The commander of the Carabinieri Unit Protection Cultural Heritage of Cosenza, Giacomo Geloso, delivered this morning at the National Archaeological Museum of Vibo Valentia 479 Ancient coins, of Greek era (IV century DC), Roman and medieval – of the overall value of one hundred thousand euros – recovered in the context of an investigation launched in 2014 and coordinated by the Vibo Valentia prosecutor.
By monitoring a website, the carabinieri arrived at a subject of the province who sold ancient coins online and from there he managed to go back to another Tarantino collector. The seizures of the ancient coins also took place in Agrigento and Naples. The criminal sentence for traffickers ended in 2023 with the prescription of the crimes, but the confiscation remained and therefore the return of the coins (one in gold, 64 in silver and 414 in bronze) to the Italian state through the delivery to the Vibo Museum. The event took place in the presence of the prosecutor of Vibo, Camillo Falvo, of the director of the Regional Directorate Musei Calabria, Fabrizio Sudano, of the provincial commander Carabinieri of Vibo, Luca Toti, as well as of the mayor of Vibo Vincenzo Romeo.
“In this investigation, unlike others of the past – said Vibo’s prosecutor – the mafia is not there. The trade in the Internet of ancient coins has emerged, but it is clear that there is a excavation activity behind some tombarol “. The commander Giacomo Geloso instead explained that the “recovery of coins allows the study of the civilization and economy of Magna Grecia and beyond. The recovered coins come from different areas: Mileto, Locri, Agrigento, Naples, Crotone, Paestum, Syracuse, Olbia. A small part was returned to the museums of Naples and Agrigento, the rest is now in Vibo to be usable by the community ».