New Member From Athens, Greece. And A New Coin Collector!

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Author	Replies: 8 / Views: 988
Spyros New Member Greece 7 Posts	Posted 09/29/2021 07:41 am Hello everyone! This is Spyros, from Athens. I'm new to the forum and relatively new to coin collecting. Having collected rare books since I was a teenager, I decided to start collecting coins because, as a professor of numismatics told me a while ago, a coin is a very densely written book. My area of interest is mostly ancient Greek and Roman coins as well as modern Greek coins. I hope to learn a lot of things from the older collectors here and be helpful to others if I can. Greetings from sunny Athens! Report this Post to the Staff

jbuck Moderator United States 187446 Posts	Posted 09/29/2021 10:29 am to the Community! Coin Collector Since 1978 Avatar Old Avatar 7070 Eisenhower Australia Canada World CCF Members on eBay CCF eBay Search Engine Report this Post to the Staff
John1 Moderator United States 56855 Posts	Posted 09/29/2021 12:56 pm Report this Post to the Staff
hokiefan_82 Pillar of the Community United States 3634 Posts	Posted 09/29/2021 1:48 pm Member of SPMC, FCCB, ANA and ANS. My U.S. Classic Commemorative Complete Set: https://www.NGCcoin.com/registry/co...sets/278741/ My U.S. Fractional Note Set: https://notes.www.collectors-societ...eSetID=34188 Report this Post to the Staff
owatchman Pillar of the Community United States 1494 Posts	Posted 09/29/2021 6:16 pm to the forum! Report this Post to the Staff
jack jeckel Pillar of the Community United States 5195 Posts	Posted 09/29/2021 9:59 pm Report this Post to the Staff
Sap Moderator Australia 16804 Posts	Posted 09/29/2021 10:38 pm Hello and welcome. We don't have too many folks from Greece as active members here on the forum. Being a coin collector in Greece can be challenging. The Greek government encourages folks to be collectors of modern Greek coins (defined as anything made after the founding of the first Greek Republic in 1830), which results in rather high prices for 19th century Greek coins due to strong local demand. For coins older than 1830, however, it's a different story. These are considered cultural artifacts and are Property of the State. You cannot "own ancient coins" in Greece; you certainly cannot buy, sell or export them. You can buy or sell the right to be the custodian of an ancient coin, which looks similar to outright ownership but includes some important restrictions, such as a duty of care to protect the coin, the requirement for the coin's location to be registered with the government, and for the coin to be available to be produced for examination on demand by a recognized archaeological authority. Most folks simply find the rules and regulations too burdensome, and don't even try to collect or take an interest in pre-1830 coins. This does have the unfortunate side effect that very few experts in ancient and mediaeval Greek coinage actually reside in Greece. Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis Report this Post to the Staff
Spyros New Member Greece 7 Posts	Posted 09/30/2021 01:09 am Thanks to everyone for your welcome messages! Sap thanks for your input and advice. My wife is a lawyer specialized in civil law and we're quite familiar with the absurd law regarding ownership of ancient artefacts in Greece. Collecting ancient coins will be a challenge for her as well, as she wants to get more involved in legal matters concerning archeology and the public services that deal with such issues. You perfectly described the "custody" regime, or "ΑΔΕΙΑ ΚΑΤΟΧΗΣ". Outright ownership or "ΚΥΡΙΟΤΗΤΑ" is a different legal term, but the law gives you the opportunity to declare ownership under some conditions. That's what my wife is currently working on. I always found it very disappointing that Greeks cannot own a piece of history of their own land, without getting in too much trouble anyway. There's also a lot of fear when it comes to the archeological law as people have ended up in chains for possesion of undeclared antiquites, even for pieces that have been passed down generation after generation for decades, or centuries even. Collecting coins, or anything really, involves trading and this is forbidden in Greece -no matter if you have custody or ownership- except for very few licensed dealers. At this point I'm determined to start this collection, even if I know I won't be allowed to sell, and will also have to deal with the bureaucracy. Who knows, maybe things will change in the future. For me, holding an ancient Greek coin, being able to read inscriptions in my own language, being able to immediately tie it to the place it was minted as it exists today, seeing the mythological depictions that I grew up with... It's just priceless and well worth the effort. Edited by Spyros 09/30/2021 01:10 am Report this Post to the Staff
Dorado Bedrock of the Community Canada 24885 Posts	Posted 10/01/2021 11:27 pm To the Forum. Report this Post to the Staff
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