Dealer of ‘world’s most expensive coin’ that sold for $4.1 million charged with grand larceny in NYC

Italian coin dealer Italo Vecchi was indicted in Manhattan on Wednesday for possession of stolen coins worth $1 million.

Vecchi was charged with one count of first-degree grand larceny, two counts of fourth-degree conspiracy and second-degree criminal possession of stolen property, among others.

The 75-year-old worked alongside British coin dealer Richard Beale, who was charged in March with the fraudulent sale of $4.1 million of the world’s “rarest and most valuable” coin.

He arrived at the criminal court at 3 p.m., handcuffed and with a cane, and was released within half an hour – along with his attorney, attorney Georges Gilbert Lederman.

The public prosecutor’s office agreed to his release on its own admission.

Minted to celebrate the assassination of Julius Caesar, this 2,000-year-old Roman coin was sold by Beale in October 2020 for a record $4.1 million — the highest price ever paid for an ancient coin at auction

The professional coin dealer also allegedly counterfeited the provenance of the Sicilian Naxos silver coin, minted around 430 B.C., which Beale sold for $293,000 at the same auction as the Eid Mar.

Between 2013 and 2014, Vecchi, who is an Italian citizen living in the United Kingdom, allegedly sold two rare coins with no provenance to Beale.

One of the coins was dubbed the ‘Eid Mar’ coin, referring to an ancient Roman gold coin minted in 42 BC to celebrate the assassination of Julius Caesar on March 15 of 44 BC.

Minted to celebrate the assassination of Julius Caesar, this 2,000-year-old Roman coin was sold by Beale in October 2020 for a record $4.1 million — the highest price ever paid for an ancient coin at auction.

But the 38-year-old Beale allegedly forged documents on the coin’s ownership history, known as its “provenance,” to make it more valuable and allow him to get a higher price for it.

The other coin, known as the “Sicily Naxos” coin, was made in 430 B.C. and is, according to the complaint, one of the “rarest and most prized ancient coins in the world.”

According to court documents, Vecchi has been selling illegal coins for decades.

In 1992, the defendant was detained by US Customs officials for attempting to smuggle undeclared ancient Greek coins into the United States in his briefcase.

And then, in 2012, the defendant also falsified the provenance of a 4th B.C. silver coin called an Akragas Dekadrachm that sold for a million dollars at the annual New York International Numismatics Convention.

Italo Vecchi (pictured) walks out of criminal court after being charged in Manhattan with possession of stolen coins worth more than a million dollars

Between 2013 and 2014, Vecchi (center), an Italian national and resident of the United Kingdom, allegedly sold two rare coins to Beale with no provenance

Vecchi has been selling illegal coins for decades, court documents show

The “defendant and his co-conspirator… duped potential purchasers by creating false provenance for the Eid Mar coin and the Sicilian Naxos coin so that both coins would be considered legitimate and given a certain value,” it wrote. court document.

Beale, the owner of London-based auction house Roma Numismatics, allegedly falsified ownership records of the two ancient coins he sold at auction in 2020, including the Eid Mar coin.

Vecchi worked at Roma Numismatics as a consultant specialist,

According to the complaint, Beale and Vecchi “misled potential buyers by creating a false provenance for the Eid Mar coin and the Sicilian Naxos coin so that both coins would be considered legitimate and assigned a certain value.”

In 2014, Beale was allegedly given the coveted Eid Mar coin to sell by his “co-conspirator” Vecchi, who was detained by U.S. Customs in 1992 for attempting to smuggle ancient Greek coins into the country, according to the complaint document.

Richard Beale, the owner of London-based auction house Roma Numismatics, allegedly falsified ownership records of two ancient coins he sold

But the 38-year-old Beale allegedly forged documents on the coin’s ownership history, known as its “provenance,” to make it more valuable and allow him to get a higher price for it.

In January, Beale was charged with first-degree grand larceny and first-degree criminal possession of stolen property, in addition to eight other counts. If found guilty, he could face up to 25 years in prison.

According to Special Agent Brenton Easter, the owner of the auction house “admitted to me that he paid for the provenance,” but said “this was the first and only time that [he] had ever paid for provenance’.

When an informant told Beale prior to the auction that the provenance of the coin was counterfeit, Vecchi and Beale reportedly offered them 100,000 Swiss francs to sign the provenance documents, which was refused.

The professional coin dealer also allegedly counterfeited the provenance of the Sicilian Naxos silver coin, minted around 430 B.C., which Beale sold for $293,000 at the same auction as the Eid Mar.

It is further alleged that in 2018 Beale purchased five coins “from a convicted antiquities dealer” that came from the “Gaza Hoard” – a hoard of ancient coins looted in the Gaza Strip in 2017 before being “smuggled to Israel and eventually London.” .

The complaint states that Beale “sold these newly looted coins through Roma Numismatics with the false provenance ‘from a private Canadian collection'”.

Vecchi’s next trial is scheduled for September 7 at 9 a.m.