On May 6, 2026, the Ancient Coin Collectors Guild submitted Freedom of Information Act requests to the Department of State and to Customs & Border Protection regarding two recent incidents, where ancient coins seized by Customs were “repatriated” to Greek and Italian officials by the State Department. The Greek City Times (April 25, 2026) reported that “Greek” ancient coins had been seized “due to missing legal documentation,” while Art News (April 30, 2026) reported a “cache of Roman coins” had been seized by the agency but then failed to respond to press inquiries about the seizure. The Guild’s FOIA requests raises issues whether these ancient coins, that were apparently seized while being imported into our country, was the proper subject of import restrictions, whether the importing owners were given any notice so they could respond, which then raises a fundamental question about the ancient coins “repatriation.”
