Gainesville, MO – Nov. 15 - The Ancient Coin Collectors Guild (ACCG),
an advocacy group for private collectors and independent scholars,
announced the filing today of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)
lawsuit against the U. S. State Department (DOS). According to Wayne
G. Sayles, executive director of the guild, this action became
unavoidable due to persistent refusal of the Bureau of Educational
and Cultural Affairs (ECA) to provide the guild and others with
information relating to requests for import restrictions. The DOS
recently imposed unprecedented import restrictions on ancient coins
from Cyprus, requiring importers of even a single common coin of
Cypriot type to provide unfair, unworkable and unnecessary
documentation.

The ACCG seeks information relating to requests from Cyprus, China
and Italy. In each case, apparent irregularities in the way these
requests were handled led to significant concerns. Members of the
U.S. Senate and House of Representatives also requested similar
information on behalf of the ACCG and others. “None of these avenues
produced responsive replies,” said Peter K. Tompa, ACCG president.
“The reason for this lawsuit is that the DOS has refused to provide
meaningful information. We seek transparency and fairness of the
process by which decisions affecting the American people are made.”
The ACCG, joined in this suit by the International Association of
Professional Numismatists and the Professional Numismatists Guild, is
represented by Washington DC attorney Scott A. Hodes. Mr. Hodes is a
former FOIA and Privacy Act attorney for the Department of Justice
and the FBI.

The imposition of import restrictions is a remedy made available to
DOS by the Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act (CPIA)
enacted in 1983. This law, while providing emergency protection for
endangered cultural property, includes detailed and comprehensive
safeguards to limit overreaching implementation of the 1970 UNESCO
accord. The fair and equitable application of this law is viewed by
the coin collector community and associated trade as essential to
achieving any measure of protection on a broad and continuing scale.
The ACCG (http://accg.us) argues that fairness and equity can only be
satisfied by a system that is transparent and subject to oversight.
They hope that this lawsuit will help encourage the State Department
to revamp its procedures to ensure the fundamental fairness to all
that the law demands.

To obtain information about membership in the ACCG or to make a
donation to the ACCG legal effort, go to http://accg.us (Paypal link
at bottom of home page) or contact ACCG executive director Wayne G.
Sayles by telephone at 417-679-2142 or by email at director@... .

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]