Fantastical claim of “Joseph-era” coins being found in Egypt by Archaeologists

September 25th, 2009

When I first read this I had to check the calender… Did I wake up from a coma
and it was actually April 1?

Anyway, according to this article in the Jerusalem Post, coins which date back
to the era of Joseph (16th-17th Century BC) have been found by archeologists
with the likeness of Joseph and that of Pharaoh. (Note: The article does not
mention he date, but mentions that they had previously thought that they had
only used barter, etc. I supplied the date of Joseph)

[http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1253820674074&pagename=JPost%2FJPArt\
icle%2FShowFull]

[http://www.memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=sd&ID=SP256109]

Makes you wonder what Zahi Hawass is thinking.  Look at a photo:

Supposed Joseph-era coins

Supposed Joseph-era "coins"

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Barfordian logic

September 11th, 2009

Once again, Paul Barford applies Barfordian logic to the mix.  I wonder if he was captain of his high school debate team and they had some obscure rule which restricted them to one form of medium.  I can see it now: ” Today we are going to debate [some local economic reform issue], but you can only use today’s local newspaper as source material.”

My comments are rather broad and are based on  several years of comments and attacks by Mr. Barford against collectors and “evil” dealers that supposedly have a no-questions-asked approach.  He likes to play the innocent, claiming to be open minded, but, quite frankly is anything but.

No one is denying that laws somewhere ARE being broken (in some cases) or that there is a problem.  There are SEVERAL problems.  Let me attempt to explain two of them from my point of view:

1.  We have an issue that deals with the property rights of individuals.  While this tends to be a rather “American” point of alarm, our friends in Eastern Europe, having survived decades of communism and socialism lived through a time where their personal property was nationalized and where they HAD to struggle to hold on to seemingly unimportant things, such as chickens and their eggs.  They have developed a rather healthy distrust of the authorities and are especially loathe to cooperate with those that claim that something which has been found, which no one living nor any of their children can lay claim, that these items should be “nationalized” for the greater good and without some form of reasonable compensation.

2. We have a black market which has been created because of these socialist inspired laws.  A very real concern, just look at the results of prohibition in the United States.  We are still struggling with the bastard child which was spawned by this law which was meant for the “greater good”.  (Organized crime)

Now, I wrote that I am not “as concerned” about unjust laws.  While I am certainly concerned with harm to the archaeological record (in some cases) and unsavory elements in source countries, I am loath to judge individuals protecting their personal property.  In Cuba (where my family is from) all property was nationalized.  Because of this, a pretty active black market has grown.  But should I celebrate when the 60 year old woman is sentenced to a year of house arrest because she “stole” chicken eggs (from what by all rights be considered HER chicken) instead of turning them over to the state for the “greater good”?  Or should I be concerned about the guy that is trying to feed his family, goes into the ocean, grabs a couple of lobsters and gets arrested and ends up spending a few months in a Cuban jail, because lobsters are only for export and it is in the best interests of the “people” that he go hungry so that the state can (theoretically) make a few more dollars on the export of those two lobsters?  I certainly object to the person that is stealing gas from the government depot to sell on the black market, but there are very clear differences.  (The gas has an owner with clear title whereas ancient coins or other antiquities found on private property do not)

While the information which can be gained by proper excavation can be incredibly valuable (depending on the circumstances), it does not trump the personal property rights of the land owner.   The ONLY viable solution is to enact reasonable laws which reasonable people will be willing to follow and would be glad to see enforced.  Once you give people viable options, they become less dependent on those individuals that are “unsavory” and they are less inclined to risk prosecution if there is a viable alternative.

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“Extreme” views

September 10th, 2009

It has been a while… My apologies, between a new baby, a two year old and some health issues my daily blog posts had to be put on indefinate hold.

On his blog, Paul Barford writes more of the usual anti-collecting extremist viewpoints.  In this case, he is is critizing a message by Derek Fincham.  I wont waste my time listing all of his points, but I did want to discuss one issue.

Mr. Barford likes to compare coin and antiquities collecting and the call for reasonable (enforceable) laws to such issues as child pornography, bird egg collecting, drunk driving and ivory poaching.  All very negative “hot buttons” which any halfway decent individual would obviously be against and I am sure that he hopes to work on the subconscious of his readers by linking these immoral, despicable issues with collecting.

If I were to make a reasonable analogy, it would be to drunk driving.  Every year I would wager that thousands (if not tens of thousands) of innocent people are killed or seriously injured as a result of intoxicated drivers.   Logic dictates that you punish the offender and educate the public to avoid drinking and driving.  But based on Barfordian logic, all cars should be banned and we should be forced to walk to and fro, perhaps with severely restricted permits issued to members of the communist party so that they can own a horse and buggy and maintain the roads. 

