Renewed Focus on UK Metal Detecting: "Ban Green Waste...", oh, no, wait a minute, uh, er....

"Challenged by formal education" some of them may be in Minister Lammy's memorable words, but that does not mean incapable of learning. For many months here on this blog we have been suggesting that instead of the slogan "ban green waste" metal detectorists might find themselves more in step with most of British society concentrating on the [non-ferrous metallic] contamination in the compost which is (for artefact hunters) the main object of their complaint. Today the old green waste petition (signed by only 1516 people) has been closed and a new one started. This one has a single-word addition which makes more sense - a shame it took them over a year to realise that...

Ban Contaminated Green Waste

The call is for DEFRA and the Environment Agency to do regular weekly tests and in the event that the waste is above acceptable levels to fine the companies who delivered the 'waste' accordingly. That's absolutely fine, because look back to what a Government spokesman said in the House last December in response to the artefact-hunter-friendly Colchester MP Sir Bob Russell:

 “The PAS 100 specifications include stringent limits on physical contaminants, such as metal, plastic and glass, that can be present in the finished composts. Those limits were revised down from a total of 0.5% of dry weight to 0.25% in 2011. They are now the toughest in Europe. If those standards are met, the output is considered to be completely recycled and is no longer subject to waste management controls. Producing waste to those standards helps producers to guarantee compost that is safe to be marketed or spread on agricultural land as a quality product and helps to improve confidence in composted materials among end users”. …. 

The Government already recognises enforcement needs to be tightened up. Hence, up to 0.25% dry weight, one part in 400, could be aluminium etc, and that would be the most stringent standard in Europe, and obviously never going to be tightened further. Would that degree of saturation (especially if the compost containing even such low levels of non-ferrous metallic contamination was applied to a field every few years) not make land totally undetectable? If so the UK's tekkies are now petitioning for compliance with a standard that will still severely hinder the activity. 

 Hat-tip to Heritage Action

Peruvian Artifacts Trafficking Prosecution is Worth Watching For Its Use of Smuggling Law

Rick St Hilaire (April 5th) suggests that an ongoing "Peruvian Artifacts Trafficking Prosecution is Worth Watching". Four defendants, two in Peru and two in West Valley City, Utah are accused of illegally smuggling and transporting Peruvian artefacts as the result of an HSI sting..One Peruvian is recorded as "stating he bribes officials in Peru in order to get the artifacts out of Peru [...and...] knows where to look for pottery buried in the ground and that he acquires some of his pottery via this method". The man also "has a contact with the Institute of National Culture in Peru who provides Abanto-Sarmiento with authentic certifications stating all of his pottery are replicas", which is then used to illegally export genuine antiquities out of Peru. Interestingly in this case the CCPIA bilateral cultural property MOU between Peru and the USA is not playing a peart in this case, US authorities are trying to use customs legislation.

'Why grad schools should require students to blog'

Scientific American, 'Why grad schools should require students to blog' 

What do we Know About the "Seven Hills Hoard"?

Over the past few months many Roman silver coins have been surfacing (from underground?) on the international market which are sold as having come from something called the "Seven Hills Hoard" said to have been "just recently uncovered" in the region of Rome, Italy. Beyond that, very little information is offered about the exact findspot within the ten square kilometres which those seven hills encompass. "The Seven Hills of Rome are located east of the river Tiber and make up the heart of Rome, resting within the walls of the ancient city. Bringing focus to that area recently was the news of a now-famous hoard of more than 7,000 Roman silver coins that were discovered in the region" - as if the American collector needs the discovery of a ("piece of history in your hand") hoard to focus their attention on the city of Rome.

Neither is it clear what the seller has in mind by the term "now-famous". it seems to me from a cursory search that there is little information about this find in the official literature (I stand to be corrected on this). It is quite instructive to see who has these coins. One dealer offering them is New York Mint. Bill Gale - Burnsville, MN 55337 / Minneapolis, MN ("A Resource you can trust"). He is selling a "5pc Roman Denarius Family Set Ngc-vf 7 Hills Hoard". You get five "pedigreed"  denarii of the  Severan emperors represented in the hoard: Septimus Severus, Caracalla, Geta, Elagabalus, and Severus Alexande, "certified" by Numismatic Guaranty Corp. (NGC) :

You can now thrill to the rise and fall of an entire dynasty—hand—struck in Roman silver over 1,700 years ago and preserved in museum—quality condition for seventeen centuries. Each ruler's coin comes in matching NGC—certified holders bearing the important Seven Hills Hoard pedigree for posterity. Our ancient coin experts agree: this family's dramatic history should become part of your family's silver legacy!

