Customs officers have detained a Ukrainian citizen who was trying to smuggle a unique ancient coin, thought to date to the fourth century BC, from Russia into Ukraine.

The press service of the Crimean customs service reported on Wednesday that a copper coin had been found in his wallet at the Kerch customs post.

According to preliminary reports, this is a coin from Panticapaeum dates to around 314-310 BC.

"Our compatriot had no certificate for the cross-border transfer of such an item, and the coin was not declared orally or in a written form. The [person] said that he had found this coin long ago, that he was not familiar with the rules for the cross-border transfer of such items, and that he had not consulted with customs officers," the press service said.

To read the complete article, see:Ukrainian detained for attempting to smuggle ancient coin into Ukraine(http://www.kyivpost.com/nation/46950)

Hmmmm. The illustration with the article had me puzzled, and I wasn't the only one. In his August 17th blog post, Ed Snible writes:

To read Ed's complete blog post, see:Ukrainian detained for attempting to smuggle ancient coin into Ukraine(digitalhn.blogspot.com/2009/08/ukrainian-detained-for-attempting-to.html)