No Prison Means No Deterrence
Crimes against culture rarely appear on the radar of law enforcement authorities. And when such crimes are investigated–oftentimes after years of time and effort–many prosecutors tend to let such cases…
Looted Cultural Objects Recovered in Iraq
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty today reports that Iraqi authorities seized ten ancient gold coins along with two paintings during a sting operation that broke up an antiquities smuggling ring. http://www.rferl.org/content/Iraq_Says_Antiquities_Ring_Busted/2053617.html…
Blood Antiques – Watch online
Over the years, more books and documentary films have appeared to describe a once unreported problem–the looting of cultural heritage. Journeyman Pictures produced the documentary Blood Antiques, which is now…
Antiquities traffickers deal with ancient coins
There is much controversy today about the inclusion of ancient coins under the auspices of laws that protect archaeological objects. Some say the laws should not regulate ancient coins at…
Fakes on the Market, Looting on the Decline…
MSN posted an insightful piece of interest to collectors, dealers, and archaeologists. It is reported that the production of fakes is easier than looting authentic archaeoligical objects, thereby reducing looting…
fakes | forgeries | Italy | looted antiquities | looted art
Fakes and Forgeries
The Associated Press reported in today’s NY Times that Italian authorities last year recovered thousands of looted art and antiquities valued at close to $240 million US dollars. The story…