In case Barford has some difficulty understanding I will spell it out: Some individuals break reasonable laws for some reason (the drunk driver that wrecks a lamp post while drinking and driving), the communist party (radical archaeologists) cry foul and demand that all cars be banned because of all of the damage, injuries and loss of life, the law is passed and only the communists are allowed to control and maintain the roads (the radical element within archaeology insists that they are the only ones capable of “controlling” archaeological material).

I am not saying that there is a simple solution to people breaking the laws in Great Britain, although there is a very reasonable system in place, but on the same note, there is no simple solution to drunk driving.  As for child molesters, there actually is a pretty simple solution- put them out of our misery.  (But I digress)  As for source countries in Eastern Europe, there would not be such a problem if the laws were reasonable, so quite frankly, I am not as concerned about some those laws being broken. (Although I feel very strongly that these laws are contributing to the destruction of the information that we can learn if they adopted more reasonable laws)

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It’s a girl!

April 16th, 2009

A totally non-numismatic announcement:

At 9:30pm on April 15th, my baby daughter, Amelia De La Fe was born.  She weighed in at 8 LBS.  Thankfully she and mom are healthy and her 2 year old sister and I are looking forward to having them home soon!

Amelia De La Fe

Amelia De La Fe - Minutes after being born!

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Arab-Byzantine Coins: An Introduction, with a Catalogue of the Dumbarton Oaks Collection (Dumbarton Oaks Byzantine Collection Publications): Clive Foss: Books

April 10th, 2009

A new book has become available.  Arab-Byzantine Coins: An Introduction, with a Catalogue of the Dumbarton Oaks Collection (Dumbarton Oaks Byzantine Collection Publications)

At $29.95 it seems to be a real value.  I plan to order my copy over the weekend, but from all of the reviews I have been reading it is a “must have” for my reference library.  It can be purchased at this link:

Amazon.com: Arab-Byzantine Coins: An Introduction, with a Catalogue of the Dumbarton Oaks Collection (Dumbarton Oaks Byzantine Collection Publications): Clive Foss: Books.

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Anti-collector pro-nationalist lobby

April 9th, 2009

In a recent post to his blog, Nathan Elkins goes on to complain about the “rhetoric” and “derogatory labels” which the “dealer lobby” uses in describing the anti-collector and pro-nationalist lobby.  (More on why I call them “pro-nationalist” later)

But in the very same blog entry he goes on to write “unscientific excavation (looting)”.  When the average person hears the word looting, the generally picture a victim or victims of a horrible crime, in fact, depending on current events, they may picture some poor old lady that had her groceries and rent money stolen from her home during a riot or the poor grocery store owner that had his store looted and set on fire.

I take issue with the use of the words looting, looted and loot among many others.  While the “unscientific excavation” of coins is currently illegal in many of the sources countries, the reasons behind the illegality is often far from the utopian ideals espoused by the radical archaeological movement.  In fact, in many of the source countries, the best sources of “freshly excavated” material are some of the authorities that enforce these laws!

The words looting, looted and loot are intimately tied to the words stealing, stole and stolen.  Using the word in reference to archaeology it means to illegally take artifacts from an ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE.  I have no problem with the word being used in it’s appropriate context- if someone uses a metal detector in an active or known archaeological site or takes something from such a site, this IS stealing.  But a distinction must be made between this act and the farmer that finds coins in his field or allows others to go through his field looking for objects.

Nathan later goes on to describe an archaeological site by using the comparison of a crime scene.  Great comparison, but the problem is that the radical archaeological movement wants to declare everything an archaeological “crime scene”.  Objects of little consequence found in a persons garden or farmers field are lumped in with a major archaeological dig. 

I have said this on several occasions- humans are messy slobs by their very nature.  Take a walk down the street of any major city and chances are that you will see someone throw a cigarette on the ground, a coffee cup out of a car window, etc.  Throughout history BILLIONS of people lived throughout the time period which covers ancient, Byzantine and Medieval numismatics.  The concept of “living green” is a relatively modern phenomenon (which I wholeheartedly support), but the ancients did not have the luxury of twice or three times a week garbage pick-up, hefty garbage bags or even banks for that matter.  By necessity they left behind their refuse, garbage and even their monetary savings.  Should each of these potential finds be classified as an archaeological crime scene?  If so, better get the moving trucks rolling on most of Europe and force many of the major cities to move.  Take Rome as an example- the ENTIRE city could rightly be considered an archaeological site, yet construction goes on daily, say nothing of the thousands of buildings which have been built on top of major sites yet to be discovered. 

