4,000-year-old gold coins have been returned to Turkey

A Bronze Age gold coin dating back nearly 4,500 years was returned to Turkey today (Thursday). Where it will be exhibited in a museum in Ankara.

Sirahi’s return ceremony was held at the Anatolian Civilization Museum, where it will also be put on display.

The anti-trafficking agency of the Turkish General Directorate of Museums and Cultural Heritage acquired it from collector Arthur Gilbert, founder of the Gilbert Art Foundation, who bought it from Los Angeles in 1989 and later transferred it to the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. was given as a loan.

The directorate had contacted the foundation for the return of the artefact as an investigation revealed that it had been illegally removed from the excavation site and smuggled out of Anatolia.

Speaking at the ceremony, Turkish Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nouri Ersoy said that Turkey is committed to return the cultural assets that were smuggled out of here illegally.

Ersoy drew attention to the importance of all artefacts being rare and valuable, saying they should be returned to the regions where they belong.

The Turkish minister said: ‘I believe that we have made the greatest contribution to the protection of cultural assets. We must all continue these efforts.’

He said that it is important to recover our cultural assets abroad. However, the eradication of these incidents (like illegal smuggling) will only be possible by protecting our cultural assets in the country. We should not forget that this (antiquities) protection is also a service to our country, science and humanity.’

Nicholas Coleridge, chairman of the Gilbert Trust for the Arts, said that after Arthur Gilbert’s death, he had an inquiry into the history of the artefact.

Coleridge said that ‘research into the provenance of the antiquities revealed that the serahi had been smuggled from Turkey.’

He expressed happiness at the re-handover of the statue to Turkey, adding that it had been returned to where it should have been.