Showing 3 results for the tag: ancient coin collectors guild.

April 17, 2012

Are US coin collectors being unfairly targeted by the law?

Posted at 8:04 am in Similar cases

American coin collectors in the USA argue that it is unfair to apply any sort of import restrictions to them, if other countries aren’t applying similar restriction. This approach seems fairly short sighted – if we worked on this basis, then no country would never need to apply any laws if other countries around them didn’t also have similar rules. Surely, it makes more sense to lead by example & then encourage others to follow suit.

From:
Huffington Post

Wayne Sayles
Executive Director, Ancient Coin Collectors Guild
End the Unilateral Trade Sanctions on Collectors
Posted: 04/ 3/2012 2:46 pm

President Obama recently announced that he is going to get tough on unfair trade restrictions. In his White House announcement earlier this month, the President said China should not be allowed to “skirt the rules” by placing restrictions on exports. “If China would simply let the market work on its own, we’d have no objection,” said Obama. The President went on to say, “When it is necessary, I will take action if our workers and our businesses are being subjected to unfair practices.”

But China is increasingly gaining free rein over certain industries because of the U.S.’ aggressive regulatory stances. While government agencies in Washington increase surcharges and restrictions for U.S. consumers, their Chinese counterparts take advantage of the unilateral sanctions. President Obama should take action by telling his own U.S. State Department to stop its unilateral trade restrictions on American coin collectors. An entire industry of small business collectors is under assault and in danger of collapsing because these sanctions unfairly target Americans alone.
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March 14, 2012

The problems of coin collecting

Posted at 1:58 pm in Uncategorized

My sympathy for the Ancient Coin Collectors Guild in the US is somewhat limited – they want some sort of exemption from, or change of the law regarding ownership of cultural property & seem to be regularly pushing articles to highlight their case.

From:
San Francisco Examiner

Another hobby it’s legally hazardous to pursue
By: Walter Olson | 08/17/11 6:00 PM
Special to The Examiner

Thomas Jefferson, John Quincy Adams and Ronald Reagan were among the many notable Americans who have enjoyed collecting ancient and historic coins.

Add to their number countless kids awestruck on their birthday when a grandparent presented them with a genuine coin from the Roman Empire to crown their treasure trove of more ordinary Liberty dimes and buffalo nickels.
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October 18, 2010

The ACCG & Extralegal Cultural Property Policy in the USA

Posted at 8:45 pm in Similar cases

The page linked to below has a link to download a lengthy paper about the application of the National Stolen Property Act to return cultural property to its country of origin. Reading through the document however, starts to reveal that it is aimed mainly at shoring up the position of the Ancient Coin Collectors Guild who are eager to argue that personal ownership (by its members) should over-ride normal legalities. This has been a long running saga, with large amounts of foot stomping in the hope that they can obtain special exemptions or get the US State Department to change its mind on the application of the various laws that are upsetting the ACCG.

Quite why the ACCG should be exempted from the law is entirely unclear to me. They seem to be carrying on the tradition of collecting for personal benefit at the potential detriment to others that ought to have died out at the end of the age of imperialism.

From:
Social Science Research Network

Unveiling the Executive Branch’s Extralegal Cultural Property Policy
Stephen Urice, University of Miami – School of Law
Andrew Adler, University of Miami

August 13, 2010
University of Miami Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2010-20

Abstract:
In this Article we reveal that the executive branch of the United States has consistently – and astonishingly – exceeded constraining legal authority with respect to the movement of cultural property into the United States. To illustrate this assertion, we identify three distinct categories of extralegal cultural property practices. First, we describe how the Department of Justice, misapplying the National Stolen Property Act, has obtained the return of cultural objects to their countries of origin by filing legally-deficient civil forfeiture complaints. Second, we describe how the Justice Department has pursued this same objective by proceeding under a legally-erroneous interpretation of the Archaeological Resources Protection Act. Third, we describe how the Department of State has repeatedly undermined the statutory structure and mandatory criteria of the Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act, resulting in significant import restrictions on cultural property. All of these practices exceed constraining legal authority and lead to a similar result. Accordingly, we describe this pattern of practices as forming an extralegal cultural property policy. We express no opinion about the wisdom of this policy. Rather, our purposes in unveiling this policy are to promote a rigorous and transparent review of the executive’s practices and to restore the rule of law. In our conclusion we speculate as to why the executive has undertaken these practices and, among other observations, suggest with some sympathy that the current legal framework is outdated.

Working Paper Series

Date posted: August 15, 2010 ; Last revised: August 16, 2010

The full article can be downloaded from the link at the top of the page linked to above (marked one click download).