One wonders what sort of a "pedigree" these objects come with.  New York Mint was advertising the hoard's coins (allegedly found on the road to Rome) for sale in the June 2012 issue of 'Science News', proclaiming that the hoard was "newly discovered, catalogued and brought to auction" (is this the same as "each coin has been individually registered, catalogued, certified and graded"?).

Another US "mint" - GovMint.Com “Your One Best Source for Coins Worldwide”("A Resource you can trust") from Burnsville, MN 55337 has the same offer. But that is not surprising as they are subsidiaries of the same firm - Asset Marketing Services, Inc. [officers here].

Another seller offering these coins is Leon Hendrickson, SilverTowne coins, Winchester, Indiana 47394. The latter firm is selling a variety of the denarii of this hoard in NGC slabs for prices between $160and $200. EBay seller american_rarities (sic) recently listed a Caracalla (198-217) AR Denarius NGC Seven Hills Hoard for $68 ("Coin was recovered from a 1,750 year old desert site know as the "Seven Hills Hoard". Very well preserved and appealing silver piece. Coin certified Fine by NGC". There are not many deserts in the vicinity of Rome).

What is interesting about this is that there are no references to a 'Tesoro dei sette colli' in the literature that I could track down, which rather raises the question what the US sellers want to indicate by the terms  " newly discovered, catalogued and brought to auction". Who discovered it and catalogued it, and how and why - given the specific wording of Italian antiquities laws - was it put on auction (and where) by the [presumably Italian] finders? All four dealers based in the US stress the hoard was "recently" found, which would mean that article 3 of the 1970 UNESCO Convention applies, yet NONE of them gives any indication on their website that the provisions adopted under this Convention by Italy for example were complied with. We are told we can "trust" the supplier - but not why or how, and what they have done to earn that blind "trust" in the case under discussion. 

Perhaps the dealers in question might like to explain how the coins in question left Italy and entered the USA? I am mightily curious.

Vignette: Seven Hills of... 

The So-Called "Horus" Collection of Islamic Coins of Barely-Known Collecting Histories

Baldwin’s Auctions are selling on May 9th the so-called "Horos/Horus Collection of coins from the IslamicWorld", "acquired by a collector with knowledge and a discerning eye".

The coins have been owned by the same European collector, now in his 80s, for the last 35 years. He built up the collection by attending auctions in the likes of Switzerland, France, the U.S. and Britain [...] He has children and grandchildren - none of whom are interested in the coins. He doesn't want them to be wasted so that's why he has put them up for sale. He has been keeping them in a bank in recent years for security purposes, because of how much they are worth.’(Mark Duell, "First coin to record Islamic phrase 'There is no God but Allah' expected to sell in set of 56 gold dinars for £500,000 at auction", Daily Mail, 15 April 2013):

So, he's not been studying them and doing die link investigations on them? No monographic tomes of weighty numismatic and history-creating import? This is, is it not, the "justification" always offered fpor the private accumulation of heaps of decontextualised archaeological objects like these. Baldwins say:

As a collection with particular focus on the issues from Egypt and The Near East formed over the past 35 years, this promises to be one of the most remarkable auctions of Islamic coins to be offered for public auction in recent years. [...] The pedigree of individual coins has been given wherever possible. Many of the most important pieces have been acquired from the leading auction houses specialising in Islamic coins: Spink- Zürich (1986-1991), Sotheby’s, Morton and Eden, A H Baldwin & Sons Ltd, including the Emirates Coin Auctions in Dubai, Münzen und Medaillen (Basel), and Giessener Munzhandlung (Munich). The principal dealer sources were Spink and Son Ltd, Stephen Album and Andre de Clermont. 

They claim that it is rare for a collection of this size and importance to be offered in a single sale, and that this "provides an opportunity for all collectors interested in this field". Those of course who are not at all bothered by the fact that most of the coins have nothing whatsoever that could be termed a collecting history (and those that merely have "bought at Spink's" bring to mind that it was this firm that exported the coins to the USA which became the subject Baltimore Illegal Coin Import Stunt and are currently in the news as having handled several chunks of Cambodian temple that are currently in the US courts). Among the coins with no stated origins is that which figures most prominently in the Mail article (lot 4085 77AH, struck by Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan).  [similar one sold recently by Palmyra Heritage]

So how many holes in the archaeological sites of the transition between the Post-Classical world and the rise of Islam in how many countries does this collection represent? Has it generated any knowledge commensurate with the degree of destruction of the archaeological record that the accumulation of such a group represents? Or are they just trophies, glittering geegaws? An illustration of a history created from other sources, as opposed to having been part of the creating of new historical knowledge through the archaeological study of the deposits from which they have been wrenched?

