Al Kowsky Posted August 21, 2023 · Member Share Posted August 21, 2023 ARTnews has reported that Peter Higgs, a 30 year employee for the British Museum, was caught with his hand in the cookie jar & has been fired 😦. It has been alleged that Higgs was stealing museum artifacts & selling them on eBay. https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/british-museum-staffer-fired-stolen-items-veteran-curator-peter-higgs-1234677248/ 1 4 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Conduitt Posted August 21, 2023 · Supporter Share Posted August 21, 2023 Not very bright thinking he could get away with it for so long. At least he didn't try and eBay the Elgin Marbles. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finn235 Posted August 21, 2023 · Member Share Posted August 21, 2023 Anyway, don't forget that all your LRBs need to be turned over to museums so that they can receive the proper care that only a public institution can provide 😉 2 2 2 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heliodromus Posted August 21, 2023 · Member Share Posted August 21, 2023 Dumb as a rock apparently - sold the stuff on eBay using a PayPal account linked to his Twitter account under his real name ! 1 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sand Posted August 21, 2023 · Member Share Posted August 21, 2023 (edited) It's quite a coincidence, that he has the same name as the Nobel Prize winner, who helped to create the theory of the Higgs Mechanism and the Higgs particle. They are both British. However, his middle name is different. I wonder if the Nobel guy is annoyed. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Higgs Edited August 21, 2023 by sand 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heliodromus Posted August 21, 2023 · Member Share Posted August 21, 2023 I made a handy identification guide 1 2 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Kowsky Posted August 21, 2023 · Member Author Share Posted August 21, 2023 2 hours ago, Heliodromus said: Dumb as a rock apparently - sold the stuff on eBay using a PayPal account linked to his Twitter account under his real name ! Sometimes greed can overwhelm honesty & common sense 😏.... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Kowsky Posted August 21, 2023 · Member Author Share Posted August 21, 2023 3 hours ago, John Conduitt said: Not very bright thinking he could get away with it for so long. At least he didn't try and eBay the Elgin Marbles. He may not have tried hustling the Elgin Marbles but he looks uncomfortably attached to that female sculpture 🤣. 1 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benefactor DonnaML Posted August 21, 2023 · Benefactor Benefactor Share Posted August 21, 2023 1 hour ago, Heliodromus said: I made a handy identification guide I think this comparison understates a bit just how high up this guy was at the British Museum -- he was a "prominent curator" and "the museum’s head of department for Greece and Rome." Even if the thefts were petty, it's a pretty big deal that he was the one who carried them out. If this were fiction, I'd assume that he had gambling debts or other serious monetary difficulties. But in real life, who knows? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heliodromus Posted August 21, 2023 · Member Share Posted August 21, 2023 Yes - he certainly had a lot to lose in terms of reputation, and to do this repeatedly does seem totally reckless, as well as being horrendously antisocial. Did he need the money for some reason, or was it just the thrill/stupidity ? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DLTcoins Posted August 22, 2023 · Member Share Posted August 22, 2023 (edited) 7 hours ago, DonnaML said: I think this comparison understates a bit just how high up this guy was at the British Museum -- he was a "prominent curator" and "the museum’s head of department for Greece and Rome." Even if the thefts were petty, it's a pretty big deal that he was the one who carried them out. If this were fiction, I'd assume that he had gambling debts or other serious monetary difficulties. But in real life, who knows? 'Petty' is in the eye of the beholder, or eBayer, as the case may be: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/08/17/stolen-british-museum-items-worth-50000-offered-ebay-40/ In a completely coincidental and unrelated story <ahem>, the director of the British Museum announced in July that he will "pass on the leadership" of the museum next year. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/08/18/staff-allege-british-museum-director-resigned-over-thefts/ Edited August 22, 2023 by DLTcoins 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryro Posted August 22, 2023 · Supporter Share Posted August 22, 2023 Great to read! There is NOTHING wrong with stealing from the British Museum... so long as you don't get caught. This is the culture they have bred. They've been stealing from the world for years and laughing and lying about it. May Beard tells some wonderfully sad stories about it in "The Parthenon ". 2 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heliodromus Posted August 26, 2023 · Member Share Posted August 26, 2023 More details of this dismal story coming out ... The museum had ignored evidence for years until the Danish antiquities dealer who uncovered this had to go over the head of the director to the chairman who finally acted on the information. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/08/23/ittai-gradel-british-museum-theft-evidence/ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heliodromus Posted August 26, 2023 · Member Share Posted August 26, 2023 The director has now changed his resignation to be effective immediately. https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2023/08/25/british-museum-director-hartwig-fischer-steps-down-with-immediate-effect Apparently the BM hasn't even fully catalogued their holdings, so it's not clear if they even know what's missing. 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sol_Invictus Posted August 26, 2023 · Member Share Posted August 26, 2023 This article shows the eBay listing for one of the items alleged to have been stolen from the BM. https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2023/08/18/media-reports-identify-objects-stolen-from-the-british-museum-posted-on-ebay I guess EBay seller associated with this was Sultan1966 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heliodromus Posted August 26, 2023 · Member Share Posted August 26, 2023 13 minutes ago, Sol_Invictus said: I guess EBay seller associated with this was Sultan1966 Yes, and this was noted as being Peter Higgs Twitter handle (still is - Twitter account still there). I'm not sure the origin of the "Sultan1966" reference though, since a Google search shows up multiple instance of that user name on various sites, as well as a movie reference: https://forums.auran.com/members/sultan1966.1053280/ https://www.rvforum.net/members/sultan1966.109804/about https://theojewelry.com/product/zayed-bin-sultan-1966/ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0420890/fullcredits Hopefully they have better evidence that the culprit was Higgs than just this user name. