Despite the numerous and diversified finds made in Central Asia since the 19 th century on diverse material and regarding all periods, the history of this region remains primarily a numismatic one. Die-studies have proven that historians, numismatists and archaeologists are potentially dealing with tens of millions of coins struck notably during the Hellenistic and Kushan periods (3 rd century BC-4 th century AD). Hundreds of these coins have been unearthed during several excavations led by international teams. However, the main bulk of the corpus we are usually dealing with originates from the antiquities market. Beyond the legal aspects to it, which are often questionable at the very least, how shall the researcher address this material? Must he ignore it, at the risk of missing something historically promising? Or must he take it into account, and if so, what tools may he use to prevent himself from ethical issues and possibly fake specimens? This question is not a new one as far as Central Asia is concerned, and has sometimes been the object of strong debates among historians. The extraordinariness of some discoveries, hoards especially, which usually follow a clear path towards the western auction catalogues, has brought deep controversies upon certain objects, casting doubts about whether or not they should be studied in the first place, such as the Alexander Medallion or the Mir Zakah second deposit. Through a series of historiographical examples and based upon our own research experience, we shall take a closer look at the development of this trade and its importance throughout historiography. Thus, we aim not so much as to determine whether the art market is morally acceptable or not, but rather to give tools to researchers in order to deal with such material, shall the need arise.