Misrepresentation and Deception

Apparently things have gotten rather slow in the English language instruction business in Warsaw.

http://paul-barford.blogspot.com/2017/05/getting-numismatic-specimens-through.html

http://paul-barford.blogspot.com/2017/05/bending-truth-coiney-way.html

The focus is now back on "the pirates over on the Yahoo antiquities collecting forum" where "the scum" involved in "the Great Antiquities Trade Scam" seek to "launder antiquities by misdescription." Said "scum" are accused of "trying to avoid a customs official of the importing country ... asking for verifiable document of title and adherence to all the relevant procedures concerning entry onto the market and removal from the source country."

The theme of course is that the version of moral rectitude being preached over in Warsaw requires that anyone sending antiquities from one nation to another must describe them in a manner that openly states (and maybe even highlights) their "true nature" as "ancient artefacts subject to export controls and scrutiny of the importing country to make sure all procedures have been followed."

The said procedures are further described as including "a customs official of the importing country ... asking for verifiable document of title and adherence to all the relevant procedures concerning entry onto the market and removal from the source country."

(In the case of Yahoo dealers exporting or importing coins) "that is what this would be about if the objects concerned came from a dealer who had acquired them in a manner careless of obtaining the supporting paperwork."

Aha! Yet another regurgitation of the same old "broken record" theme: all antiquities are "illicit" if they are traded without full documentation proving their "licit" origin. Ten years ago, the original version of that theme allowed for traceability to a collection predating the 1970 UNESCO Convention being considered "licit origin." Recently it seems that now even this isn't good enough, if the "nation of presumptive origin" had restrictive laws predating that Convention.

Never mentioned in all this monotonous moralizing is the real issue: carrying on the international trade in antiquities would be practically impossible, if "full documentation proving 'licit' origin" is required. While the real objective of all this is to suppress antiquities collecting by attacking the trade that supports it, the blogger in question  has never admitted that (even though it's obvious to the rest of us) which seems to this observer to be utter hypocrisy and misrepresentation, of a character worse than what he accuses the "pirates over on the Yahoo antiquities collecting forum" of practicing.

This blogger's refusal to own up to his true goals, while hypocritically attacking antiquities collectors and their suppliers, led to unending controversy and his eventual expulsion from the Moneta-L and Ancient Artifacts groups by their listowners, and to his being driven away from the Unidroit-L group (now inactive) by an ad hoc coalition of members who saw through his false pretenses.