Buying Ancients and Taking Them Out of Italy: Laws and Practice

[jskirwin]

As a collector of ancients and frequent traveler to Italy I have read a lot of conflicting information, including several posts on this forum, regarding the purchase of ancient Roman coins as a tourist in Italy.
What are the laws of purchasing coins in Italy, and taking them out of the country - such as home to the UK, USA or Canada?
And what are the practicalities of doing so?

I have never purchased coins in Rome, and instead spent the time at the Capitoline Museum which has coins I could never afford, and have only rarely seen come up at auction.
In my time as a collector, I have advised others to do the same due to the unclear laws and the potential delay at customs. But I have been taken to task for my reticence, and gotten into some rather heated arguments with other collectors over this matter.

I know that Andrew McCabe and Meepzorp have written on this issue 10 years ago, but I would like to know what the laws - and practicalities are of buying coins in Rome and leaving the country with them.

[Ron C2]

Italy has very strict export permit laws now and a very slow bureaucracy. Exporting legally from there isn’t something you can do while visiting in vacation, in my opinion.

To be honest though, I rarely see worthwhile coins in the major Italian cities these days, and when I do, they are overpriced compared to dealers in almost any other country.