By Wayne Sayles – Ancient Coin Collecting Blog

Some people crave attention and will do almost anything to draw a spotlight toward themselves, even if it is outrageous. I’m not one of those people by nature. I much prefer the serenity and seclusion of our pastoral environment here in the Ozarks to the hustle and bustle of the city or the glad-handing that people in the corporate and political world call “networking.”

In fact, my most precious moments have been on a sailboat ghosting along in a light breeze with nothing but sky and water to contemplate. I find an isolated mountain stream equally inviting if I have a rod in hand and a trout waiting to be tempted. Yet, I often find myself drawn to the city and sometimes into the spotlight as a matter of necessity. Why? Having endured all that I could stand of the outlandish criticisms and insults hurled by fanatical archaeologists at the antiquities market, and by extension at my lifelong passion of ancient coin collecting, I felt compelled to speak out.

That happened in 2004, and here I am six years later still speaking out against the same atrocious behavior. If anything, the situation has gotten worse since the antiquities trade and the museum world have essentially abdicated before a combination of foreign and home-grown nationalist attacks. The numismatic community seems to be the only roadblock these days to sweeping nationalist and institutional control of cultural property and thereby to absolute control of history and the record of the past. Is that bad? Only from the point of view of those who favor truth over revisionism or those who feel that culture is as much a personal as a national heritage, or believe in personal property rights and freedoms. Of course it is also bad for the numismatists who have suddenly been thrust into that unwelcome spotlight.

Personally, my career in numismatics dates back some 40+ years and I enjoyed that time in the comfort that the discipline, call it a hobby if you will, was genteel. The relationships between professional and amateur numismatists were not only friendly and cooperative, they were in most cases collegial. Respect flowed both ways. What a difference we see today! Understandably, I’ve become a focal point for criticism, along with others, by virtue of my active opposition to cultural nationalism. That, I expected.

What I did not expect and am sincerely saddened by is the depth of hatred and hostility that permeates the opposition today. Being the focus of an ideological polemic is one thing, but being personally villified and ridiculed by educated people, from a discipline that I once respected, is something entirely different. That sort of verbal barrage has now become a daily event in my life. Initially, I was offended.

My career as an officer in the U.S. military instilled in me a very strong sense of personal pride, integrity and responsibility. I founded the ACCG to create a voice for ancient coin collectors that was conspicuously absent in the face of a growing assault. The numismatic trade in this field had its advocacy groups, collectors had none. I’ve spent the past six years, as a volunteer, working for the interests of collectors.

When my motives are criticized as “self serving” because I also have an unrelated commercial interest in the hobby it is an absolute insult. When the principles that I have lived by for virtually all of my adult life are ruthlessly assailed by people who don’t know the first thing about me, I feel a swell of indignation. Sometimes I instinctively lash back, but more often I try to press on and concentrate on the task at hand rather than the slings and arrows that fly incessantly.

What I have learned through this experience is that being the focal point for any controversial cause is undoubtedly a risky venture — and one that should be avoided by anyone with thin skin. I have also learned that people who are driven by ideological fervor very often have little regard for truth if it happens to get in their way. I get a little indignant just thinking about it.

Related posts:

1. Ancient Coins: Freedom of Information and New Import Restrictions sought on Greek “Cultural Property”
2. Ancient Coins: The Yin and Yang – A Smorgasbord of Views on Cultural Property
3. Testimony at the Cultural Property Advisory Committee Hearing: To Be or Not To Be
4. Exaggeration in the “Cultural Heritage” Debate on Ancient Coins
5. Ruling in FOIA case condones DOS intransigence on ancient coin import restrictions
6. Coin Collectors to Challenge State Department on Import Restrictions
7. The Whole Cultural Record
8. Coin collectors, art dealers fear restrictions on Chinese imports
9. Professional Numismatists Guild Assists in Combating Coin Import Restrictions
10. Ancient Coin Collectors Challenge U.S. State Dept. Bureaucrats After Baltimore Seizure