Coin Collecting Club

Is it “Myanmar” or “Burma”? “Yangon” or “Rangoon”?

Burma and its major city Rangoon were renamed Myanmar and Yangon in 1989 by the military junta that had seized power there at that time.

The United Nations has officially recognised these changes in names by one of its member countries

America, England and Australia have not.

President George Bush, and Prime Ministers Gordon Brown and John Howard still continue to use “Burma” and “Rangoon”. Such use is deliberate and is intended to signal their total rejection of the junta’s takeover and anything done thereafter as a result.

Not a bad way to get your point across - by the use of just one word. Such is the power of semantics..

China, Russia and the Association of South East Asian Nations [ASEAN] on the other hand follow the United Nations and use “Myanmar” and “Yangon”.

In their view when you deal with a Government you cannot interfere in the internal affairs of that country. Nothing could be more internal than calling a rose by any other name.

Semantics - especially where place names are concerned - clearly plays a big part in either clouding or clearly defining the real political issues that dog the conduct of foreign relations by many countries.

What is particularly interesting in this current semantic battleground is the role taken by the media. They are split on which terms to use.
President Bush’s choice is not the choice of all in the US media.

The Voice of America, the Washington Post, and Time follow the President and use “Burma” and “Rangoon”. However the New York Times, CNN and the Wall Street Journal use “Myanmar” and “Yangon”.

Reuters, Associated Press and the International Herald Tribune have come down on the side of the United Nations and use “Myanmar” and “Yangon”. They would consider themselves as being even-handed in accepting the choice of an independent arbiter.

Deliberate policy decisions are obviously being taken by individual media outlets as to which names to use - probably indicating their political position on the crisis. This is a healthy exercise in freedom of speech rather than all slavishly following each other in their reporting.

Honours are about even in the media’s semantic war over Burma/Myanmar.

The media split on Burma /Myanmar is however absent when it comes to using the place names “Judea and Samaria” rather than the place name “the West Bank” to describe the area captured by Israel from Jordan in 1967.

“Judea and Samaria” were the names used by the United Nations in Resolution 181 on 29 November 1947 - the famous Partition Resolution - that is now in the media spotlight once again.

That constituted as official an endorsement as you could get from the United Nations of the correct place names for an area that had been so designated and known for the previous 3000 years.

Judea and Samaria were the two locations of the two biblical Kingdoms of the Jews - the southern Kingdom of Judah and the northern Kingdom of Israel, the capital of which was for a time in the town of Samaria. These areas were the cradle of the Jewish Nation. The main religious sites and tombs holy to the Jews are located there. 450000 Jews live there today.

“The West Bank” was only coined by Jordan in 1950 and was used till 1967 to delineate the area west of the Jordan River which had been seized by Jordan in the 1948 Arab- Israel War when Jews living there had been driven out by the Jordanian army. This new name operated to irrevocably sever any historic connection of the Jews with the place of their national birth and existence .

Israel’s attempt to reinstate the term “Judea and Samaria” after its capture from Jordan in 1967 has been undermined by clever and persistent Arab use of the term “West Bank” at every opportunity in the media.

Only some right wing Jewish media in Israel and abroad now consistently and repeatedly use “Judea and Samaria”

The Israeli Foreign Office and the Foreign Minister use both as the occasion suits them. The fact that 450000 Jews live there now is apparently of little consequence to the Government that is supposed to be protecting their rights of permanent residence as provided by international law.

The international media have adopted the term “West Bank” without demur in virtually every editorial piece they publish. By extension this territory has now become “occupied Arab land”, or “occupied Palestinian territories” as the Arabs ram home their semantic advantage on a daily basis.

The claims of the Jews to these areas have been arbitrarily dismissed by the media pack who hunt together with a broad unanimity and use the term “West Bank” - in stark contrast to the case of Burma/Myanmar.

One news outlet - the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) - has adopted a fair and reasoned stance calling the region “the West Bank ( Judea and Samaria, Israel’s biblical heartland)” or “Judea and Samaria ( the “West Bank”)”.

This small area of land is going to receive blanket coverage in the media over the next six months.

Perhaps those in the media now deliberately making choices on the use of “Burma” or “Myanmar” might take the lead from CBN and make their own individual decisions to acknowledge the 3000 year old geographical names of “Judea and Samaria” alongside the use of the 50 year old term “West Bank” - thus giving recognition to the fact that Jews also have claims there as well as the Arabs.

The old adage “sticks and stones will break my bones, but names will never hurt me” has been turned on its head by the media’s failure to identify the “West Bank” as being also known as “Judea and Samaria.”

It is never too late to redress the imbalance.

