Three years ago, coin collector and hobby advocate Scott Barman posted on his blog an insightful article about the nature of what others have described as ideologically inspired bureaucratic overreach. He named the post "An Ancient Dilemma" and discussed the issue of unintended consequences in an era of "hyper-partisanship". Where other members of the coin hobby and trade—including myself on some occasions—have become understandably emotional on this topic, Mr. Barman exhibits a remarkable degree of restraint and appeals both to law and common sense. In the past several years, he has also written other pieces on this subject, see:
http://coinsblog.ws/2013/04/why-you-should-care-about-restrictions-on-collecting-ancient-coins.html
http://coinsblog.ws/2014/05/ancient-collectors-need-your-help.html
http://coinsblog.ws/2016/04/stop-the-government-from-turning-ancient-coin-collectors-into-criminals.html
http://coinsblog.ws/2016/09/collectors-of-ancient-coins-need-your-help.html
For those who would care to evaluate the "ancient coin collector" perspective, without the mindless media disinformation barrage of our times, the thoughts expressed by Mr. Barman will certainly be worth considering.
1 comment:
Wayne: I appreciate the kind words! It is my pleasure to advocate for the collector, regardless of what they collect. I am not a collector of ancient coins but I hate to see a part of the hobby alienated because of a politician's draconian view of the world. Numismatics is also part of preserving history. It is better to collect these historical artifacts and enjoy them rather than have them locked up behind closed doors and glass tombs.
Let me add one other bit of reading: The law of unintended consequences is about a friend who went to the Mediterranean and happens to find some ancient coins digging on the beach. They were accused of trying to steal antiquities. It is another reason that when the ACCG needs advocacy help, I will be there!
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