Coin Collecting in Greece

[The Pontian]

Hello ! Does anybody know the laws about coin collecting in Greece ? I think that you need a permission by the government. Can somebody help ?

Edited January 24 by The Pontian

[kirispupis]

My understanding is if you live in Greece, you're free to collect all the ancient coins you want. It's just not possible to take them out of the country.

There's a Greek restaurant we frequent and the owner goes back to Greece for a month every year and has a lot of family. According to him, where he lives people find ancient coins (mostly Macedonian) all the time, but since they can't sell them they don't care for them. He mentioned some people make decorations out of their finds. I don't know the truth of that statement, but that's what he said.

With luck, I'll be travelling to Greece later this year, but I've assumed that purchasing ancient coins is an impossibility this year so my time will be devoted to pictures. 🙂 

[Deinomenid]

@The PontianIt's more draconian (pun intended) than free to collect all you want. Unless collecting  is  just buying (not selling anything you have bought).

I lifted this from a forumancientcoins site a while ago, so all due apologies.

http://www.indiana.edu/~arch/saa/matrix/ael/ael_mod09.htm

Archaeology Legislation in Greece: An example of an antiquities-rich state that exerts strict sovereign controls on archaeological resources. Many nations in the circum-Mediterranean area have similar legislation; so do most countries in Central and South America. The Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs has jurisdiction.

a. Current scheme based on Greek Antiquities Law of 1932 and 1950. All antiquities on land and sea are the property of the State, which has the right to investigate and preserve them. Antiquities are broadly defined as "all works, without exception, of architecture, sculpture, graphic art and any art in general. . . and all other works and equipment in whatever material, including precious stones and coins."

b. Anyone finding antiquities or discovering them fortuitously must report the discovery to the authority; there are penalties for not doing so.
 

c. Antiquities may be freely imported (but must be declared); export can only be made after a decision of the Antiquities Council, and illegal export is punishable by a fine and up to five years imprisonment. Effectively, there is no export of antiquities.

 

 

Edited January 25 by Deinomenid
removed link but text the same

[Ed Snible]

@Deinomenid, that link doesn't work for me.

According to https://www.coincommunity.com/Forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=290935& all collectors of coins older than 1826 must be licensed by the government.  Without that license, Greek citizens can't possess ancient, medieval, or early modern coins.

Edited January 25 by Ed Snible

[DLTcoins]

Here are at least some of the applicable Greek laws:

https://sherloc.unodc.org/cld//legislation/grc/antiquities_law/article_1/antiquities_law_.html?lng=en&tmpl=sherloc

https://sherloc.unodc.org/cld//legislation/grc/antiquities_law/articles_13_20_46_49/antiquities_law.html?lng=en&tmpl=sherloc

International trade in antiquities is regulated via the 1970 UNESCO Convention. The much-discussed "memoranda of understanding" are its practical implementation:

https://en.unesco.org/about-us/legal-affairs/convention-means-prohibiting-and-preventing-illicit-import-export-and

 

Edited January 25 by DLTcoins

[Ryro]

Just be careful not to slip if you do. 

Edited January 25 by Ryro

[NewStyleKing]

About 12 years ago I came across a shop in the Plaka that sold genuine coins-what else it sold I cannot remember...jewelry?. His one and only NewStyle  was a ridiculous price even then!  So how he could sell that and his Corinthian Pegasos types defeats me.....the only other type I could remember him having I was there and told him about Habicht and the  low chronology of the NewStyle

Edited January 25 by NewStyleKing