What Kind of History Are No-Questions-Asked Portable Antiquity Collectors "Saving"?

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Over on the Unidroit-L discussion list is a post everybody interested in the mindset behind no-questions-asked artefact collecting should see, it is by the same collector (one Thomas Albert, who describes himself as "writer, deal maker, socialite from Washington DC) as submitted a public comment to the Cyprus MOU extension discussed here earlier. He also has a coiney blog, from which it appears he could be a coin-zapper too). This guy believes some scary 'gubn'mint conspiracy' stuff. He apparently agrees with the dugup dealers (his written English is not too clear here) that the efforts to restrict imports of archaeological and ethnographic objects from Cyprus without documentation of lawful export "is all nothing more than a corrupt plot to eliminate the interest in studying our shared past". This plot involves "governments, now run by unelected banksters,[who] want to have absolute control, while giving the impression of democracy". This applies in particular to America, he says.

Controlling collecting ensures that, A) material is controlled and anything contrary to the view is either buried or destroyed, and B) without actually making it illegal to study ancient history, making it extremely difficult to access the objects of the day which bring to life what the ancients did and how they lived. This ensures in our immediate gratification mentality, that people tire of the effort and leave the subject completely.

And the reason why collectors who think like Mr Albert consider studying ancient history from a handful of decontextualised metal bits on a parlour table is an anathema to those corrupt totalitarian gubn'mints?

This ensure we don't learn form our mistakes, so the wealthy and powerful can repeat mistakes that people won't catch on to the solution because what is being done is just a repeat of past events, more controlled perhaps, but the same mistakes. Yes, we are being manipulated by a select few, and they have the money behoind them to BUY what they want, they just have to make it look legitimate.

Oh Jeepers! Just like the Protocols of the Elders of Archaeon!!

This whole MOU thing smells to high heave[n], and it's all about controlling human beings and making them cattle instead of thinkers and I point as evidence our Federal school system, and it's Federal because state NEED Federal money to function, so the Federal government dictates what is taought and how. This has been the downfall of this nation and any other that follows a similar path. Coins from the ancient is our rightful inheritance and governments are colluding with each other to take that inheritance away from us and our descendants! [my hyperlink - PMB]

So this history that no-questions-asked collectors are saving and "learning about the mistakes of the past" from looks like this (one of many possible photos of Balkan dugup artefacts currently being sold together with kilogramme bags of coins etc. to US collectors such as Mr Albert on eBay):


or this? Looters' holes dug with a bulldozer on a site on the Limes to get out commercially saleable goods for the market? Photo, what is left of the archaeology of Ratiaria after the artefact hunters have been over it (photo by Widintourist Wikipedia Commons do have a look at the whole gallery, it is quite shocking).

Mr Albert describes his collection of Roman coins:

"this is my 5th collection, and primarily late Roman Empire period. My colection is @1100 coins, primarily bronze with some silver. [...] rarities ranging from R to R5, meaning known examples that range in the 200-300 to unique. They are of good grades and most mints are represented including rare issues of military mint. Also, Vandal/Ostrogoth and Visigoth coinage as well as early Byzantine Empire, [...] [Favorite Coin] Too many to state, but Jovinus, Basilicus and Zeno come to mind.

The ACCG claims there are 50 000 ancient dugup coin collectors in the US, if they all have gone through no-questions-asked accumulation of even one collection of "1100 coins, that is 55 MILLION coins that have gone no-questions-asked to fulfill the acquisitive desires of a self-centred minority in just one western country (a minimum of 55 million no-questions-asked transactions).

And where is this "learning" resulting from the free collection of such dugups, free of corrupt US gubn'mint control of "book-larning"? This rewriting of history, these alternative-to-the-official histories ? Even in ten percent of these 50 000 collectors were getting these books out that would be 5000 books on "the History of the Romans they did not teach you in School" on the US market alone. Can anyone point to even one which fulfils the criteria set out above by Collector Albert published by coin collectors or a coin dealer ("professional numismatist") with a reputable publisher in the last five years?

Mr Albert announces he is "writing a book":

"A Pictorial Guide of Late Roman Empire and Related Coinage, a Study in Late 4th, 5th and 6th Century Coinage." If you think the title is long, you should see what's inside. I'll give you and idea of what's in this book, Identification - How to determine what you just cleaned up, found, or where give. Grading - What grade is my coin? It's all green and funky looking. A picture guide for late 4th to mid 5th, late 5th to early 6th, and up to the mid/late 6th century. Common/Uncommon Coins - Basic types you will find in this period of time. Imitations, Vandals, Visigoths and Ostrogoths - A history of the Kings and examples of their coinage that are commonly overlooked. The most complete list of monograms to date of this period [...] between 175-250 pages with 150+ color photos. It is being self published

A self-published picture book.

Here's a better picture of the implications of the no-questions-asked aspects of Mr Albert's hobby, this is one of the places from where coins of Zeno, funky Frodo and Jovinus on the US market are coming:

And the ACCG does not want to see any CCPIA restrictions on imports of coins from Bulgaria without documentation of lawful export and asks collectors like Mr Albert to support their efforts to stop the government trying to impose regulations on this part of the US market.