Newsagencies in Iran and China of all places have used the term “Judea and Samaria” recently. Western media outlets should use both names to dispel the notion of any possible bias in favour of the Arabs.

You may have thought that when it comes to lost or stolen art, sunken treasure discovered on shipwrecks and buried treasure and antiquities that all you have to do is find it, or buy it in good faith and you can keep it, but international, maritime and competing state laws have something to say about it. The right California Art, Maritime Shipwreck Treasure and Antiquities Lawyer, however, can sort out the competing legal issues.

If you have a legal issue involving art, antiquities or have a claim to a maritime shipwreck, sunken or buried treasure under California, martitme, or international law, visit our website at http://www.sebastiangibsonlaw.com and call us at any of the numbers easily found on our website.

Maritime Shipwreck Treasure

Recently, a number of prized shipwrecks have been found, one as recently as February 2009 when a U.S. salvage company, Odyssey Marine Exploration found a prized British warship believed to be the HMS Victory, lost in 1744, which just may hold four tons of gold. The HMS Victory discovery may solve one of the most intriguing naval mysteries in history. Why did this ship with one of the most famous admirals of his time, disappear with a crew of 1,100 men with one of the largest shipments of gold and silver, including four tons of gold coins, and why has it eluded treasure hunters for so long?

Believed sunk near the Channel Islands by a fierce storm that separated the Victory from other ships that broke through a French blockade at Lisbon and were returning home, the Victory (a later version which would be commanded by Admiral Nelson) had the sons of some of Britain’s most influential families on board when it sunk with perhaps the largest collection of bronze cannon as well.

In a less important find of another English shipwreck, Odyssey negotiated a deal whereby it received 80 percent of the first $50 million salvaged, and then a sliding scale up to $500 million, after which the profits were split 50-50. Since that time, however, the British government adopted a set of UNESCO guidelines that will complicate any hope of a similar arrangement.
Two years earlier, the same company, Odyssey, located the mystery ship, the Black Swan” believed to be a Spanish galleon, the Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes y las Animas, that sank off the coast of Portugal, with seventeen tons of gold and silver coins.

The Spanish government has sued Odyssey in a Florida federal court on the basis that it never abandoned the shipwreck. One could say, they simply lost it for a few hundred years. The British government is believed to be negotiating with Odyssey about a collaboration to salvage the warship.

Maritime Shipwreck Treasure Law

What’s important in sunken treasure cases is where the treasure is found, whether the ship was owned by a government or a private entity, and whether there has been any dishonest conduct by the treasure hunters.

 

Most countries and their maritime lawyers claim anything to be within 12 nautical miles from their coast as their territorial waters. Additionally, if the ship was owned by the state or government, Law of the Sea Conventions come into play, which again allow the state or foreign country to determine what compensation the treasure hunter is entitled to. Finally, if the treasure hunter or salvage company has been guilty of any fraud or dishonest conduct, they can be deprived of any or all of any payment due them. Entering a foreign state’s territorial waters to look for a sunken ship counts as such misconduct.

International Maritime Law and The Law of the Sea

Under international maritime law and the law of the sea, if an owner abandons a vessel, it can be claimed by the finder. When a vessel has not been abandoned, it can still be salvaged by the finder and is usually compensated by the sovereign state claiming ownership. The Abandoned Shipwreck Act of 1987 encourages cooperation between sovereign governments and states and private entities.

The rule of “finders, keepers” applies only where the previous owner of a ship is found to have abandoned its property. Under various state laws, treaties and conventions, however, the positions taken by most governments, including the U.S., is that the state only abandons its sovereignty over, and title to, sunken U.S. warships by affirmative act. Mere passage of time or lack of positive assertions of right are insufficient to establish such abandonment. Thus, France’s claim with respect to the Griffin (or Griffon) that it never abandoned its interests in the ship.

Sorting out these competing claims can take awhile. In 2001, the Great Lakes Exploration LLC found a 17th Century ship, the Griffin, in northern Lake Michigan, near Wisconsin. One might think that Michigan or Wisconsin would have good claim to the ship. But just in January 2009, France filed papers with the court hearing the case that claims the ship expedition was undertaken on behalf of the French Crown and was not a private enterprise.

The Richest Shipwreck Ever Found

And then, just when you thought the scale of these discoveries could not be topped, they have been, at least monetarily, with the discovery of a British merchant ship, sunk by a **** submarine, that was transporting just goods from a European port, to the U.S. with repayment to the U.S. Treasury for the Lend-Lease Program that gave support to the Allied war effort. And what was this ship, code named the Blue Baron carrying? Just the world’s richest shipwreck cargo ever. The ship is thought to have been carrying a $3.7 billion cargo of gold, platinum and diamonds.

