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  • 2 messages
  • April 07, 2015 11:06
April 07, 2015 11:06

Dear,

I own five sperm whale teeth, unprocessed and unpolished. The teeth come from the Willem Barentsz II. Since I am not a collector I would like to get rid of the teeth. Does anyone know about offering these types of items? Is an exemption required for this?

Thank you in advance!

Chris

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  • April 07, 2015 11:57
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April 07, 2015 11:57

At the time (May 2012) I was wrongly told by the Ministry of Economic Affairs (LNV) that a CITES statement (15 euros) would be sufficient for owning and possibly selling an unprocessed sperm whale tooth.

When I had gone through the procedure for this (create an account with the Ministry of Economic Affairs, request proof of ownership from the executor in a will and prove with dated photo material that the tooth already dates from before 1975 (CITES treaties!)), the application was suddenly refused on the grounds of the "Habitat regulation" of the Flora and Fauna Act, which they had "forgotten" for a while when I initially asked my question as a law-abiding Dutchman.

I could buy a CITES certificate(!) if I donated the tooth, demonstrably and immediately afterwards, to an educational or scientific institution with such a possession exemption based on this Habitat Regulation! (Naturalis, Maastricht Natural History Museum, Artis, etc.)

I then let it come to it and waited with fear and trembling for law enforcement to investigate my "illegal property" and always reported this to the Ministry of Economic Affairs when they called me again about the open file.

In order to prevent a public (and internal?) row, EZ then, finally 20 months after my first question, exceptionally granted me a "possession exemption" as a private individual for "keeping a native protected animal that could not be chipped or ringed become".
This exemption also cost me 15 euros and is only valid for 5 years and is not transferable.

So now I "keep" a sperm whale (tooth) aptly named Kafka in my pond!
In "my collection" you will find a scan of the exemption for the item.

Owning and/or trading (unprocessed) sperm whale teeth is illegal in the Netherlands (and most Western countries) in accordance with the aforementioned laws/regulations/treaties and is only reserved for the aforementioned institutions.

However, there is still a great demand for real sperm whale teeth, so your innocent call will probably result in a lot of emails!

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  • April 07, 2015 13:49
April 07, 2015 13:49

Thank you for your (comprehensive) answer! Although I obviously want to walk the honest path, it sounds like a lot of hassle.

Where does the demand for sperm whale teeth come from? Collectors?

I am waiting for the necessary emails and see what happens ;-)

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  • May 16, 2015 17:13
May 16, 2015 17:13

I also have an old unprocessed sperm whale tooth. As far as I know, raw ivory (including sperm whale teeth) does not fall under the exception of antique ivory objects from before 1947 that may be freely traded.

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  • January 25, 2017 13:13
January 25, 2017 13:13
Good day I also have an unprocessed potvus tooth My dad got this through their grandpa. Which has been in possession since 1905. From what I have heard it said ..... unfortunately I have nothing in black and white. To be honest, I don't know what to do with it. Also, don't get to know much about their exact prices on the internet, if I want to sell this. Then this is not possible via this site, or does someone have an idea of value? Gr jeroen
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