Stolen coins of Amphipolis are at the British Museum and in Germany. They are believed to have been smuggled to these countries by soldiers passing through the area, such as the 2nd King’s Shopshire Light Infantry in 1916 and Nazi soldiers passing through the area during the German Occupation of Greece in WW2.

Antiquities at the British Museum

First came the Brits…

Artefacts at the British Museum are dated back to the 6th century B.C. They are believed to have been stolen by British soldiers fighting Bulgarians in the region from 1916-1918. Some of the antiquities were donated to the museum by the soldiers. There has been no official request by the Ministry of Culture for the return of the smuggled antiquities as had been the case with the Parthenon Marbles.

Coins from Germany

Then came the Germans…

The soldiers no doubt found many antiquities of interest while digging trenches. Here are some Amphipolis coins auctioned off by the German house, Gorny and Mosch.