There has been a lot of chatter
in the news lately concerning the Obama administration cracking down on the
import and export of ivory goods in the United States. News organizations from NPR, the Washington
Post and Forbes Magazine have all had numerous articles and editorials
discussing the upcoming ban on Ivory and the implications it will have on
various aspects of society. These limits
come with good reason in in terms of new goods being imported and sold
considering that the elephant poaching in Africa has reached a critical point threatening
the extinction of these magnificent animals.
However, these far reaching mandates will impact not only the private
collector and antique dealers, but also musicians and museums.
It is important to understand
that simply possessing ivory you already own is not illegal, nor is passing it
on to your heirs. Selling ivory, whether as a business, individual, or as part
of an estate liquidation, is where things get tricky.
An editorial in The New York Times in February
2014 indicated that the ban prohibits “all commercial imports of African
elephant ivory, including antiques.” That
means no African elephant ivory whatsoever, regardless of the age, can be
brought into the United States. The ban
will also prohibit exports except for documented antiques.
In addition, said ivory cannot
be sold across state lines unless the seller has documented proof that it is in
excess of 100 years old, which has long been the benchmark for antiques to the
U.S. Customs Service. Within state
lines, a seller must be able to demonstrate that an object was legally imported
prior to 1990. “The burden of proof of
purchase will fall on the seller, and sales will require rigorous
documentation,” stated The New York
Times.
The new regulations make it near
impossible to prove the age of a piece that is being offered for sale,
according to experts. Will anything short of a bill of sale showing when the
item was originally purchased be sufficient? It is not clear at this
point whether having an item authenticated and dated by a professional, even
with written documentation, is going to be enough to pass the more rigorous
selling requirements.
For now, keep any documentation
you have showing that an item made of ivory was purchased before 1990 or dates
it as more than 100 years old with the piece. This is not only for your
reference should you decide to sell, but also that of your heirs later. Dealers should also document objects made of
bone, fossilized Wooly Mammoth ivory of North American origin, or any other
substance that might be confused with ivory to the best of their ability so
those items will not be confused with banned ivory and be confiscated from
shops and shows.
The purpose of the expanded
federal ban, clearly, is to drive down the demand for African elephant ivory by
making trade illegal. This could, however, have the opposite effect by making
ivory even more valuable on the black market. That remains to be seen. And, of
course, dealers and collectors would only benefit from a rise in price for that
reason if they were willing to delve into that seedy marketplace. Most won’t be
willing to take the risk.
And then you have those who
will rush to the marketplace and scoop up ivory items while they can still get
them. This may actually cause a temporary rise in value. But the other reality
antiques aficionados have to face is without a free market to allow the trade
of collections of ivory, it could very negatively impact value in the long
term. Even ivory that remains legal to sell in states other than California,
that of Asian elephants and whales among others, may go down as people become
reluctant to invest good sums in any type of ivory as they fear of further
bans.
The artistry found in objects
carved from ivory won’t diminish, however, no matter how rigorously the ban is
enforced. These are still items you can enjoy owning while you have them, and
then pass them along to your heirs or to a museum. One thing is for certain,
they most definitely should not be confiscated and destroyed.
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