Forged Coins and Wrecked Galleons
The usual picture of illegal excavators is of grubby individuals sneaking out at night, shovel in hand, to dig recklessly into some unguarded site, snatch a few coins or pots or whatever and beat a hasty retreat before the light of day exposes their shabby activities. Spanish police have had to revise their opinion somewhat following a recent investigation into the looting of shipwrecked galleons in the Bay of Cadiz.
The first shock was the discovery that the thieves had been using an underwater robot to explore and loot the wreck. This indicated not only a degree of intelligence and technical expertise but considerable financial resources, for underwater robots with remote cameras and manipulable arms are not exactly cheap.
Tracking the source of this wealth led the police to their second shock, for as well as the usual stock-in-trade of the illegal digger - coins, pots, amphorae and the occasional statue or part of a statue - the gang was also offering complete columns for sale. A Roman column, complete with base and acanthus-leafed capital, is rather more than can comfortably fit in the back of your average Morris Minor, even if it does have five doors.
The third shock was the origin of these antiques, for they had not been looted from some remote part of the country or even brought in from north Africa, but had come from 31 sites in Seville, Cadiz and Malaga.
Fifty-two people were arrested, mainly Spaniards, but including the Italian middle-man, who arranged the shipment of the illegal antiquities out of Spain to Belgium, where they were sold. Small items were usually sent through the post; larger ones were smuggled into Portugal and exported via the port of Faro.
One discovery did, however, bring a smile to the face of the Spanish police. Among the objects seized in their various raids was a substantial number of ancient coins, no doubt destined to enhance the collections of numatists world-wide. In an attempt to work out where they had come from, these coins were subjected to tests that are beyond the competence, pocket or imagination of your average coin collector, which revealed that the majority of them were forgeries.
Personally I think the police should have popped them into an envelope and posted them straight to Belgium. There is something pleasing about the thought of these wretched collectors, the real villains of the piece, paying out good money for forged coins. Caveat emptor, as the ancient Romans said.
© Kendall K. Down 2009