I call the anti-collector/radical archaeologist pro-nationalist because in essence, that is what they are.  Modern day nations use archaeology for their political and ideological purposes and archaeologists go along with this “program” for the most part.  Granted, it is often by necessity because otherwise they would find themselves on the other side of the welcome mat.  But in their supporting the harsh, unfair laws which deal with “cultural property” they have become the lobby for these national interests.

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Non-coin rant

March 22nd, 2009

Today I will post about something completely off-topic to coins.

At 9:45am my 89 year old grandmother was mugged of her purse while waiting at the bus stop (which contained her rent and avon money).  To add insult to injury, when she told the bus driver that she had been robbed, he shrugged and ignored her.  My grandmother, that has worked every day of her life and still works selling Avon, Stanley products and helping to cook for private parties (she was a head chef in Cuba prior to the revolution) was forced to ask strangers to loan her bus fare, with a promise that she would mail it to them as soon as she could.  After quite some time, a nice lady gave her the bus fare and said that she did not want it returned.

I find it incredibly disturbing.  Not only that someone would rob an elderly lady of 89, but that a bus driver would ignore her and that other people would be so callus as to not have the common decency to offer to call the police for a well dressed old lady that was clearly in shock.  With the money she was given, she managed to make her way to my mothers home in New York where my father and I drove her back to New Jersey to file a police report and check her home.  (The lowlife stole her keys as well)

What kills me is that if the lowlife gets caught, he will probably get probation and put on various social services when they should take a page from several Eastern countries and chop his hand off and leave him to pan handle in the street.

Anyway, this is one of those rare ocassions where I will post one of my “rants”.  Tonight I will probably dream of packing up the apartment and moving to a place where people can still leave their front door unlocked.

Not only did she lose her property, but she lost her freedom.  For the rest of her life my grandmother will never feel safe in the neighborhood she has live in for just shy of 50 years.

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The new issue of the Journal

March 21st, 2009

Just thought I would take a minute to write about the experience of putting the Journal together.

When I initially decided to pursue this project, I did so for a few reasons.  The first was the need.  There are very few high quality publications dedicated to Ancient Numismatics and as far as I could tell, there were no quality newsletters or journals being produced “online”. 

The second reason was to exercise my writing skills.  It has been almost 15 years since I had to write something besides a brief letter, post, email or a technical paper or press release for my telecommunications business. 

It has been a lot of fun, but it has also been a lot more work than I was expecting.  I was discussing it with a friend earlier today.  He could not understand how each issue was taking me between 50 and 100 hours to complete.  So I ran off the list of things that had to be done (the following does not include the changes made to the website design and HTML programming):

1. Approach potential authors and authors that agreed to submit articles. Go over proposed submissions. (2 Hours)

2. Proof read all submissions, edit and in the case of one submission by an author whose primary language was not English, I had agreed to “heavily” edit the article on his behalf, data entry for articles submitted “hard copy’, etc. (A good 10 hours here)

3. Edit/clean-up all illustrations in photoshop, find illustrations where required, interact with author on which illustrations they prefer and create/add captions to all photographs, get permission to use photography. (A good 17+ hours)

4. Layout the articles in Dreamweaver, incorporate illustrations, send draft to authors and go back and forth correcting minor errors, layout issues, etc. (A good 17 hours)

5. Find news for “Ancients in the news”, summarize and incorporate into an article. (2 Hours)

6. Create Index for issue, create thumbnail images for each article, write summary of each article, etc. (4 Hours)

7. Write my articles. In this case, the reviews, which was relatively quick- layout, etc. (3 hours)

8. Proof read all articles, check all links, view in two different browsers. (2 Hours)

9. Modify HTML layout for email of journal, test and send to mailing list. (3 Hours)

10. Post various announcements, follow-up with authors, etc. (2 Hours)

Total time: 62+ hours

Granted, it will take me less time the more familiar I become with Dreamweaver and Photoshop, or whenever the Content Management System I am having programmed for me is completed.  But I now have a new found respect for those that have to produce a publication monthly.  The next time I hear someone complain about spending $36 for an annual subscription ($45 Canada and $75 to the rest of the world) to the Celator they will get a lecture from me!

Speaking of which, I strongly encourage anyone that has not done so already to subscribe to the Celator.  It is well worth the $36 per year for a monthly publication.  You can subscribe here.

