Rare gold coins were among hundreds of antiquities recovered in Iraq during security operations spanning six provinces, authorities said Monday. The seizures also included manuscripts, statues, pottery, a cylinder seal and other ancient coins, while several suspected dealers and smugglers were arrested.
The Iraqi National Security Service said its Baghdad directorate recovered five statues, five pottery pieces, one cylinder seal and a collection of ancient coins. Officials began the legal process to confiscate the objects before transferring them to the appropriate authorities for storage in designated facilities under Iraqi law.
Rare gold coins recovered across Iraq in six-province operations
Separate operations were conducted in Kirkuk, Nineveh, Anbar, Babil and Wasit provinces. The agency said the raids were based on detailed intelligence and carried out with judicial approval. Authorities did not provide a precise total for the recovered objects or identify their age, origin, or estimated value.
استعادة قطع أثرية نادرة وعمليات نوعية لجهاز الأمن الوطني لحماية التراث الوطني في ست محافظات
في إطار الجهود المستمرة لحماية الإرث التاريخي والحضاري للبلاد، تمكنت دائرة أمن جهاز الأمن الوطني في بغداد من استرداد مجموعة من القطع الأثرية النادرة ضمت (5) تماثيل، و(5) فخاريات pic.twitter.com/7xJvRRlPMb
— جهاز الأمن الوطني العراقي (@Inss131) August 24, 2026
Among those detained was a government employee in Nineveh who was caught dividing archaeological land into plots and selling them, according to the security service. The agency said all suspects were referred to the appropriate judicial authorities for further legal proceedings.
The rare gold coins found in Iraq were part of a wider collection of seized heritage items that included hundreds of artifacts and manuscripts. Officials did not say whether the objects came from archaeological sites, private holdings or smuggling networks, or where each group was recovered.
Iraq recovered about 11,000 artifacts over two years
The announcement followed another antiquities case in Baghdad on Aug. 16. The Federal Intelligence and Investigations Agency said officers from the organized crime directorate in the Rusafa district stopped an attempt to smuggle more than 800 ancient coins that had entered from outside the country.
One person was arrested while holding the coins and later acknowledged possessing them for trade outside legal channels, the agency said.
The latest seizures add to Iraq’s continuing effort to recover cultural property at home and abroad. Ali Obaid Shalgham, head of the State Board of Antiquities and Heritage, said in January that Iraq had recovered about 11,000 artifacts over the previous two years.
He said about 6,000 had been returned from Britain, while other objects came back from Japan, Switzerland, Germany, Lebanon and Jordan.
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