BELLINGHAM– Dozens of ancient coins seized in 2017 at the U.S.-Canada border in Blaine have been transferred to the University of Washington to be studied, authorities said.
“These 51 Greek Hellenistic and early Islamic coins had no legal providence associated with them to validate if they were lawfully acquired and imported to the United States,” said a statement by Homeland Security Investigations Pacific Northwest, which has the authority under federal law to lead investigations involving illegal importation and distribution of cultural property and art.
Agency documents on the coin transfer said a suspect returned to the U.S. in 2017 through the Blaine border crossing after he was refused entry into Canada, The Bellingham Herald reported Thursday. Customs and Border Protection searched the suspect’s vehicle and discovered the coins, which were similar to ones found on the Red List of Afghanistan Antiquities at Risk, documents said.
Homeland Security Investigations agents determined the suspect, who was not identified, did not have documentation that he owned the coins, which showed signs of Bronze Disease — a form of corrosion that is an indication the coins had illegally been taken from the ground. He later signed an agreement to abandon the coins.
