US nurse arrested in Macedonia awaits verdict in coin-smuggling trial

WillieBoyd2 · October 20, 2012 4:15AM

An Alabama nurse who was on a humanitarian mission in Macedonia is now awaiting a judge's ruling after she was arrested and tried for allegedly stealing rare coins.

Candi Dunlap, of Meridian, Ala., was arrested on Sept. 28 at Macedonia's airport after the coins were found in her carry-on luggage, the Clarion Ledger reported.

Others on the mission trip with Dunlap insisted she was given the coins as a thank you from a Macedonian and that she had no idea they were not to be taken from the country.

In Washington, the State Department said U.S. Embassy officials in Macedonia have been visiting with Dunlap regularly to ensure she is well treated.

Dunlap's husband, Marc, is also in Macedonia trying to secure her release. He has been posting updates on a Facebook page dedicated to her freedom.

http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/10/20/14578637-us-nurse-arrested-in-macedonia-awaits-verdict-in-coin-smuggling-trial

The articles do not describe the coins, for some reason.

Edited to add:
One article described the items as "historical coins", that means that they might be ancient coins.

DoubleEagle59 · October 20, 2012 4:30AM

Simply check her history and her husband's and if they aren't coin collectors, let her go.

If they are, then they have to pay.

SYRACUSIAN · October 20, 2012 6:06AM

<< <i>

If they are, then they have to pay. >>

Why?

If the coins belong to a category that the laws of this country prohibit their export, the right thing to do would be to check their provenance. If the citizen of FYROM (the so-called "Macedonian" in the article) obtained these coins legally, by buying them abroad and importing them to his country, he has/had the right to export them too. If he offered them as a "thank you" gift, he should have given the documentation that proves that the coins are cleared for export from his country.

Otherwise, what was he thinking? That the nurse will move permanently with her husband in FYROM (Former Yugoslavian Republic Of Macedonia)? Unless the story about the gift isn't true, and the generous citizen is a ficticious personality, I don't understand the court's ruling. All I read in this story, (in case the coins are indeed ancient), is another attempt by the Skopje government to call "artifacts of the country"coins that were minted several centuries before the current citizens and their near ancesters arrived in this piece of land and the creation of an international incident, at a crucial moment right before the final negotiations for the permanent name of their country.

WillieBoyd2 · October 20, 2012 11:56PM

The Macedonian side of the story:

Americans frequently caught smuggling antiquities out of Macedonia

Smuggling priceless antiquities seems to be turning into a sport for American 'tourists' and 'NGO workers' visiting Macedonia.

Just last month a US citizen was caught on the Macedonian Serbian border attempting to leave the country with a bag full of priceless figures, coins and other antiquities.

A week later, another American, Mrs. Candi Dunlop was detained attempting to leave Macedonia at Skopje's international airport after customs authorities discovered numerous priceless coins dating back to 1,200 BC.

On the black market, such coins may easily fetch millions.

The two previos Americans quickly confessed their guilt, while Mrs Dunlop maintained the coins were simply a gift from an unnamed Macedonian citizen.

Although Macedonians are famous for their hospitality, there are hardly any Macedonians who give up national treasures worth in the millions as a "gift".

http://macedoniaonline.eu/content/view/22062/2

SaorAlba · October 21, 2012 1:37AM

<< <i>A week later, another American, Mrs. Candi Dunlop was detained attempting to leave Macedonia at Skopje's international airport after customs authorities discovered numerous priceless coins dating back to 1,200 BC. >>

1200 BC is about 500-600 years before actual coinage made an appearance.

Something about this story seems a bit like a convenient set-up to me. I travel in and out of E. Europe and live there from time to time and yes, we have laws like that. But enforcement is more subjective and not quite so explanable. For instance it is illegal to remove cultural artefacts older than 50 years out of country, but no one in customs goes through every bag, and frankly I think they do not care.

WillieBoyd2 · October 21, 2012 3:39AM

I wonder if the moderators can merge this thread with a similar one under United States coins.

World Coin Forum:
http://forums.collectors.com/messageview.cfm?catid=6&threadid=870451

U. S. Coin Forum:
http://forums.collectors.com/messageview.cfm?catid=26&threadid=870476

Fountainhead · October 23, 2012 1:12PM

I'm surprised Americans are being nabbed for this as I usually think of art thefts by traveling "do-gooders" as a European thing. Europeans caught doing so experience no lasting taint. One such, novelist Andre Malraux, even became Culture Minister under General de Gaulle. He was awarded numerous times, including the "Medal of Resistance" for his activities in WWII.

WillieBoyd2 · October 24, 2012 12:02AM

According to the Mississippi Clarion Ledger, Ms. Dunlap was released from jail and kicked out of the country.

Meridian nurse practitioner and medical missionary Candi Dunlap gets to come home tonight.

A judge in Skopje, Macedonia ruled early today that Dunlap, accused of trying to smuggle 256 coins out of that country considered historical artifacts by the government, will be released, but that she’s banned from entering Macedonia for 10 years, said Adam Buckalew, spokesman for U.S. Rep. Gregg Harper, R-Miss.

Dunlap also must serve a two-year parole from Macedonia in the United States, Buckalew said. "I don’t know what the stipulations are on that so far as her checking in with the (Macedonian) government," he said.

Buckalew said he got word on Dunlap’s fate at about 8 a.m. today from the diplomatic corps at the U.S. Embassy in Macedonia. Dunlap also must pay a small fine equivalent to about $300 in the United States, Buckalew said.

http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20121024/NEWS/310240050/Meridian-nurse-leaving-Macedonian-jail-coming-home

SYRACUSIAN · October 24, 2012 2:53AM

but that she’s banned from entering Macedonia for 10 years, said Adam Buckalew,

Something tells me that she doesn't mind that term at all.

What a "thank you" gift they gave her in the end....

US nurse arrested in Macedonia awaits verdict in coin-smuggling trial

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