tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8174756573570334952.post7626602949912495989..comments2024-03-27T04:46:33.198-07:00Comments on Portable Antiquity Collecting and Heritage Issues: Images of Uncleaned Coins in the US and the Rape of History - What would the PAS say?Paul Barfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10443302899233809948noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8174756573570334952.post-41474826763945829032009-05-29T13:32:47.621-07:002009-05-29T13:32:47.621-07:00I doubt whether any of these dealers or their cust...I doubt whether any of these dealers or their customers or the rest of the ACCG-affiliated dealers really "give a damn" about the feelings of the people of the countries the evidence of whose past is trashed to produce the heaps of coins they photograph and sell. But of course as far as they are concerned, it is only "US citizens" and what they think that count and want, isn't it? Hang the rest of the world!Paul Barfordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10443302899233809948noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8174756573570334952.post-77050864107006365442009-05-29T12:29:15.228-07:002009-05-29T12:29:15.228-07:00Perhaps you could mention to Mr Blazick that the o...Perhaps you could mention to Mr Blazick that the ordinary members of the British public in Heritage Action would like him to understand that 72 artefacts have disappeared from our fields eleven times today and have done so every day for the past 38 years and we beg his permission to resent it deeply and wonder if he gives a damn. <br /><br />You might also ask him if he is prepared to convey the above figures and our views to all his customers. I think we know the answer, and why. It is not the American people nor even American collectors that are primarily responsible for this cultural outrage being committed against a friendly country but a tiny rump of self-serving dealers who know the truth but suppress it for personal gain. Let him come here and witness first hand the damage he is inflicting before he presumes to use the word "only".Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8174756573570334952.post-10516685107356719112009-05-29T08:42:03.797-07:002009-05-29T08:42:03.797-07:00And this is precisely the sort of reflection that ...And this is precisely the sort of reflection that the US sellers of such bulk lots want to avoid by keeping discussion of their photos off the heritage discussion blogs. <br /><br />They claim such photos of piles of artefacts are their "stolen" "intellectual property". They do not regard it as "stealing" from anyone for some guy to dig up archaeological sites without any record and ship off quantities of artefacts to the US (sometimes without a by-your-leave export liocence). This is not anybody's "intellectual property" but it certainly is somebody's cultural property - and guess what? It is not the cultural property of the people selling it by the kilogramme like sacks of potatoes in the US and don't want us discussing it.<br /><br />Do you know what Mr Blazick wrote this morning?<br />http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Moneta-L/message/92572<br />"<I> Mr.Barford,please stop worrying about 72 legally purchased coins which have been<br />sold and no longer in my possesion.I have no reason to answer the questions you<br />ask and especially since you chose to make a stink about 72 Bronze coins.You are not a US citizen and I am wondering why you had to go to Poland. Life as a Archeologist for you must be boring and since you have time to steal others<br />scans, I suggest you change your profession..Get back to digging up history or become a taxi driver in Warsaw if the diggingt business is so not to your capabilities. Honest Joe </I> <br /><br /><B>Not a US citizen eh? </B>So that is supposed to disqualify me in some way from discussing "English dugups" and those who sell them? This by the way was a reply to my polite enquiry where the coins came from and whether he had received an export licence for them. "Not a US citizen"! <br /><br />Seventy two coins here and seventy two more there however is not "just" seventy two coins. Those seventy two coins would be a substantial hole in the series from the surface examination of a villa, settlement or temple site. The Water Newton Rally [http://www.scribd.com/doc/2071208/FullWN07Report] produced 166 coins, if "just" 72 had been removed from these fields before it, the total would not be representative of what had been there and plotting the distribution patterns of what was left [http://www.flickr.com/photos/finds/2673877803/ ] would be pointless after the site had been damaged in this way. Thirteen of those "just 72" coins could have dated a scatter of material that forms a vital part of the pattern of evidence of past activity scattered around the site. It cannot be treated as "just 72 coins". Try and explain that to a US coin collector or dealer.Paul Barfordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10443302899233809948noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8174756573570334952.post-33005379336856608312009-05-29T06:21:22.949-07:002009-05-29T06:21:22.949-07:00Thanks for highlighting this. That's a lot of coin...Thanks for highlighting this. That's a lot of coins. It's hard to work out exactly how many but we reckon it's about 20% of the artefacts (maybe 50% of the Roman coins) our artefact erosion counter suggests were removed from the fields of England and Wales this month. http://www.heritageaction.org/?page=heritagealerts_metaldetectingartifacterosioncounter<br /><br />Considering our figures relate to many thousands of detectorists and those coins on the pictures were presumably supplied by just a few of them, it strongly suggests our Counter is a considerable underestimate of what is actually going on.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com