Hobby Lobby was breaking the law and we do not condone that here. Regardless of their nefarious behavior, this is not the place to discuss it.
There is an anti-collector movement led by archeologists who want the public to believe that any undocumented coin or artifact is looted and stolen. Their intention is to protect archeological sites, which we also strongly support. However, the vast majority of
ancient coins and small low value artifacts are not looted from an archeological site or stolen, but are also not documented with
provenance. The anti-collectors do not care that their methodology results in the confiscation of legally owned private property and that it may severely damage classical
numismatics, a
field supported mostly by amateur collectors.
We believe archeological sites should be protected with guards. We believe that amateur metal detecting outside of designated archeological sites is
good, recovers items that would never be found otherwise, and occasionally discovers new sites that should be designated and protected. We believe that common, small, low value
antiquities and coins should be exempted from
provenance documentation requirements. We believe that import restrictions should be written with consideration give to collectors (we have usually been ignored). We believe that the import restrictions should be enforced only as written (provisions which support collector needs have sometimes been ignored).
We do not allow posts here that support the false notion that collecting
ancient coins or
antiquities is stealing or looting. Yes, there are actual cases of stealing and looting, but if you want to talk about them, discuss them someplace else.