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New Issue of The Journal of Ancient Numismatics

March 21st, 2009

The next issue of the Journal of Ancient Numismatics will be going out in a few
hours. If you have not subscribed, you can do so at the “Sign up for our email
newsletter” box to the right.

In this issue:

A Greek Coin Refresher Course
By: David L. Vagi
This “refresher course” is one of the best general introductions to Greek coins
that can be found. An excellent article that discusses “a dozen basic concepts
in general terms”.

Lucullus, A Second Best Hero of the Roman Republic
By: Marvin Tameanko
Soldiers Marius, Sulla, Pompey, and Julius Caesar, as well as politicians such
as Cato and Cicero, were labeled by historians as the `Founders of Rome’. The
history books written today many great Romans, who placed as close seconds to
these famous men, get little attention and receive only puny honors in the
footnotes of the texts. One exceptional Roman, sadly overlooked, was Lucius
Licinius Lucullus, a consul of Rome in the 1st century BC and an accomplished
soldier and statesman.

Dating Some Republican Mini-Issues
By: Mark Passehl
Where hoard evidence is slight, uneven or absent for individual emissions, the
broad framework it provides for a whole series remains essential. Here we will
combine this with some neglected evidence to tackle the problematic dating of
two rare denarius types from the late 2nd century and then proceed to a still
rarer 1st century gold issue, dragging it out of Syria and the 50s BC into a
novel context as the first gold struck in Rome since the Second Punic War.

What Makes a Collection Important?
By: Wayne G. Sayles
What makes a collection important? Some might subscribe to the philosophy
“collect whatever you enjoy, because the joy of collecting is what is
important”. In fact, an important collection is not one that can be measured
solely in the mind of the collector. Importance requires more than
self-satisfaction. Usually, importance implies the earning of respect for having
accomplished something of purpose and value. So, how does one build an important
collection that earns respect and is of value to the numismatic fraternity?

A Double-Portrait Elagabalus and Julia Paula From Perinthus
By: Curtis L. Clay
A discussion of a rare coin type which was only known based on a description by
Mionnet. A fascinating glimpse into numismatic scholarship and research.

The Amphora Was Used For Temple Wine Libation
By: David Hendin
Why did the Jews during the Jewish War against Rome (A.D. 66-70) use the image
of the amphora on their bronze coins and why is the amphora is used on at least
two bronze procurator coins of Valerius Gratus. What were these vessels used for
and what was their significance?

Numismatic Collaboration is Some Former Soviet Bloc Nations
By: Georges Depeyrot
This article provides an update on the work being done to bring unity to
numismatic scholarship global and in particular, discusses the efforts to
inventory and publish the collections in several former Soviet Bloc nations.
Some interesting information and includes a brief summary of a hoard of Koson
gold staters found in Central Romania.

MEDIA REVIEW – Three Excellent Ancient Numismatic Websites
By: Alfredo De La Fe
A review of three EXCELLENT numismatic websites:
-The Facing Head Coins of Larissa – A website
-The Handbook of Biblical Numismatics
-Parthia.com – A website Dedicated to Parthian History and Numismatics

Ancients in the news – Articles of interest to Ancient Numismatists
By: Alfredo De La Fe (Editor)
-Ancient Coin Collectors Guild to Have Another Benefit Auction in August
-Dave Surber of Wildwinds Passed Away
-Sylvia Hurter Passed Away
-Large Hoard of Byzantine Gold Coins Found in Israel
-Important Roman Coin Hoard Found in UK – Reported via PAS
- Admiral Balchin’s HMS Victory Discovered by Odyssey Marine Exploration

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Italian Archaeologists Protest Oversight Shift – NYTimes.com

March 15th, 2009

Italian archaeologists are up at arms over a potential shift in power.  This article points out that a government committee or panel “would have the equivalent of emergency powers, letting it circumvent legislative restrictions and bureaucratic obstacles.”

Apparently among the issues the archaeologists are most concerned about is the potential of private investors gaining a stake in some of the most lucrative tourist sites in Italy and a more commercial strategy.

While in a perfect world it would be great if commercial interests were kept out of the picture, we live in the real world.  Right now major monuments and sites have been damaged by the elements, acid rain and other factors.  In addition, there is not enough money available to address all of these issues.  Commercial involvement if properly monitored could provide much needed funds to care for such sites and pay for research and other projects.  With the added benefit of wresting control out of the hands of the elite few “archaeologists”.

Angst Among the Ruins – Italian Archaeologists Protest Oversight Shift – NYTimes.com.

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