General News

IAPN Executive Director, Peter Tompa was invited to attend a High level event where he was able to interact with European Commission officials as well as representatives of other CINOA^[1] affiliated trade groups.

In late December, Mr. Tompa attended the first meeting of the European Commission's expert sub-group on “Dialogue with the Art Market" at the EC's headquarters in Brussels, Belgium.

His attendance at this month's follow-up meeting held in conjunction with the BRAFA Art Fair ^[2] in Brussels gave him the opportunity to join the event where Margaritis Schinas, Vice President of the European Commission for Promoting our European Way of Life ^[3] gave a talk. Tompa met with and spoke to the top EU bureaucrat on the issue, Georg Haeusler.

Peter K. Tompa has accepted the position of IAPN’s Executive Director, effective January 1, 2024.  He succeeds long-time IAPN Executive Director, Jean-Luc Van der Schueren.

Previously and going forward, Tompa has acted as the IAPN’s outside legal counsel, advocating for fair treatment for the micro and small businesses of the numismatic trade before government regulators. He has practiced cultural property law since the 1990’s and has written and lectured extensively about the subject. He is a past co-chair of the American Bar Association's Art & Cultural Heritage Law Committee. He has been an avid ancient coin collector since he first saw such coins for sale while on a European family vacation in the early 1970’s. He is a life member of the American Numismatic Association and the Ancient Coin Collectors Guild as well as a Life Fellow of the American Numismatic Society.  He was recently appointed as the IAPN’s representative on a European Commission expert sub-group on “Dialogue with the Art Market.”

Tompa hopes to assist IAPN’s President and Executive Committee in fosteringa healthy and prosperous numismatic trade conducted according to the highest standards of business ethics and commercial practice.  

The IAPN was constituted at a meeting held in Geneva in 1951 to which the leading international numismatic firms had been invited. There were 28 founding members. Today, there are more than 100 numismatic firms in the membership, across several continents and twenty-five countries. 

FOR ENQUIRIES ABOUT THE ASSOCIATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
The IAPN General Secretary
57, rue Grimaldi 98000 MONACO
Email: secretary@iapn-coins.org | Tel. +377 93 25 12 96

On Friday, the 12th of January, newly appointed IAPN Executive Director, Peter K. Tompa spoke on topics related to numismatics, antiquities and cultural property law.

Peter discussed new and proposed import restrictions on coins, recent prosecutions for cultural property crimes, and developments in the European Union before taking questions for further discussion from members of the ACCG and the IAPN.  Peter also introduced Keith Twitchell, who has succeeded Peter as the ACCG’s executive director.

The talk was held at the InterContinental New York Barclay's Morgan Suite within the bourse area of the 52nd Annual New York International Numismatic Convention (NYINC).

Participants and IAPN Members attending the 52nd Annual New York International Numismatic Convention (NYINC) held from 11 to 14 January in New York City were greeted at the IAPN's table by newly appointed IAPN Executive Director, Peter K. Tompa.

The IAPN plans to continue setting up booths at additional future events. IAPN members are welcome to gather, stop by to meet other attending IAPN members, and will help in staffing and representing the Association and its engagement in the hobby and industry for the public and other potential member candidates.

In late December, IAPN Executive Director Peter Tompa attended the first meeting of a European Commission expert sub-group on “Dialogue with the Art Market" at the EC's headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. The meeting provided Tompa an opportunity to meet EU regulators as well as representatives of other industry groups. Tompa was allowed to provide EU regulators with information about the coin trade and its perspectives on proposed regulations. He plans to attend a follow-up meeting held in conjunction with an upcoming Brussels Art Fair where there will be an opportunity to meet with Margaritis Schinas, Vice President of the EC. 

With the beginning of the New Year, The IAPN are pleased to announce their long awaited website relaunch, resulting from an internal research and development initiative over the past several months.

Members of the Association and the public alike are invited to explore the reorganized website for archived news, the activities of its Membership, important announcements on international trade and additional numismatic resources and ongoing event updates.

Content available on the website has been reorganized by topic or associated to dedicated categories, while ongoing research into the Association's historical activities is being added as it becomes available. The Auction Calendar is regularly updated and the Lost Coin Archive is available for disseminating information when issues arise.

For any enquiries about the IAPN, please contact the General Secretary.

IAPN Member, Jeff Garrett of Mid-American Rare Coin Galleries Inc. has written an excellent article with important security reminders and suggestions for dealers and collectors alike. We encourage all to read and consider this important advice.

