The Italian Ministry of Culture will return a total of 80 ancient coins to the Greek government in a ceremony that will take place on the sidelines of the informal EU Culture Ministry Summit taking place in Turin on the 23rd and 24th of September.

The 80 coins, which include seventy nine silver and one bronze coin, are dated between the 5th and 2nd centuries BC and were initially recovered from Akanthos and Toroni, which are located in Halkidiki.

The Italian authorities seized the ancient artifacts in 2008 and after carrying out a detailed inspection, contacted the Greek authorities in order to arrange the repatriation.

The two Culture Ministers, Dario Franceschini and Kostas Tasoulas, will attend a special ceremony to commemorate the repatriation of the coins and the cooperation between the two countries in combating the illicit trade of cultural goods.