Commodification and Illicit Trade of Indian Antique Coins: Narrative of Cultural Heritage Sustainability

This paper provides greater attention to the longstanding heritage issue of the commercial commodification and illicit trade of ancient Indian coins over the internet market. Then even more significantly for overcoming this cultural heritage fragility and socio-historical memory crisis, we set forth certain sustainable resolutions toward better heritage management. Underscores the issue of commercial commodification and illicit trade of Indian antique coins over the cyberspace, which is an emerging heritage crisis of modern times in the Indian diaspora. Withstanding the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development “for people, planet and prosperity” and the operational guidelines issued by UNESCO, INTERPOL, and ICOM for combating illicit trade and trafficking of cultural heritage property over the internet market. By concatenating both the credo, we have formulated two policies: (a) Model Investigatory Protocol and (b) Educational Program for Heritage Revivalism. This proposed framework emphasises upon the concept of “Unsettling Archaeology” and suggests a new approach to practise a more sustainable and inlusive cultural heritage management system for better memorialising the past in the present and future.