The ancient coin collecting fraternity supported its primary advocacy group with an impressive $45,811 in the Benefit Auction that closed today on Vauctions.com .  The total topped a pre-auction estimate of $44,775.  Coins and other items donated by collectors and dealers across the country and even from friends outside of the USA were sometimes fought over furiously by fellow collectors.

The sale consisted of 208 lots, primarily of ancient coins from many cultures, but also including related books and antiquities.  A total of 1,481 bids were registered during the auction, with typical auction results—some lots saw very strong competition and others, often surprisingly, were available at bargain prices.  Greek silver coins drew collector interest as often is the case.

Among the highlights, a silver didrachm from Akragas (lot #9) brought $630 against a pre-auction estimate of $300 while a silver shekel from Byblos in Phoenicia (Lot 50) estimated at $750 brought $1050.  One of the most actively bid coins was a bronze coin from Palmyra struck during the 1st century BC.  Twenty-three bids pushed the hammer price to $751, nearly four times the estimate.  Coins of Roman Egypt, mainly from the James Theselius Collection, were popular and drew spirited bids.  A tetradrachm of Tranquillina sold for $301 at double the estimate.

The rare bronze of Libius Severus drew 30 bids and a hammer price of $855.  Some obvious bargains included a lovely stater of the Danubian Celts that was conservatively estimated at $750 and slipped under the radar at $400.  A rare tetradrachm from Gela, estimated at $1500 and previously sold at $2000, was snapped up by a lucky (or astute) bidder for $901.  Several Vcoins gift cards auctioned in the sale actually brought more than face value, demonstrating solid support for the benefit theme.

Overall, this auction was very well supported by donors and bidders, several of whom expressed a hope that the sale would become an annual event.  The ACCG Board of Directors wishes to sincerely thank all who participated in the sale as donors or bidders and especially those who helped to organize, promote and conduct the sale.

“Some archaeologists are piqued that genuine ancient coins are being sold in a benefit auction to preserve collectors rights,” says Wayne G. Sayles, executive director of the Ancient Coin Collectors Guild ( http://www.accg.us ).

In a recent post online, one archaeologist likened the private collecting of ancient coins to the slaughter of African elephants. This wildly radical view pits archaeology directly against a venerable 600-year-old tradition of private scholars and museums throughout the world, according to Sayles.

Objects as plentiful as coins, surviving in the millions of specimens, can hardly be treated as priceless treasures to be preserved only by state agencies and institutions. Collectors argue that they are far better stewards and preservationists than most institutions, and are sometimes better scholars.

The ACCG Benefit Auction is now live online and bidding is active.

With 208 lots, representing about 450 ancient coins and related objects, the ACCG Benefit Auction is off to a strong start. Spirited bidding characterized the first two days of the auction, which runs from August 4 to August 17, 2008. The sale is being hosted by VAuctions, a companion to the popular VCoins web site. Lots may be examined and bids may be executed at http://www.vauctions.com .

Donations for this sale came from both the collector and dealer communities, with a very wide range of material. Some exceptionally rare pieces are being offered, including a bronze minima of Libius Severus, a billon tetradrachm of Severus Alexander from Alexandria and a bronze coin from Palmyra struck during the first century BC. The sale also includes many lovely silver tetradrachms struck in Greek cities during the Classical and Hellenistic periods. Roman coin collectors will be pleased to find a very nice run of imperial portrait coins in all metals. (more…)

Dr. Roger Bland, head of the British Museum Department of Treasure and Portable Antiquities, will speak at Chicago’s Field Museum about the Portable Antiquities Scheme in Britain and Wales and its successes over the past ten years.

A free lecture (cost of museum admission required) will be held at Chicago’s Field Museum at 1:00 PM on Saturday, June 14. Dr. Roger Bland, the guest speaker, will present a summary of the British Treasure Act and the Portable Antiquities Scheme that protects cultural property in Britain. The title of Dr. Bland’s talk is “A British Approach to Antiquities and Buried Treasure.” The Treasure Act and Portable Antiquities Scheme encourages the pubic to report their finds of archaeological objects so they can be recorded by archaeologists. Bland will discuss the approach to archaeology that England and Wales employ and what lessons that approach may offer to other countries.

The Ancient Coin Collectors Guild welcomes the opportunity to help sponsor Dr. Bland’s lecture and is a strong supporter of the PAS. Dr. Bland presented a similar lecture at the U.S. Capitol Building last summer in a program co-sponsored by the ACCG and the American Numismatic Society.
Additional information about the Field Museum Program can be found at http://www.fieldmuseum.org/

Peter Tompa summarizes the first round of releases of information under the FOIA lawsuit launched by ACCG, IAPN and PNG.

The State Department has made its initial disclosures in response to the Freedom of Information Act lawsuit brought by the ACCG, the International Association of Professional Numismatists and the Professional Numismatists Guild. By our count, in that initial disclosure, the State Department released 34 documents in full, 15 in redacted form and has withheld 21 documents. Six documents have also been held for further consultation with another agency before possible release.

The State Department produced several documents that are already publicly available, including the Cyprus MOU and information already up on the State Department Cultural Property Protection web site. Nonetheless, the State Department did also release some relevant documents. These included an “action memo” evidencing the decision to impose import restrictions on ancient coins of Cypriot type. While it is heavily redacted, it does suggest that the decision was approved by the proper decision making authority, Assistant Secretary Dina Powell.

That said, given the redactions, it remains unclear whether or not Ms. Powell was fully briefed about CPAC’s recommendations on extending import restrictions to ancient coins of Cypriot types. While the CPAC report was also produced, it was only produced in heavily redacted form. As a result, it is impossible to ascertain whether CPAC’s recommendations were made known to the decision maker or not. (more…)