Sicily Naxos Coin
Object or Group Name
Sicily Naxos Coin
Case Summary
The Sicily Naxos Coin is one of the rarest and most prized ancient coins in the world.
It first entered the international art market in 2013 when Italo Vecchi, an Italian numismatist based on London , offered it to Richard Beal, the owner and managing director of Roma Numismatics Limited.
The coin lacked documented provenance, but Beale and Vecchi listed it for sale with a false provenance in a Roma Numismatics online auction scheduled for October 29-30, 2020, according to court records. They claimed that it was "from the collection of the Baron Dominique de Chambrier," with the "original attestation of provenance included." Beale published a catalogue containing the false provenance on the Roma Numismatics website. On October 29, 2020, the coin was sold for GBP 240,000, or roughly USD $300,000.
More than two years later, the coin was intercepted at JFK airport in New York as part of a joint investigation involving the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, United States Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and the Italian Government. It was returned to Italy in early 2023.
Both dealers were later arrested on charges related to the sale of the coin. Beale was apprehended in the United States in January 2023 for allegedly having falsified the provenances of several coins, including the Naxos coin. He admitted paying an associate 100,000 swiss francs to sign the false provenance for the Naxos and Eid Mar coins. Beale was also accused of purchasing five coins looted from the Gaza Strip in 2017 from a convicted antiquity trafficker and selling them through Roma Numismatics with falsified provenance. In September 2023 he pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy and three counts of criminal possession of stolen property.
Italo Vecchi was charged in Manhattan in June 2023 with multiple felony trafficking counts related to his role in the same of the coins. He has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial as of April 2024.
It first entered the international art market in 2013 when Italo Vecchi, an Italian numismatist based on London , offered it to Richard Beal, the owner and managing director of Roma Numismatics Limited.
The coin lacked documented provenance, but Beale and Vecchi listed it for sale with a false provenance in a Roma Numismatics online auction scheduled for October 29-30, 2020, according to court records. They claimed that it was "from the collection of the Baron Dominique de Chambrier," with the "original attestation of provenance included." Beale published a catalogue containing the false provenance on the Roma Numismatics website. On October 29, 2020, the coin was sold for GBP 240,000, or roughly USD $300,000.
More than two years later, the coin was intercepted at JFK airport in New York as part of a joint investigation involving the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, United States Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and the Italian Government. It was returned to Italy in early 2023.
Both dealers were later arrested on charges related to the sale of the coin. Beale was apprehended in the United States in January 2023 for allegedly having falsified the provenances of several coins, including the Naxos coin. He admitted paying an associate 100,000 swiss francs to sign the false provenance for the Naxos and Eid Mar coins. Beale was also accused of purchasing five coins looted from the Gaza Strip in 2017 from a convicted antiquity trafficker and selling them through Roma Numismatics with falsified provenance. In September 2023 he pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy and three counts of criminal possession of stolen property.
Italo Vecchi was charged in Manhattan in June 2023 with multiple felony trafficking counts related to his role in the same of the coins. He has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial as of April 2024.
See Also
Number of Objects
1
Object Type
Currency
Culture
Greek
Auction House
Roma Numismatics Limited (London)
Receiving Country
Italy
Sources
Roma Numismatics Limited. Auction XX Day 1, 29-10-2020, Lot 65. Sicily, Naxos AR Tetradrachm
https://web.archive.org/web/2/https://www.romanumismatics.com/221-lot-65-sicily-naxos-ar-tetradrachm?arr=0&auction_id=75&box_filter=0&cat_id=&department_id=&exclude_keyword=&export_issue=0&gridtype=listview&high_estimate=500000&image_filter=0&keyword=&list_type=list_view&lots_per_page=100&low_estimate=100&month=&page_no=1&paper_filter=0&search_type=&sort_by=cur_high_low&view=lot_detail&year=
D.A. Bragg Returns 14 Stolen Antiquities to Italy
https://manhattanda.org/d-a-bragg-returns-14-stolen-antiquities-to-italy/
Documents
Images
MOLA Contributor(s)
Jason Felch
Peer Reviewed By
VG
Citation
“Sicily Naxos Coin,” Museum of Looted Antiquities, accessed October 5, 2024, https://mola.omeka.net/items/show/1248.