Numismatic and History Discussion Forums > History and Archeology

Where do coins come from?

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Virgil H:
I have a comment about provenance that I have no proof of but is one I think about a lot. I am actually an anthropologist, so I have varying views. I am also a collector. So...

Today and in the recent past, laws in specific countries mostly ensure that coins are not documented and are taken out of a country in some kind of black market. The UK, I suppose, is the exception. Even the United States has idiotic laws regarding native American artifacts to the point that finders are never going to report them. It is a shame. Turkey comes immediately to mind with coins. I also am well aware that coins are often very minor finds in many cases, yet I wish all were recorded. Cumulatively, this would add to our body of knowledge. Not being reported, such data is lost forever. I do not blame finders or collectors for this state of affairs. I blame the countries with stupid laws. I personally think that all coin finds should be documented and then released to the market. It doesn't work that way, unfortunately.

But, the provenance thing is often used as a reason why a particular coin is totally legitimate. The 19th and early 20th century were truly the times of looting. Early archaeologists were essentially treasure hunters. Schiemann destroyed Troy with his excavations to find Homer's Troy. This is the textbook example of how to NOT do excavations that is still taught as a horrible thing in anthropology schools (in the US, anthropology includes archaeology, the disciplines are different in Europe, so I use the term anthropology as I am coming from a US perspective, that said. current European archaeologists are as horrified by Schiemann as we in the US are).

I recall visiting Pergamum in Turkey years ago. Incredible place, lots to see. Including the base of the altar to Zeus. Later I found out the actual altar was in the museum in Berlin. I never made it to Berlin, so I never saw it. All I could ever think of was how much better that would have looked if the altar had still been in Turkey. Except it had been looted by respectable men and shipped to Berlin. Every museum in the western world has artifacts like this that were essentially looted from multiple countries.

My point is that virtually every coin today with a 19th or early 20th century provenance was most likely looted from a site in a place like Turkey. I get it and I would buy them, as I do other coins. But I in no way would ever claim that the coin was legitimately obtained. This includes such claims as, well England owned that country at that time. That is a very specious argument. I would say that coins on the market today are as legit as they ever were and some are and some are not at all.

It is one of the conundrums of being a collector, one never knows. I can live with that, but I do not have my head in the sand, either.

Regards,
Virgil

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