Effective Dates: December 1, 2011 (ancient coins) and November 21, 2021 (Byzantine and Medieval)
Sources: 76 Fed. Reg. 74691-74695 (December 1, 2011); 86 Fed. Reg. 66164-66169 (November 22, 2021)
The Designated List is as follows:
7. Coins—Many of the mints of the listed coins can be found in B.V. Head, Historia Numorum: A Manual of Greek Numismatics (London, 1911) and C.M. Kraay, Archaic and Classical Greek Coins (London, 1976). Many of the Roman provincial mints in Greece are listed in A. Burnett et al., Roman Provincial Coinage I: From the Death of Caesar to the Death of Vitellius (44 BC–AD 69) (London, 1992) and id., Roman Provincial Coinage II: From Vespasian to Domitian (AD 69–96) (London, 1999).
a. Greek Bronze Coins—Struck by city-states, leagues, and kingdoms that operated in territory of the modern Greek state (including the ancient territories of the Peloponnese, Central Greece, Thessaly, Epirus, Crete and those parts of the territories of ancient Macedonia, Thrace and the Aegean islands that lay within the boundaries of the modern Greek state). Approximate date: 5th century B.C. to late 1st century B.C.
b. Greek Silver Coins—This category includes the small denomination coins of the city-states of Aegina, Athens, and Corinth, and the Kingdom of Macedonia under Philip II and Alexander the Great. Such coins weigh less than approximately 10 grams and are known as obols, diobols, triobols, hemidrachms, and drachms. Also included are all denominations of coins struck by the other city-states, leagues, and kingdoms that operated in the territory of the modern Greek state (including the ancient territories of the Peloponnese, Central Greece, Thessaly, Epirus, Crete, and those parts of the territories of ancient Macedonia, Thrace and the Aegean islands that lie within the boundaries of the modern Greek state). Approximate date: 6th century B.C. to late 1st century B.C.
c. Roman Coins Struck in Greece—In silver and bronze, struck at Roman and Roman provincial mints that operated in the territory of the modern Greek state (including the ancient territories of the Peloponnese, Central Greece, Thessaly, Epirus, Crete, and those parts of the territories of ancient Macedonia, Thrace and the Aegean islands that lie within the boundaries of the modern Greek state). Approximate date: late 2nd century B.C. to 3rd century A.D.
d. Coins from the Byzantine and Medieval Periods —This category includes coin types such as those of the Byzantine and medieval Frankish and Venetian states that circulated primarily in Greece, ranging in date from approximately the 3rd century A.D. to the 15th century A.D.
Comment: The Greek designated list is one of the few that tries to distinguish between widely circulating coins and other local issues that are more likely to be found within the confines of modern-day Greece. While we can debate whether larger denomination coins from most Greek city states should have been included, the list at least recognizes the fact that large denomination coins of Aegina, Athens, Corinth, and the Macedonian Kingdom circulated far outside the confines of modern-day Greece. In November 2021, the designated list was amended to include coins from the Byzantine and Medieval periods that “circulated primarily in Greece.” This formulation is inconsistent with the statutory requirements that only authorize import restrictions on archaeological objects which were “first discovered within, and …subject to export control by” Greece. Moreover, placing restrictions on coins that “circulated primarily in Greece” does not provide sufficient notice to the importer which coins are restricted, and which are not.
