TimeLine Auctions is one of the leading and most visible of middle-range British dealers in portable antiquities, they offer a whole load of metal detected stuff as well as loads of non-native antiquities, some of which from time to time I have had a few words on in this blog. Its CEO Brett Hammond was recently on the Treasure Valuation Committee. This makes it all the more awkward that there are
comments from readers to an earlier post of mine about authenticity issues which remain unanswered by this auctioneer.
If you are thinking of buying in an auction like this (and as an archaeologist and for your own peace of mind, I would in general suggest as a general rule that nobody buys anything from any antiquities dealer
who does not offer upfront full verifiable documentation of legal origins and authenticity as part of the sales offer), I'd also advise reading the small print of the '
terms and conditions' and thinking about why it is there.
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It may be of interest to note that Brett Hammond, owner of TimeLine Originals, is Chairman of the Association of International Antiquities Dealers (AIAD). I have mentioned a fellow Committee Member of that association in the past.
I found Mr Kamphuis's comments about dealing with a member of this association interesting though, sadly, not at all surprising. I do wish people would question the integrity of a seller - whether it is antiquities, used cars, CDs or anything else - BEFORE they commit to buy from them.
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