Italy: artifacts

Italy vests archaeological material in the state. Archaeological finds belong to the state; export needs a licence from the export office (Ufficio Esportazione); undocumented material is presumed state property. The governing law is Law 364/1909; Law 1089/1939; Codice dei beni culturali e del paesaggio, D.Lgs. 42/2004; the date Stratum treats as decisive is 1909 (the year of enactment — the exact commencement has not been checked, so the conservative reading is used). An object documented outside Italy before that date is sold with the document cited; one documented only later is sold with a warning that Italy could regard the export as unlawful, and the ownership history stated in full; one with no provenance at all is not listed.

The United States restricts import of Italy archaeological material of 900 BCE – 400 CE, coins included under the CPIA (CBP Dec. 11-03; extended CBP Dec. 26-01, restricted since 2001). Entry needs the export certificate or proof the object left Italy before 2001. Domestic resale of material already lawfully in the US is not restricted by this, but the paper is what a buyer will ask for.

US courts have applied foreign patrimony laws through the National Stolen Property Act (United States v. McClain, 1977; United States v. Schultz, 2003): an object exported after a clear vesting law can be stolen property in the United States even when no US import restriction existed at the time. The date of the earliest document that places an object outside Italy is therefore the single most valuable fact on its record.