Artifacts seized by US authorities and illegally sold in the United States are being returned to France after a restitution ceremony held at the ambassador's residence in Washington, DC. The items include five gold ingots from the Prince de Conty, which sank near the Breton coast in 1746, a gold coin from the third century discovered in 1985 of Corsica's Gulf of Lava, and a skull from the Paris catacombs are being returned to France. "It is not acceptable that cultural property be stolen and trafficked, and this is one of our shared priorities between the United States and France," says Philippe Etienne, the French ambassador to the US. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES