Greece, Santorini, village of Oia

Dear Traveler,

Beware of a jewelry store in the village of Oia on the island of Santorini,Greece.
The name of the shop is ORO and the owners name is Alex. I travel to Greece every summer and have known this man for many years, but I was shocked to discover the ancient greek coins he has sold me over the years are fake and I'll tell you that I bought an Alexander the Great coin for $1.000.00. I was just in Greece and confronted him on this and was thrown out of his shop. Over the past five years I have spent a lot of money in this store only to be cheated by someone who I thought was a friend.
I have had other items checked by jewelers and the quality of the stones were bad and I payed way to much for them. Do not trust this man. It is a crime to sell ancient greek coins because they belong to the govenment. So you may get a story of how they make them into jewelry and that's how they can sell them, this is a lie. Report any jeweler to the government that sells ancient coins, Gold coins are a prison sentence.
Don't be fooled. And stay away from ORO.

[Paul Motter]

We purchased a similar coin in Israel where it is legal to sell antiquities after the inspection and first right of refusal of the state museum. The coins are somewhat plentiful and the museum doesn't want them all.

I found your warning quite interesting in light of Greek laws. For many many years, it has been illegal for Greek shops to sell geniune ancient Greek coins for export. The government apparently was concerned about the large number of ancient coins that was leaving their country and adopted stringent laws to protect their heritage. Of course this means that any shop who says they are selling you a "geniune" ancient Greek coin is simply running a scam. On our trips to Geece we have been pleased to note that most shops are quick to explain that their coin-based jewelery used "copies" of ancient coins.

Hank