Believed to have been found about 40 miles off the coast of Guyana by Sub Sea Research, a U.S.-based marine research and recovery firm, the shipwreck will be the richest find ever. It was reportedly carrying at least ten tons of gold bullion, 70 tons of platinum, one and a half tons of industrial diamonds and 16 million carats of gem quality diamonds.

So far, no counter claims have been filed in the federal admiralty court case relating to the find, but it is likely that a number of countries may make claims to possessions on board that originated in those countries, including Russia which, like Britain, shipped large quantities of precious goods to the U.S. in payment for the war effort by the U.S. The question for historians who may have some influence in this case, is whether the Soviet Union paid subsequently for the Lend-Lease war effort after the ship was sunk.

Stolen Art and Antiquities Law

The law with respect to stolen art as opposed to lost shipwrecks is quite different, but no less complicated. Some countries view the movement of stolen works of art as the smuggling out of its country of a “national treasure,” even if it was previously, privately owned. Other countries view the contents of tombs and other relics to be the property of the state and their taking as “theft.” Another view of situations in which a work of art is previously owned by one person and then appears in the collection of another, is viewed as a further variation of theft. In this last variation, most legal systems provide protection to the bona fide purchaser, unless the property is stolen.

Unfortunately, the laundering of stolen works of art is facilitated by the lack of consistency of state laws and international law, statutes of limitations, the bona fide purchaser defense and the burden of proof on the person claiming that the art work was stolen.

Under a common law rule in Anglo-American law, a person cannot give what he or she does not have. Thus, a thief cannot convey good title to a stolen work of art, even where there have been several subsequent purchases by bona fide and unsuspecting persons acting in good faith. However, the vast majority of western countries with civil law systems accord protection to the purchaser in good faith of stolen art. While there are international treaties and conventions which are gaining supporters, for the most part, it has been said that international law on the illegal sale of art works and cultural treasures is not retroactive.

Visit our website at http://www.sebastiangibsonlaw.com and call us if you have an issue involving stolen art or any art issue, maritime shipwreck sunken treasure, or with regard to international or cultural antiquity treasures.

The FBI now maintains a National Stolen Art File (NSAF) which is a computerized index of stolen art and cultural property reported to the FBI by law enforcement agencies throughout the United States and the world. The primary goal of the NSAF is to serve as a tool to assist investigators in art and cultural artifact theft cases and to function as an analytical database providing law enforcement officials with information concerning art theft.

It has been reported that the trade in illegal art and antiquities in the U.S. is exceeded only by the trade of guns and drugs. It is believed that most of the stolen art in the world (over 100,000 objects since the 1980s) comes to London or to the U.S. with much of it bought secretly by persons for their private collections, for a fraction of their market value.

If you need legal assistance in connection with any type of art, treasure or antiquity, look to our California art, antiquity, maritime and international law firm for representation in the U.S. and throughout the world.

I hope that the next article will help you to better understand this topic.

When somebody becomes concerned in collection coins they look for places and people who will be able to sell, and in some cases advise them about, coins. The best people to look for when you want to buy coins for a coin collection are coin dealers. These people are also interested in coins but their interest does not inevitably breed into collection these coins.

A strike bargainers will actively look for diverse types of coins. They will make sure that the character of all the coins that they are thought of purchasing is of a high quality. The grading of coins that is exploited will be looked into as well before the coin dealers agree to purchase any coins. These coin dealers will also bargain the coins only at the current market prices as coins are valued at the time of inspection.

When the coin dealers have found the versatile coins that they feel will be of good value and interest to coin collectors the coin dealers will make sure that they have the info about their new stock noted down. This selective information will admit the country of origin, the year that it was minted, the condition of the coin, the current market price and a brief history of the coins if it can be found.

All of these items are of rate to the coin collector because it helps them to realize the time value of the various coins that they are concerned in buying. Coin dealers unremarkably purchase their coins from rare coin auctions, internet coin shops, coin collectors who are interested in marketing their coins for a take in and fairs where coins are sold in packets.

In some cases you can find coin dealers who have specialty coins only. These could be coins from one period of time. For example you will find coin dealers who stock civil war coins or colonial coins. There will also be coin dealers who have dozens of experience in dealing with foreign coins. These coins too will be looked at to make sure that they are in a condition that will receive mint collectors to come and look at the stock.

When you are in need of having your coins valued you will generally want a reputable coin dealer looking at these coins. The knowledgeable coin dealers will be able to give you a fair price for the different coins in your collection unless the coins are worthless… for further information, please check our web site by following our link below…

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