Elmalı treasure finally on display at home

The Elmalı coins, which were returned to Turkey in 1999 after being smuggled abroad in 1984, can now be seen at the Antalya Archaeology Museum.

Known as the “Treasure of the Century,” the collection was brought from the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in Ankara, where it had been on display since it was recovered.

At a ceremony organized for the opening of the new museum display, Antalya Culture and Tourism Director İbrahim Acar said the collection includes 1,900 silver coins. It was uncovered during an illegal excavation at Bayındır village in the Mediterranean city of Antalya’s Elmalı district on April 18, 1984, and smuggled to the United States the same year.

According to Acar, the treasure includes coins from all city-states in the Lycian region, including those belonging to dynasties that were previously unknown.

“After the Persians invaded Greece in the 5th century B.C, the Attika-Delos Maritime Union, the equivalent to today’s NATO, was formed by the city-states around the Mediterranean under the leadership of the Athens city-state,” said Acar. “The union had a headquarters and a budget. Each member made a contribution to the union with its own coins. The Elmalı collection includes money from all the city-states in that region.”

Acar also explained the most important reason the collection was called the “Treasure of the Century.”

“There were memorial coins, called Decadrachmas, which were printed by the Greeks in a very restricted amount for defeating the Persians. Only 13 of them were known to exist until 1984, but there were 14 of them in the Elmalı collection,” he said. “The Elmalı collection illuminated an important unknown part of human history, and doubled the number of Decadrachmas known to exist.”

Process of return began in 1988

According to Acar, the fight to return the coins to Turkey began in 1988 when 16 Elmalı coins were put up for sale at various auctions in Los Angeles and Zurich. “Turkish government lawyers halted the sales and two Elmalı coins were granted to Turkey in 1993 and 1996. It was learned that a big part of the collection had been bought by American businessman William Koch and his companies,” the culture director said. “As the result of a legal process, 1,661 coins were brought to Turkey on June 29, 1999. But it is still unknown where 15 to 20 coins are.”

Antalya Archaeology Museum Director Mustafa Demirel said the coins were transferred from the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations to the Antalya museum with the support of Culture and Tourism Minister Ertuğrul Günay. He added that “1,679 coins are on display on the museum’s second floor, where all coins and seals are being displayed.”

2 million Turkish Liras spent

Acar said 2 million Turkish Liras had been spent thus far for legal procedures to ensure the return of the Elmalı coins.

During the opening ceremony, the Justice and Development Party, or AKP’s, Antalya deputy Sadık Badak was presented with a plaque for his contributions to bringing the coins to the Antalya museum. Badak said the historic artifacts should be displayed in the museums of the districts or cities where they were found, “but bureaucracy resisted bringing the coins to Antalya for 10 years.”

The ceremony continued with a performance by the Antalya State Symphonic Orchestra.

The Elmalı coins include 1,348 pieces printed in Anatolia, 287 printed in central and northern Greece and 44 from the Aegean islands. The most unique Elmalı coins are the ones called Decadrachmas, each of which weigh 43 grams. Six out of the 14 known Decadrachmas are in Turkey.