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A thread running through the public comments of US coineys against measures intended to curb the flow of smuggled coins into the US is "the use of ancient coins as educational tools" (see also Tompa's post "No Credit to the Archaeological Community"). I wonder whether one needs coins that have been smuggled to educate anyone in a US school, when the coineys bend over backwards to point out that the "vast majority" of coins on the US market are legitimately obtained. Surely in a more holistic approach to educating the next generation of citizens, there is more educational value in a chunk of metal than "here's a coin of Caligula, the mad one, you can touch it". Surely there are other issues we could be teaching the young about, ethics for example being one of them (see Nathan Elkins' thoughtful article "Treasure hunting 101 in the classroom" article). These however are precisely the issues avoided ("like the very plague") by schemes like the "Ancient Coins for Education" Some reactions to comment suggest that some teachers taking part in this programme are not exactly over-endowed with the ability to think these issues through either.
One wonders also about the educational benefits of introducing into American classrooms as 'educators' a group of people whose online comments suggest that among them those who can think issues through and construct a coherent argument to any standard of literacy are a rarity. Should not education really be in the hands of people who can at least use their native language to at least an adequate standard of articulacy? The school caretaker probably knows where the teaching materials for the lessons on atomic theory are kept and has the key to the cupboard, that does not make him the best person to conduct even a hands-on lesson on it ("see, its highly radioactive, but if you put your hand in the jar, you can't feel anything can you?").
I once read the one article that you cite. As I recall it discusses Bulgaria at length as a source for dugups and I remember be shocked by some of the statistics and behaviors. If you have it or other information at hand, might you relate some of these numbers and episodes to help those who want to write letters about the problems in Bulgaria?
ReplyDeleteyes, the article was a very good one, and caused its author a LOT of trouble with the coiney dealer lobbyists (even ones who'd not even read it). Yes, it did talk a lot of the trade in looted material from Bulgaria as this has been a major source of the material entering the US market for nigh on two decades.
ReplyDeleteYou know, there is an awful lot of information tucked away in posts on this blog, anyone can do a search for "Bulgaria" or "Rataiaria" (or "Archar") So I've already done a lot of the footwork (also remember the questions to answer are those of section 303(a)1 and I have a "how to" post on that too here).
Basically the question the US has to answer is whether it will tolerate the continued sale of SMUGGLED artefacts or whether it will take a moral stand and say "no, we will not take part in this disgusting trade and from now on only legally exported stuff will be considered licit on the market in the US" - which is what article 3 of the 1970 UNESCO Convention states. The US actually became a state party to this in 1983, but since then has done virtually nothing about the open sales of what can only be smuggled material. Just look on eBay and ask how this stuff got out of the ground and onto eBay for one example.
Is it not time for the US to put actions behind the fine words and say "no"? I think it is.