State Customs authorities of the Republic of Belarus
10 June 2025
Over the 10 years of its existence, the Customs Laboratory for the Examination of Cultural Property has examined more than 100,000 samples and conducted over 800 examinations.
The subjects of study are objects of phaleristics, numismatics, antique weapons, books, icons, manuscripts, paintings and many other goods illegally transported across the customs border.
If such objects are recognized as cultural property and are subject to confiscation by a court decision, they become the property of the state and are transferred to museums, palace and park ensembles, libraries.
The most expensive researched coin collection
111 antique coins from the time of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth worth about 18 thousand US dollars. This collection is unique in its kind not only by the standards of Belarus, but also within the framework of the international numismatic community.
The most unusual object of expertise
The installation "Bogenfeld" by Swiss artist Alfonso Huppi, made in 1969. The average market value of an art installation on the world market was about 28.5 thousand US dollars.
The most ancient object of expertise
The gemidrachma of Thracian Chersonesos, minted in the 4th century BC, is made of a silver-based alloy. Thracian Chersonesos was the ancient name of a peninsula in the Aegean Sea.
The most multi-object expertise
As part of one examination, 5,618 antique coins minted in the II century BC-VI century AD were examined. The production of this examination took more than a month.
The most expensive fake
In 1995, on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the American Eagle coins, the U.S. Mint issued a minimum edition set of gold coins in face value $5, $10, $25, $50. Its price was 999 USD. And a silver coin of $1 could be received as a gift when ordering the entire set. When the print run was purchased, the cost of a silver dollar for purchase already reached 86 thousand US dollars. One of these dollars, sent to the laboratory for examination, turned out to be a fake.
The most expensive object of expertise
An illegally moved painting by the outstanding 19th-century Russian landscape painter Alexei Savrasov. Its market value was about 40 thousand US dollars.
