Dugup Coin Dealers: It's a Conspiracy, no alternative to litigation

“Of course, having been rebuffed by the Department of State I[nspector] G[eneral] (and perhaps having been retaliated against for even bringing up concerns about process), the ACCG, IAPN and PNG had no recourse but to litigation” writes ACCG’s apologist Peter Tompa.

So why would the US government retaliate against the "Ancient Coin Collectors Guild", and "International Association of Professional Numismatists", and the "Professional Numismatists Guild"? Well, apparently “Some time ago, the ACCG, IAPN and PNG asked the State Department I[nspector] G[eneral] to review the practices of the [State Department Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs] Cultural Heritage Center” […] (Tinfoil helmets on for this one please) “which shortly thereafter departed from existing precedent and the Cultural Property Advisory Committee's recommendations before imposing import restrictions on coins of Cypriot type”. Well, I suppose one can see this as "retaliation" if of a certain mental disposition, most of the rest of us would see this as recogition that ancient coins are archaeological artefacts.

"No alternative", eh? How about the ACCG, IAPN and PNG simply following what US law lays down about the import of certain groups of ancient coins? It's not particularly onerous, just means getting a piece of paper to accompany certain groups of imported coins. That is after all what the codes of ethics of all three groups require them to do.

Photo: this could be a US coin collector telling the world how victimised he is.