ACCG Board Member Peter Tompa has written a chapter about coins as cultural goods in an academic book funded by the European Union, entitled Low-End Markets for Art and Cultural Goods (Palgrave Macmillan 2026).
From the abstract,
This chapter argues that historical coins, due to large mintages and significant survival rates, are best preserved and studied through private collecting and a robust numismatic trade rather than state control. Current regulatory schemes, including restrictive import and export controls in the United States and European Union, are overly burdensome and impractical, especially given the lack of provenance for many coins. The chapter critiques these regulations for undermining legitimate collecting and numismatic scholarship while offering limited benefits to cultural heritage preservation. Instead, it promotes a model based on the United Kingdom’s Portable Antiquities Scheme and Treasure Act, which encourages responsible reporting of finds and cooperation among finders, collectors, and institutions. As a result, we have a much better picture of early British economic history. The chapter concludes that policies emphasizing conservation and collaborative stewardship serve both cultural heritage and scholarly inquiry far more effectively than rigid governmental controls.
For the chapter, see https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-032-27566-0_24
