"My letter to the State Department"

I am not going to give the poor guy's name or a link to the original here, it's embarrassing enough as it is. Here is a genuine letter sent by a genuine US collector (sometimes sells on eBay) of ancient dugup coins which has just been posted on a coiney forum. Moved by Wayne Sayles' appeal, they sent a fax to the State Department and pour encourager les autres sent it to Moneta-L for all to see and perhaps copy.

Dear Ms. Reid: I am interested in cultures of the ancient world, including those of Italy, and find coins to be an excellent way to learn about history, art and many other cultural subjects. I am concerned that restrictions on the importation of coins more than 250 years old will eliminate an important resource for me and others who study the past independently. Please do not restrict the importation of ancient coins from Italy into the United States. Roman coins are found in all parts of the former Roman Republic and Roman Empire. There are many (many!) Roman coins that were NOT minted in Italy, and Italy cannot claim any sort of cultural property rights to most Roman coins. Many (many!) Romans themselves did not live in Italy or were even born in Italy! Transcending even this argument is the fact that American citizens should continue to have the right of private ownership of ancient coins imported from Italy and should not have these rights infringed, as the rights of citizens in other countries of the EU do not have their rights restricted regarding the importation of Roman coins into their countries. By, evidently, Italy's reasoning, a Roman coin minted in Britain when it was part of the Roman Empire belongs to Italy's heritage when the coin had never touched Italian soil. Thank you very much, and I appreciate your consideration in this matter. [...] Respectfully yours,[...]

Wow.
"I find coins to be an excellent way to learn about history, art and many other cultural subjects". What about books? I can learn about tigers without having one in my back yard. The tiger is better off not in my back yard but in its natural environment where it can be studied by those who know what they are doing.

"I am concerned that restrictions on the importation of coins more than 250 years old will eliminate an important resource for me" - eh? The restrictions mean that any items bought which are imported from Italy will have a piece of paper showing it has been excported legally. The only thing that is restricted are coins exported illegally - and who wants to buy them? Yes, buy all means let us restrict irresponsible collectors from having access to coins exported illegally from their cource countries, a jolly good idea. The only way the writer will have an important resource "eliminated" is if they consistently buy illegally exported coins as the basis for their collection, in which case they have a cheek writing to the State Department (maybe their letters should go into a State Department file marked "ICE attention").

"There are many (many!) Roman coins that were NOT minted in Italy, and Italy cannot claim any sort of cultural property rights to most Roman coins. Many (many!) Romans themselves did not live in Italy or were even born in Italy [...] By, evidently, Italy's reasoning, a Roman coin minted in Britain when it was part of the Roman Empire belongs to Italy's heritage when the coin had never touched Italian soil. !"
Wow, this person simply does not understand what the upcoming MOU revision covers. Not at all. You can imagine some of these faxes being passed round the State Department in the coffee breaks, rousing hilarity before going in a file marked "tinfoil helmets and others". I am sure the employees of the State Department, most of whom presumably went to school and probably have some form of higher education, will appreciate the lecture on Roman history from ("many!")a wide-eyed coin collector.

Of course US citizens will "continue to have the right of private ownership of ancient coins imported from Italy". No infringement of THEIR rights is involved. Dealers and importers on the other hand, whether US citizens or not, have no "right" to ignore the proper procedures for legal export or to accept or encourage their illegal export. Italy has a right to expect that the US will - if asked - uphold the respecting of their rights to decide what cultural property is taken from their country. Coin dealers all over the world have to observe the same regiulations as the importers of other goods, there is no "infringement of rights" involved in importers abiding by the rules. Most importers of most other types of goods accept it as normal business practice.