Cultural Property News has prepared a detailed expose about the Antiquities Coalition, a nonprofit archaeological advocacy organization that has been at the forefront of efforts to delegitimize private collecting of cultural goods, including coins.
More here: https://culturalpropertynews.org/the-antiquities-coalition-cultural-heritage-protector-or-global-soft-power-agent/
ACCG members and all coin collectors should pay special attention to page 11 of the report which states,
Questions also arise from the close, overlapping relationships between the Antiquities Coalition and Goldman Sachs. A central link is Deborah Lehr’s husband, John F. W. Rogers, a senior Goldman Sachs executive and a highly influential former State Department official. Goldman Sachs has long integrated senior figures from government into its leadership. For example, four years prior to the founding of the Antiquities Coalition, Rogers recruited Dina Powell directly from the State Department to the firm as a managing director in 2007.
Powell is unquestionably an able administrator. Immediately prior to joining Goldman Sachs, Powell served as Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs (2005-2007), functioning as an ‘ambassador’ to the Arabic-speaking world. In that position, she also exercised delegated presidential authority over cultural property agreements.
Notably, in her role as the President’s decision-maker in 2007, Powell approved the first Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that included ancient coins, with Cyprus, against the actual recommendation of the Cultural Property Advisory Committee. At the time of that decision, she had already accepted a position at Goldman Sachs, where she served sixteen years in leadership positions.
Powell is not named in any governance, staff advisory or program capacity in public Antiquities Coalition or Basilinna records. However, there is an appearance of a sustained personal-professional relationship between Powell and Lehr. Dina Powell (now Dina Powell McCormick) married Dave McCormick in 2019. Dave McCormick, now a U.S. senator from Pennsylvania, was among the co-sponsors of the Art Market Integrity Act, S. 2400, discussed later in this paper.
Goldman Sachs’ interest in the Antiquities Coalition’s cultural heritage initiatives carries strategic implications. By backing these programs, the firm can strengthen relationships with governments in key regions, including China, Cyprus, Greece, Egypt, and the Gulf states. This goodwill may indirectly support Goldman Sachs’s banking and advisory operations in those markets and reinforce ties between Goldman Sachs Gives (GS Gives), its philanthropic arm, and officials involved in Egyptian investment and foreign trade.
ACCG sought to raise these issues as part of its claim that the the first import restriction coins were imposed in an "extralegal" manner in its "test case," but all the evidence provided was simply ignored because the Court treated import restrictions on coins as a "foreign policy matter" beyond judicial review.
Here is some of the evidence ACCG provided in support for its claims:
1. Declaration of Jay Kislak, the Chairman of the Cultural Property Advisory Committee at the time, which demonstrated that the decision to impose import restrictions on coins of Cypriot types was made against his Committee's recommendations, a fact that the State Department then sought to cover up in official government reports: Kislak Declaration and Exhibits.pdf
2. Declaration of Robert Korver, another CPAC member at the time, which amplified Mr. Kislak's allegations: Korver Declaration.pdf
3. Declaration of Peter Tompa, which attaches documents establishing that Powell's decision to ratify the first import restrictions on ancient coins raises at least appearance of conflict issues because it was made after she accepted a job at Goldman Sachs where she worked on the "lobbying team" of Lehr's husband, John F. W. Rogers. Secibd Declaration of Peter K Tompa file stamped 011916.pdf
ACCG notes Rogers, Lehr and Powell have never had to answer these allegations in any forum. ACCG also notes that Powell taking a job at Goldman Sachs acted as a major boost to her career, which has cumulated in a position on the National Security Council and currently as President and Vice Chairman of Meta. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dina_Powell
