Arts&Culture - Crisis Inspires Investing in Stolen Antiques - Standart
http://paper.standartnews.com/en/article.php?d=2012-01-30&article=38288Thousands of antique coins, statuettes and vessels are illegally exported from Bulgaria to connoisseurs in Western Europe. It turns out that as a side effect of the crisis, the instability of the financial markets and the fluctuations of gold prices, many affluent people prefer investing in antiques of great collectable value.
This tendency has been confirmed by the growing number of cases of customs officers who discover illegal antique coins, medieval rings, statuettes, pottery etc on passengers. Cases have been reported when coins are found in parcels for countries like the USA and Switzerland. The flow of illegal antiques in Europe is mostly directed to Italy, Germany and France.
The smuggling of culture items is performed by both Bulgarians and foreigners, according to information of the Customs Agency. Smugglers often contact black archeologists from Bulgaria, buy the illegally unearthed objects and sell them at much higher prices to collectors abroad.
Katerina Ivanova
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