サウジアラビア コインをネットオークションしたところ逮捕

フロリダから１４世紀のアラブのコインをネットオークションで売ろうとした人が捕まったそうです。紅海でダイブをしていたときに沈没船の一部を見つけ、何枚かコインを引き上げたそうです。それらのコインをアメリカに持ち帰ったそうです。コインはコンクリーションと呼ばれる錆の塊と一体化していたそうです。これらのコインはサウジアラビアに返還されました。サウジの領事館はこれらの問題は何人かの良識のない人が砂に埋もれた長い歴史を横取りしようとしている。と語りました。

Ancient coins returned to SaudisSilver pieces seized from black market after diver tried to sell on InternetSUSAN DECKERBloomberg NewsHundreds of 14th century silver coins and thousands more fused together by the Red Sea were returned to the Saudi Arabian government after their seizure from a Florida diver who tried to sell them on the Internet.
The Key West, Fla., diver, who wasn’t identified or charged criminally, smuggled the coins out of Saudi Arabia in the 1990s after finding them in a shipwreck in Saudi waters about 150 yards off the city of Jeddah, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, an arm of the Homeland Security Department.
The seizure, one of the biggest hauls of ancient coins in recent years, is part of an effort to return goods stolen from countries and put on the black market. Peruvian textiles, a 2,300-year-old Italian vase and Afghan coins minted shortly after the reign of Alexander the Great are among artifacts recently returned from the U.S. to their home countries.
“It seems to be a universal problem,” Prince Turki Al- Faisal, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the U.S., said Monday in Washington after the coins were formally returned to his government. “The Middle East was the crossroads of civilization, so you can imagine how much history lies beneath the sands. Some people take advantage of that.”
In this case, the coins were just below the surface of the water. More than 600 years had taken their toll, with the coins fused into coral-shaped masses and colored black and green, or golden when meshed with sediment. They weighed 132 pounds.
The origin of the coins is unknown, customs officials said. One expert said the ship may have carried Muslims making a pilgrimage to Mecca. Another told investigators the coins were simply from a 14th century trading ship.

引用元：http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/charlotte/news/14035551.htm?source=rss&channel=charlotte_news