| The recognition of coins will be based on new | | | | (caused by minting techniques for pre-industrial |
| algorithms of pattern recognition and image | | | | ones or by use-wear for more recent ones) that |
| processing, in a field (classification and identification | | | | make it unique and recognisable to an expert's |
| of ancient coins) as yet unexplored. The project | | | | eye. Weight and measures are additional |
| will disseminate its results also by means of a | | | | recognition aids. Coins are unique, under this |
| demonstrator freely accessible on the Internet. | | | | regard, among cultural objects. Hence an |
| Substantial contribution to the project will come | | | | identification and traceability strategy can only rely |
| from stakeholders, some of which are present in | | | | on the availability of inventories and the |
| the partnership, which includes the Italian law | | | | effectiveness of recognition. On the other hand, |
| enforcement organisation Carabinieri and three | | | | once passive security systems (such as alarms |
| major national museums with important coin | | | | and safes) have been defeated and coins have |
| collections. | | | | been stolen, fighting against their illicit trade must |
| According to the Call, priority 3.6 "The protection | | | | allow identification of stolen items among the |
| of cultural heritage and associated conservation | | | | incredibly vast number of those being offered for |
| strategies", Task 2 "To enable the traceability of | | | | sale, by antiquity traders, at auctions or in the |
| cultural heritage objects" the project will focus on | | | | Internet. |
| technologies aimed at allowing permanent | | | | An estimate of the size of the market is given |
| identification and traceability of coins, and will | | | | by the fact that searching for "coin trade" on the |
| devise strategies to facilitate prevention and | | | | Internet returns several million hits: this shows |
| repression of illicit trade of stolen ones. Thus it will | | | | that automatic, unsupervised search tools are |
| include: a) documentation and inventory | | | | greatly needed. Forecast use scenarios consist, |
| methodologies based on international standards b) | | | | for example, in the following two: 1) a known |
| coin automatic recognition tools, based on images | | | | stolen coin is searched on the market: here the |
| c) automated search tools. It must be noted that | | | | details of the desired object are well known (e.g. |
| strategies based on physical marks on the | | | | basing on the police report), and they are |
| surface of the object (such as those used on the | | | | compared with the diverse information available |
| back of paintings, or below the base of sculptures, | | | | on many others looking for matching; 2) an |
| or on less important parts of archaeological | | | | unknown suspect coin (e.g. found during a police |
| objects as the interior of ancient vases) are | | | | or customs operation) needs to be rapidly |
| unacceptable for coins, whose surface can be | | | | identified and checked against the police database |
| altered in no way. | | | | of stolen ones. Consequently, the scientific and |
| Traceability is therefore based only on visual | | | | technological objectives of the project are the |
| inspection, since every individual coin has signs | | | | following. |