[MSN] Ancient Lydian treasures stolen from Turkish museum

[Museum Security Network Mailinglist]

Ancient Lydian treasures stolen from Turkish museum
May 29, 2006

ANKARA --  An ancient gold brooch and coin, part of a precious sixth-century
BC collection, have been stolen from a Turkish museum, a minister said on
Sunday. 

Tourism and culture minister Atilla Koc confirmed that an investigation was
underway after the theft was reported in local media. 

The Milliyet newspaper said that experts had deemed that a sea horse-shaped
brooch on display at the museum in the western town of Usak was in fact a
fake and that the original was missing. 

They had also found that the rare coin had been replaced by a similar but
less precious piece dating to the same period. 

The theft was discovered during an investigation by antiquities experts,
launched on the basis of a tip-off that the brooch had been stolen, Milliyet
said. 

"It is not possible for such a planned and organized act to take place
without the knowledge of museum officials," the experts said in their
report, quoted by the newspaper. 

The two pieces were part of the so-called Lydian Hoard, a collection of 363
silver, gold and glass pieces unearthed in the 1960s in burial mounds near
Usak and subsequently smuggled abroad. 

Some pieces were put on display at the Metropolitan Museum in New York in
1985, and Turkey launched a $2.5-million legal battle to reclaim them. 

The treasures were returned to Turkey in 1993 and put on display in Usak in
1996. 

"The case has been turned over to the judiciary and an investigation is
underway," Koc was quoted by the Anatolia news agency as saying. 

http://www.metimes.com/