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Effective July 16, 2007 import restrictions imposed on Pre-Classical and Classical Archaeological Objects and Byzantine Period Ecclesiastical and Ritual Ethnological Material from Cyprus will be extended for a period of 5 years. In addition, import restrictions are also being imposed on coins. Details here.

The United States and Cyprus have had a bilateral agreement for almost five years that restricts the import into the United States of undocumented archaeological materials from Cyprus. The Cultural Property Advisory Committee (CPAC) in the U.S. Department of State considered extension of this agreement on Thursday and Friday, January 25 and 26.

The question of whether coins should be included in the new agreement arose, and the Committee is now seeking public comment on whether coins should be included.

Cyprus has asked that coins be included because it considers coins to have considerable archaeological significance when found in context, and, like other such materials, they are vulnerable to pillage and illegal export. The proposal is to include in the new bilateral agreement coins found in Cyprus that are more than 250 years old.

We urged everyone who cares about this issue, and particularly people who can speak from experience, to email or fax letters supporting the inclusion of coins. Whether you're a student, a volunteer on an archaeological dig, a professional archaeologist, or a coin collector of conscience, we urged you to get involved and write to CPAC addressing some or all of the following points:

1. Are coins part of a country's cultural patrimony and does the looting of coins jeopardize a country's cultural patrimony?

2. Is scientific excavation of coins important to archaeology and the reconstruction of social, political, and economic history?

3. Does the search for coins to sell on the market destroy sites and archaeological context (and therefore jeopardize the country's cultural patrimony) through metal detecting and other looting activities?

4. Specific points based on personal experience and specific examples involving Cypriot coins would be particularly helpful.

Why coins?

Coins found in excavations are not merely loose change. They are important archaeological documents that can tell the archaeologists much about the dating and context of a site. For example, if a coin is found under a sealed floor the floor obviously can be dated after the date of the coin. Sometimes hoards of coins are found, and are sometimes sealed in jugs -- how? when? why? -- important questions to which the archaeologists may offer an answer, but ONLY if found in situ.

An excellent example of the importance of coins in our understanding of the past is the case of the Elmali Hoard, looted in Turkey during the 1980's and restituted to the Republic of Turkey in 1999. The Elmali Hoard contained more than 1,600 coins, including at least 14 Athenian decadrahms, which are among the rarest of ancient coins. But that is where the story ends -- because this precious historical evidence was ripped out of its context.

For more information about CPAC, please visit the U.S. State Department International Cultural Property Protection website.