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hrefn Posted August 26, 2023 · Supporter Share Posted August 26, 2023 It has been 30 years since I viewed them in person, but my impression is that the caryatid in the British Museum is in much better condition than the remaining ones in Greece. A couple of centuries more of exposure to the elements, and Athens’ terrible 20th century air pollution, has severely impaired the caryatids who were left in situ until they were moved to the Acropolis Museum. Or perhaps Lord Elgin just bought the best one. If the difference in quality is due to environmental deterioration, I would say the Brits are due thanks for absconding with the marbles they did take. The upside of cultural imperialism, I suppose. My thoughts on cultural patrimony and repatriation have been expressed elsewhere. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Kowsky Posted August 26, 2023 · Member Author Share Posted August 26, 2023 On 8/21/2023 at 5:22 PM, Heliodromus said: Yes - he certainly had a lot to lose in terms of reputation, and to do this repeatedly does seem totally reckless, as well as being horrendously antisocial. Did he need the money for some reason, or was it just the thrill/stupidity ? Port wine has gotten very expensive in Britain 🍷🍾😉. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry G Posted August 26, 2023 · Member Share Posted August 26, 2023 The guy that originally discovered the theft has described what happened. It's an interesting read. Paywalled article: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/08/23/ittai-gradel-british-museum-theft-evidence/ Free article: https://demo.thisischip.com/?q=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/08/23/ittai-gradel-british-museum-theft-evidence/&o=reddit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tetradogma Posted August 26, 2023 · Member Share Posted August 26, 2023 "While Higgs used a pseudonym to sell items on eBay, a portal on his Paypal account linked to his Twitter feed, where he used his real name" What a dim wit, honestly. It's like he wanted to be caught. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tetradogma Posted August 29, 2023 · Member Share Posted August 29, 2023 (edited) On 8/26/2023 at 6:06 PM, Hrefn said: If the difference in quality is due to environmental deterioration, I would say the Brits are due thanks for absconding with the marbles they did take. The upside of cultural imperialism, I suppose. Hmmm not sure the Brits are due thanks, given that the Museum damaged them in the 1930s.... https://www.theguardian.com/uk/1999/nov/12/helenasmith Edited August 29, 2023 by Tetradogma 1 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ACCLA-Mike Posted August 29, 2023 · Member Share Posted August 29, 2023 Growing up in England I was always told that Elgin took the best of whatever he could get "permission" from the local Turkish rulers to take. And he did lose more than a few pieces on the way. If you are interested in the actual history of the British Museum's "acquisition" of the marbles, I heartedly recommend starting by reading the "Report from the Select Committee of the House of Commons on the Earl of Elgin's collection of sculptured marbles" that was published in 1816 (link below). This government summary is an exemplary piece of political whitewash. Elgin didn't even have a receipt! But that was OK because the government wanted the sculptures for the British Museum. 😉 https://archive.org/details/gri_33125008272383/mode/2up?view=theater Enjoy, 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deinomenid Posted October 12, 2023 · Supporter Share Posted October 12, 2023 This story goes from bad to worse. While looking through their incredibly limited number of eastern Med coins they have managed to image (you can easily see the ratio of images to total by filtering on their collections page) I came across their "whoops we lost a bunch of stuff" mea culpa page which is here. https://www.britishmuseum.org/our-work/departments/recovery-missing-items I thought it was a joke or at best incomplete as it has so little information on it. For example its extensive list of missing jewelry etc is described, and this is the FULL detail as "Gold rings, ear-rings and other pieces of jewellery These date from across antiquity, especially from the Late Bronze Age (about 15th to 11th century BC) and the Hellenistic and Roman periods." So if you come across any gold rings be sure to let the British Museum know. Then CoinsWeek just produced an article on it and strongly implies or at least infers from other reports that the reason it is doing this is not the weak excuse shown on the link here, but simply - as many suspected - that the BM has no blooming idea of most of what is missing and is just going through the motions. Awful. I'm a member of the BM, visit regularly, use their free services on item id, regularly refer to their catalogues etc, and like much of what they do so am maybe being too prickly in response the stream of recent lectures from British museums that they not we should be the sole repository of the past. This whole saga, capped off with the so-called "description of missing items" lowers my opinion of them quite a bit though. 2 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sol_Invictus Posted October 12, 2023 · Member Share Posted October 12, 2023 If the person responsible for recording the objects was also the person who was stealing them, then perhaps it’s not the museum’s fault for not having records of the items. Instead their fault is in trusting the wrong person, and in not keeping a sufficiently close eye on their staff. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heliodromus Posted October 12, 2023 · Member Share Posted October 12, 2023 (edited) I recently contacted the BM coin dept inquiring after a unique-for-issue coin they acquired from the famous Bourton-on-the-Water hoard in 1972. I only knew about the coin from a hoard report - no mention of it on the BM site, which is why I asked for confirmation (& hopefully a photo). I got a polite, but ultimately useless reply, that yes they (think?) they have the coin, and here's the online link to it. https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/C_1972-0627-1 No photo, no mention of reverse type, bust type, legends, issue, provenance ... Just a 5.000g Constantine coin from Lyons acquired in 1972. Maybe asking too much for them to have already cataloged a unique coin they held back from a hoard only 50 years ago! Who knows, maybe it's been stolen and will appear on eBay shortly. I guess sans photo anything not weighing 5.000g is fair game. 😃 Edited October 12, 2023 by Heliodromus 2 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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