Originally published on the NGC website, please use the following link read the entire article: https://www.ngccoin.com/news/article/12217/

Statement of the IAPN Regarding Criminal Complaint Brought by the Manhattan District Attorney Against Richard Beale, the Proprietor of Roma Numismatics

March 13, 2023

The International Association of Professional Numismatists (IAPN) has become aware that the New York District Attorney’s Office has brought a criminal complaint against Richard Beale, the managing director of Roma Numismatics Limited, a London-based auction house. That criminal complaint alleges that Beale unlawfully purchased valuable coins from Italy, Greece, and Gaza in violation of local national patrimony laws and created false provenances to hide their illicit origins. The criminal complaint also alleges that Italo Vecchi, an Italian dealer based in London, aided this effort for a Roman Republican gold coin of Brutus and another silver coin from Naxos, an ancient Greek colony in Sicily.

To continue reading the complete statement, download the [PDF]

THE International Association of Professional Numismatists (IAPN) have joined Confédération Internationale des Négociants en Œuvres d’Art (CINOA) as an Associate Member. 

Their membership to this important organization representing the art trade, enables the Association and its global members access to a better understanding of and participation in European political developments on trade regulations in cultural goods and on money-laundering legislation. In joining CINOA the IAPN are gaining further insight and influence within Brussels to help better understand future challenges within the numismatic industry and to cooperate in building communication channels with authorities of the European Union to ensure that the IAPN’s point of view is included in the decision-making that will eventually form future laws affecting the trade in cultural materials, numismatic or otherwise.

Download the IAPN's Press Release to learn more about CINOA [PDF]

An article about Ancient Coin Restrictions by American Numismatic Association (ANA)

Since 2007, the ANA has been involved with the global issue of cultural property, specifically with regard to numismatic artifacts. The hobby community’s interest in this topic began in 1983 when, in response to unlawful looting of archaeological sites abroad, the United States Senate passed the Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act (CPIA). This legislation supports the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the “Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property.” The concept behind the UNESCO Convention was to create a framework for governments to enter into agreements to enforce each other’s export-control laws on archaeological and ethnological objects.

With some reservations, the Senate agreed to the convention with the intention of preserving the “independent judgment” of the United States as to when and how it would impose import restrictions on cultural artifacts when requested by governments that are in agreement with the Convention. The CPIA set up a panel of experts, the Cultural Property Advisory Committee (CPAC), to assist the U.S. president in this decision-making process. The State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs was put in charge of the program, while U.S. Customs and Border Protection was tasked with implementing import restrictions.  

Import/export regulations between the United States and other nations are drafted in the form of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), which clearly outlines each country’s responsibilities. Accompanying import restrictions then describe which categories of cultural artifacts might be subject to detention, seizure or repatriation. It is important to note that these MOUs affect American citizens only, regardless of whether the objects in question are available on the open market to citizens of other nations, including the country attempting to enforce the restrictions. This is problematic, especially since the State Department routinely disregards conditions requiring the source country to enforce its own laws.     

Initially, import restrictions were imposed on behalf of poor, third-world countries, and on narrow categories of artifacts with high cultural value and rarity. However, since the 1990s, nations such as Italy, Cyprus and China have successfully placed restrictions on an ever-increasing range of artifacts, including ancient coins. The American Numismatic Association first became involved in the MOU process when Cyprus attempted to place such items on its restricted list. To protect the rights of American collectors, the ANA has worked with the Ancient Coin Collectors Guild and other organizations to send representatives to CPAC meetings and to address the attempts of Italy, Greece and other nations to restrict the import of ancient coins into the United States.

A major concern with import restrictions is how they are enforced. The CPIA can authorize such enforcement only on objects of archaeological interest or cultural significance that are first discovered within and subject to export control of a specific UNESCO State Party. Such items can be seized only if they were exported from that UNESCO State Party after the date of restriction. Customs agencies ignore these limitations on their authority and instead draft restrictions based on the place of manufacture in ancient times without regard to the date of manufacture. They also seize artifacts imported into the U.S. after the date designated in the restriction. These practices have changed the CPIA’s focus from targeted restrictions to allowing an embargo on all objects made by a particular culture in ancient times.

The ANA fully supports the idea of protecting cultural property, but has consistently argued that ancient coins should not be included in MOUs for a number of reasons. First, coins are among the most common and durable of artifacts (with a few notable exceptions), and therefore the information they contain is in no danger of being lost to historians or archaeologists in the way unique or rare objects would be if not preserved in cultural institutions. Additionally, there is no shortage of coins in museums in nations that have ancient specimens as part of their history, particularly Europe, the Middle East and China.

Finally, coins are excellent teaching tools. Their durability—and the large number of specimens available—makes them ideal collectors’ items. They encourage interest in the past, which in turn promotes educational programs in museum and universities, many of whose collections were formed or financed by hobbyists.

Originally published on the ANA website: https://www.money.org/consumer-awareness-ancient-coin-import-restrictions/