Re: Coin Ethics

"Mike Marotta" <mercury@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1135285611.284410.163300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Jorg Lueke wrote:
>> Is buying ancient coins without asking for assurances/documentation of
>> legal provenance right or wrong?
>
> We buy and sell. We offer value for value. We do not coerce. We do
> not force. We have no armies. We have no tax collectors. We only
> engage in free and open bargains between knowledgeable buyers and
> sellers. It is no one else's business, not even if they call
> themselves the National History Museum of the People's Kingdom of
> Slobovia.

So you are for looting, how very unethical of you, you should be ashamed of
yourself..

>
> The laws against commerce in artifacts are irrational because they are
> based on mystical collectivist ideas. In the United States, our laws
> are in conformance with a general framework of INDIIVIDUAL RIGHTS. In
> American our general operating principle is that you have a right to
> your property. England's new treasure trove law still does not
> recognize that basic right to your own property. Other nations have
> even worse legal systems, based on looter histories and moocher
> philosophies. You are under no ethical obligation to obey an immoral
> law.

You are against the Treasure Act and looters???? It has to be one or the
other, it can't be both. The act is not new as it dates from 1996.

It exists as an attempt to prevent important historical artefacts being lost
to the nation, and prevent the archeological context being lost, the British
Museum gets first pick. The finder gets half the market value and the land
owner gets the other half. If the find is not declared the finder/land
owner get nothing and are prosecuted.

If the USA was rich in buried antiquities they would have a similar law.

>
> Every item in the universe is metaphysically unique, whether a coat
> button or the Elgin Marbles. It makes no difference whatsoever to your
> basic right to your own property.

I've seen some amazing "apples and oranges" comparisons before but this one
of yours must qualify for some kind of award for being the most ridiculous.

>
> THE FARMER WHO FINDS AN ANCIENT COIN HAS AN INALIENABLE NATURAL RIGHT
> TO SELL IT TO WHOMEVER HE WANTS -- or to sell it to no one at all. It
> is his property.

Yes you are correct as one coin is not considered Treasure. There's no need
to SHOUT.

Call this number in the UK for a copy of the regulations, 020 7211 6200.

http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts1996/96024--a.htm

http://www.treasuretrovescotland.co.uk/

http://www.archaeology.co.uk/others/thinktank/who/tt.htm

>
> Right and wrong exist. They are objectively knowable, rationally
> consistent, and empirically verifiable. It is RIGHT to be able to
> dispose of your property, to invest your labor, to reap the benefit of
> your bargains. It is wrong for other people to interfere with that.
>
> Nothing validates the looter states that attempt to steal the property,
> the wealth, the money of individuals who create them. If you find on
> your property an old horse bit, an ancient coin, or the Temple of Isis
> and you want to sell it, it is no one else's business. Period.
>

I need a translation of this last paragraph. Billy


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