well, CdB had (in the earlier days) a few other great songs, such as
Patricia the Stripper. But the judge said, "Patricia, Or may I say,
Delicia, The facts of this case lie before me... Case dismissed ... this
girl was in her working clothes!!"

But I suppose this particular subject would be more appropriate for the
paper money group :-)

Christian

I agree that gravee robbers should be put in jail but on the other hand I
feel that you should be able to keep anything that you find that has just
been laying aroundd for all the years. Many years ago I spent a couple of
years roaming around the desert in Az. prospecting for gold and I came
across many items from when the indians were there over a 1000 yr's ago.
These itemss would not even be found by the lazy museums since they would
not have ever wandered around as I did. The kicker is that if I had ever
been cought with any of it I would have gone to jail. I don't feel that is
right. We live in a two standard world. Iif you even dig up an old dumping
ground from the 1800's you can go to jail. This is so stupid it is almost
funny.

"Michael E. Marotta" wrote in message
om...
Jim M wrote:
The History Channel ... illegal trafficking in antiquities.
... but don't want to support these criminals. ... Do you think this is
a problem for coin collectors? And, for which cultures was it common to
bury coins with their dead?

Since the invention of coins about 600 BC, every culture with coins
(or other money objects) has done this to some extent. It was common
among the Greeks and even the British of the 19th century. (See
Beatles lyrics for "Taxman.")

Just about all ancient coins are illegal in some way. Greece, Turkey,
Israel, etc., etc., all have laws against exporting their so-called
"national heritage." The United States has begun supporting this in
some way. The highly respected numismatist Arthur Kagan was busted at
the Oklahoma City airport for possession of beads from Turkey.

Numismatists have volumnes of argumentation against the monopolization
of stuff from the ground by national university archaeologists and
their tax-based national museums. You have to put this into context.

Most of the so-called "mational heritage" of Turkey is from GREEKS who
today have no special regard for the Ottoman Turks who occupied their
lands for hundreds of years. The Greeks also settled southern Italy
and Sicily, and on Sicily fought the Cartheginians. Vikings, Arabs,
and others followed. Today, Sicily is occupied by the Italians of Rome
who have made it a "semi-autonomous" region: Sicily's problems are its
own, but its resources belong to Rome. That's an old, old story. Do
you want to get in the middle of the Israeli-Arab-Palestinian problem?
I don't. They all sit on lands long ago occupied by other people
long since gone. Yet, they all claim these objects as their "national
heritage."

Look at any coin in your pocket: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. LIBERTY. E
PLURIBUS UNUM. Those are Latin words. You have as much "cultural
heritage" in the ancient world as anyone else.

Mike Marotta
AKA Gaius Marius Mercurialis to the denizens of www.novaroma.org

On 18 Feb 2004 03:46:13 -0800, (Michael E. Marotta)
wrote:

(Sheesh, Byron, not enough Seated Bust Half-Trime traffic this week?)

Mike M.
ANA R-162953

Never is.

BLReed

To email me click he http://tinyurl.com/nd66
For collector coins and supplies at fair prices: http://tinyurl.com/pt9r
Cool things: http://www.byronreed.com/byrons_collections/default.htm
Talk bust coins: http://www.byronreed.com/phpBB2/index.php