http://tinyurl.com/yhh57l (forbes.com)
"Michael H. Steinhardt believes there is money in antiquities. The legendary hedge-fund-manager-turned-full-time-philanthropist has quietly managed to assemble one of the largest and most important antiquities collections in the world. Now, he believes, its time has come. . . .
To be sure, shady characters and illegally obtained objects are lurking, but the antiquities market is not dominated by crooks. In fact, it is possible to build a world-class collection of legal, museum-quality pieces for a fraction of what it might cost to build a collection of similar quality in another field, such as Impressionist or contemporary art.
Still, the collection of antiquities (ancient objects from western civilizations including Italy, Greece, Turkey, Mesopotamia and Egypt) has been around nearly as long as the items themselves. Julius Caesar and Pompeii were avid collectors. Thomas Jefferson collected ancient Roman coins. Financial titans from J. Paul Getty to J.P. Morgan to William Randolph Hearst amassed large antiquities collections. Today, Steinhardt is counted among the most serious of collectors."
To be sure, shady characters and illegally obtained objects are lurking, but the antiquities market is not dominated by crooks. In fact, it is possible to build a world-class collection of legal, museum-quality pieces for a fraction of what it might cost to build a collection of similar quality in another field, such as Impressionist or contemporary art.
Still, the collection of antiquities (ancient objects from western civilizations including Italy, Greece, Turkey, Mesopotamia and Egypt) has been around nearly as long as the items themselves. Julius Caesar and Pompeii were avid collectors. Thomas Jefferson collected ancient Roman coins. Financial titans from J. Paul Getty to J.P. Morgan to William Randolph Hearst amassed large antiquities collections. Today, Steinhardt is counted among the most serious of collectors."
See the above page for the full story.
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