[MSN] Coin Collectors Sue U.S. State Department. Ancient Coin Collectors Guild and Numismatic Trade Groups Bring Freedom of Informaton Act Litigation Against State Department

[Museum Security Network Mailing list]

*Coin Collectors Sue U.S. State Department*

The Ancient Coin Collectors Guild (ACCG), an advocacy group for private 
collectors and independent scholars, has announced the filing of a 
Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the U. S. State 
Department. According to Wayne G. Sayles, executive director of the 
guild, this action became unavoidable due to “persistent refusal of the 
Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) to provide the guild 
and others with information relating to requests for import 
restrictions.”  The State Department recently imposed unprecedented 
import restrictions on ancient coins from Cyprus—requiring importers of 
even a single common coin of “Cypriot type” to provide unfair, 
unworkable and unnecessary documentation.

The ACCG formally asked the State Department under FOIA for information 
relating to requests from Cyprus, China and Italy because, in each case, 
apparent irregularities in the way these requests were received and 
managed had caused significant concerns.  Members of the U.S. Senate and 
the House of Representatives also requested similar information on 
behalf of the ACCG and others.  “None of these avenues produced 
responsive replies” said Peter K. Tompa, ACCG president.  “The reason 
for this lawsuit is that the State Department has refused to provide 
meaningful information.  We seek transparency and fairness of the 
process by which decisions affecting the American people are made.”  The 
ACCG, joined in this suit by the International Association of 
Professional Numismatists and the Professional Numismatists Guild, is 
represented by Washington DC attorney Scott A. Hodes.  Mr. Hodes is a 
former FOIA and Privacy Act attorney for the Department of Justice and 
the FBI.

The imposition of import restrictions is a remedy made available to the 
State Department by the Convention on Cultural Property Implementation 
Act (CPIA) enacted in 1983.  This law, while providing emergency 
protection for endangered cultural property, includes a detailed and 
comprehensive series of safeguards to limit overreaching implementation 
of the 1970 UNESCO accord that it is based on.  The fair and equitable 
application of this law is viewed by the coin collector community and 
associated trade as essential to achieving any measure of protection on 
a broad and continuing scale.  The ACCG (http://accg.us) argues that 
fairness and equity can only be satisfied by a system that is 
transparent and subject to oversight.  They hope that this lawsuit will 
help encourage the State Department to revamp its procedures to ensure 
the fundamental fairness to all that the law demands.

Peter K. Tompa
Dillingham & Murphy, LLP
1155 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20036
Telephone: (202) 835-9880
Facsimile: (202) 835-9885
pkt at dillinghammurphy.com