Zhuhai’s Gongbei Customs announced in a statement yesterday that its officers nabbed a smuggler attempting to smuggle 50 ancient coins and five ancient banknotes from Hengqin to Macau at Hengqin checkpoint.
On July 23, customs officers at the checkpoint discovered something unusual in a passenger’s luggage during a routine inspection.
A search found 50 ancient coins and five banknotes. After appraisal by the Guangdong Provincial Cultural Relics Authentication Station, the 50 coins and five banknotes were confirmed to be genuine and classified as general cultural relics prohibited from leaving the Chinese mainland, based on national regulations.
The 50 ancient coins spanned the Qin Dynasty (221-207 BCE) to the Republic of China (ROC) era (1912-1949), alongside five banknotes issued during the Republican period.
Gongbei Customs reminded the public that according to the Cultural Relics Protection Law of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), any cultural relics intended for export must undergo inspection by an authorised cultural relics exit-entry examination agency designated by the State Council’s cultural relics administration.
Upon approval, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage will issue an exit permit to verified cultural relics, and the relics can only be exported through designated border checkpoints.
Any entity or individual shipping, mailing, or carrying cultural relics out of the mainland must declare them to customs, and customs officers will release the items only upon presentation of the verified cultural relics’ export permits.
This undated handout photo provided by Zhuhai’s Gongbei Customs yesterday shows ancient coins seized by customs officers from a smuggler at Hengqin checkpoint in July.
