Joe, I thought your last post was a little unfair...
I agree, as a U.S. citizen you do have much more of a say. You indicate you have not made up your mind and you have questions. But your posts are not looking for answers, they support the MOU. I am sure there are
plenty of places to debate and learn about this issue, most of which are going to be run by supporters of the MOU. This is not the place for debate. This is the place for opposition.
Here are some main points against the ban...
Banning imports to the U.S. will not stop or even reduce looting. Even banning all trade will not stop all looting. People also
hunt treasure just for fun.
A ban should be in place in the EU BEFORE they ask the U.S. to place a ban.
It will be impossible to have any sort of effective ban without a presumption of guilt. There are millions of
ancient coins from
Italy above ground now. The percentage that are have documentation that proves they were not taken from the ground in
Italy since 1972 is near zero. It is impossible to distinguish between looted coins and coins that have been in
collections for decades or centuries. It is impossible to distinguish between coins that were found in
Italy and coins that were found in other countries.
Note I used the words "effective ban" above but, to be clear, I mean effective against imports, not against looting. Even an "effective ban" would have almost no impact at all against looting.
A presumption of guilt and a loss of property rights is not an appropriate way to achieve any goal. We need to fight to maintain our rights.
Even if we agree with the goal of preventing looting, and I think most collectors do, the MOU (1) will not
work, (2) is a serious violation of property rights and (3) is a disturbing violation of the presumption of innocence.