Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Antique theft crisis puts a chip in the old blocks

Jason Bennetto
Saturday 03 April 1993 17:02 EST
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

NEW TECHNOLOGY is coming to the aid of old treasures. In an attempt to curb the rise in thefts of works of art, antique collectors are paying to have a hole drilled in their prized possessions.

Into the opening - about the size of a woodworm hole - is hidden a tiny microchip bug which contains the owner's identity code. A decoding scanner is used to read the number, which is then taken to a data base where details of antique and owner are kept.

Collectors hope the device will help police and dealers identify stolen antiques and enable them to return the thousands of items that are never reclaimed each year. The bug, called a passive electronic transponder or PET, can be implanted into furniture, musical instruments, and even non-wooden objects like clocks and statues. The hole is covered after the implant. The value of the antique is not usually affected by the addition of a small hole.

Costing about pounds 30, the 11mm by 2mm bug contains a miniature aerial and a microchip. Radio waves from the scanner set off the chip, which sends out a code.

Its manufacturer, ID-Link, of Ross-on-Wye, hopes the device will be used throughout the country, creating a electronic security network. At the moment only a few thousands of the bugs have been installed. Only agents who have been carefully vetted are given the pounds 600 scanners.

Philip Whyte, owner of a clock and watch shop in London, said: 'The theft of clocks is enormous and one of the main problems is identifying the owner when something is recovered - the electronic bugs can be easily hidden in clock mechanisms so this should be much easier in the future.'

Edward Boyd, furniture specialist at Christie's Fine Art Auctioneers, described the device as a brilliant idea. 'In most furniture there are lots of unimportant bits of wood you could drill into. I don't think many things would suffer.'

(Photograph omitted)

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in