US Sickos Support Smuggled Coins

Giedrojć

Donna Yates ‏@DrDonnaYates 4 godz.4 godziny temu

US once again bars the import of looted & stolen Italian coins; usual suspects pout about it http://www.numismaster.com/ta/numis/Article.jsp?ad=article&ArticleId=28215 …

Nathan Elkins pointed out the slimy methods of numismatic "journalism" (Richard Giedrojć): "Notice also a @J_F_Archaeology article quoted out of context to make that article appear sympathetic. Typical..." which prompted me to send them a comment:

It is a shame, to avoid the impression of superficiality and manipulation, that you did not cite the full online abstract of the text from which you extracted a fragment:

"Although the ACCG has thus far been unsuccessful, it has not been pointed out that existing import restrictions on coins, in fact, have been written to include coins that tended to circulate locally and that are found primarily within the borders of the country with which the bilateral agreement is made.  The ACCG's argument is thus on shaky ground.  As the ACCG continues to press ahead with new litigation, it is worth drawing attention to realities and probabilities of ancient coin circulation as they pertain to protected coins". 

Realities? I wonder how many of your readers are more interested in realities than biased reporting intended to bolster the no-questions-asked antiquities market?

Actually, I do not. We are all aware of the bottomless depths of the gulf of self-deception employed by the entire coin collecting community to avoid the effort and pain of getting their minds around the issues being raised by those that want to see this trade carried out in a manner more befitting the twenty-first century. The function of publications like "World Coin News" is to provide soundbites to help maintain the illusions and self-delusions.

This is self-defeating, Dr Yates, one of the researchers currently writing the most about the antiquities market and thus influencing and informing public thought, has no illusions about the degree that one can expect from the dealers' lobby any fair and balanced assessment of the issues, let alone any rational discussion:

@NTElkins @J_F_Archaeology Same folks have done it to me too. Sigh.

By their continual and repetitive slimeball tactics and persistent denial and refusal to face issues, the dealers and their lobbyists are alienating themselves from the wider heritage debate and will end up becoming excluded from it and will just have to accept the consequences.