Police seize 31 antiquities from criminal gang

A rare, 4th century BC gold coin from a Greek colony on Crimea was among 31 antiquities confiscated in a raid on a premises in the Athens district of Paleo Faliro on Saturday.

Police said that the objects were seized from a criminal gang engaged in the illegal trading of antiquities.

Following the raid, an examination by an archaeologist revealed that 27 of the 31 items are covered by the law on the protection of antiquities. The Crimean gold coin has a diameter of approximately 17 millimeters and weighs 9.2 grams. According to an archaeologist’s assessment, the coin is particularly rare because it depicts Pan on the obverse.

Further research is required on the remining four objects.

All of the confiscated antiquities will be transferred for safekeeping to the Piraeus Archaeological Museum and the Athens Numismatic Museum while a case file is being prepared for the criminal prosecutor in Athens.