U.S. authorities seized a silver medallion with an engraved image of Peter the Great from a Seattle antiques dealer for repatriation to Russia. The piece had been stolen from the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg in 2006. Later, it was sold online.

In 2007, a Hermitage curator's husband was sentenced for his role in the theft of artwork from the museum. Although 220 wroks are missing, he admitted to taking only 77 artifacts and selling them at pawn shops.