COIN SMUGGLING FOILED BY EGYPTIAN POLICE AT CAIRO AIRPORT

Egypt's Archaeological Unit for Confiscated Antiquities (AUCA), in collaboration with the tourism and antiquities police, aborted an attempt at Cairo International Airport to smuggle a collection of Graeco-Roman and Ottoman-era coins out of Egypt. The smuggler, an Egyptian citizen, hid the coins within his luggage in an attempt to smuggle them first to Dubai and then on to Europe, where they might be sold to collectors.

Hassan Rasmi, head of the AUCA's central administration, said "that the coins were in "very good condition." The collection includes 30 coins from the Graeco-Roman period (with some dating from the reign of Alexander the Great); 30 from the Ottoman period; 54 from the reign of Egypt's King Farouk; 11 from the reign of Sultan Hassan; and 20 from the reign of King Fouad I, according to Rasmi. The coins will remain in the possession of the authorities until investigations are completed and the perpetrator convicted.