Vignette: coin

Beni Suef More Illicit Antiquities Seized

It is reported that last Saturday, the Egyptian authorities seized "five ancient coffins, 63 statues and about 5,000 coins at the houses of three fugitives in northern Beni Suef governorate". Two "suspected Pharaonic coffins, 42 statues and about 5,000 coins" were found "in the houses of two men who managed to escape". One of the coffins had a mummy in it. A third fugitive, it is said, "possesses a number of rare golden Pharaonic statues which he prepared for sale" and it was in his house that the police found "another three coffins with mummies inside and 21 statues, six of which are made of gold and granite".

MENA  Egypt seizes 5 ancient coffins, 63 statues 14th April 2013

Another US 'Humanitarian worker' Arrested for Smuggling dugup antiquities

There have been several instances of Americans and others smuggling coins and antiquities out of Macedonia in the press in recent months (see for example the post here: "Two Americans Caught Smuggling Macedonian Antiquities").

It is now being reported by The Macedonian International News Agency  that another US "humanitarian worker" has been arrested at a Macedonian-Bulgarian border crossing for attempting to smuggle dugup artefacts out of Macedonia. There are more details on the Macedonian Customs agency's website ('Prevented,new attempt for exportation of cultural heritage', 13th April 2013 -which ironically bears the logo of USAid).

The American  citizen (identified in news reports only as "J.B.H", a resident of Minnesota who had temporary residence in Bulgaria) had been working in Shtip and Probistip in Macedonia and arrived at the border crossing of Delcevo on 12th April in a Volkswagen Caravelle van with Bulgarian number plates. He said he had nothing to declare but when they were searching the van, customs officials noted that the man became increasingly agitated and seemed in a hurry to depart from Macedonia. They then carried out a personal search and found 'on' (in?) him 48 ancient coins ranging in size and age from 2nd century b.c. up to 17th century.

The personal search led to detection of 38 numismatic old coins with different inscriptions, dimensions and marks, found in the right pocket of the suspect’s tracksuit, wrapped in ordinary white paper, other 8 coins with different dimensions and inscriptions found in the front left pocket of the suspect’s jeans and other 2 other coins in the belongings (left and right pocket of passenger bag, wrapped in plastic zipper storage bags). [...] The suspect had temporary residence in Sofia-Bulgaria and arrived in Macedonia two days before. After he arrived, he met his friend, a Macedonian living in Shtip and dealing in sale of coins. The two persons agreed to meet the next day on the road Shtip-Radovish, near the “Makpetrol” petrol station, where his friend gave him the coins. Later, the suspect drove to the border between Macedonia and Bulgaria, with intention to take the coins out of the country.

The man was charged by authorities there with "exporting national and cultural treasures protected by the state". The suspect and evidence were "handed to an examining judge who after the investigation procedure imposed a 30-days custody measure for the suspect".As Nathan Elkins notes: 

The photograph of the coins, which are covered in earth, and the chronological breadth of the collection suggest they were found at multiple archaeological sites and from mixed assemblages.  Such groups of coins are the fruits of looting and are regularly exported from Balkan in astonishing quantities to supply European and North American demand.

If these coins had come onto the US market, either on the US man's return to Minnesota or in the splitting of his collection after his death, what mechanism in the current no-questions-asked market would allow a buyer to avoid these illicitly-obtained and smuggled coins? None.

So far there has been no Facebook page created to "Pray for the release of JBH". He's probably not as photogenic as the US nurse, Candi Dunlap.

Sources:

Macedonian Information Agency, 'US citizen caught smuggling Macedonian antiquities',  Saturday April 13th. - MIA 

Macedonian International News Agency, "Another US "Humanitarian" caught smuggling artefacts"   Sunday, 14 April 2013

Macedonian Customs agency's website, 'Prevented,new attempt for exportation of cultural heritage', 13th April 2013

See also Nathan Elkins: "Minnesotan Charged with Attempted Smuggling of Ancient Coins out of Macedonia".

Map: Macedonia and its border cossings