TheBatemanFlex t1_jbmbiba wrote
> He had reported his find to the intermunicipal organization Archeology West Friesland, where he also works. The pieces were then taken to the National Museum of Antiquities, where they were cleaned, preserved and examined.
I thought it was just a hobbyist at first. In most countries, are you allowed to keep or sell rare artifacts you find? Or do they just automatically belong to the state or something?
lokicramer t1_jbmluw4 wrote
Depends on the country, for example, it is illegal to metal detect in Hungary without an affiliation and permission from a county museum.
Anything found becomes property of the state, and is placed in the custody of the museum.
Warpzit t1_jbnx5w3 wrote
Rest of Europe should look at the Danish system. We have a ton of people going around detecting in their free time and then turn their finds in.
LeftieTheFool t1_jbo7483 wrote
This is a horrible system. Plucking metal objects out of their context results in lots of archaeological knowledge lost - we'll never know the age and context of those finds!
Warpzit t1_jboarch wrote
Look up how it works before bashing it ;)
LeftieTheFool t1_jbovg9v wrote
Oh, I DO know how it works!
lokicramer t1_jbo6rq0 wrote
The problem with that system, is there are without a doubt a bunch of dishonest detectorists who probably keep, and or sell their finds.
Even with regulations in Hungary, it's still a problemm
Warpzit t1_jboaoal wrote
Doesn't seem so in Denmark. Maybe people are just more honest (statistics imply this).
Diacetyl-Morphin t1_jbq24wj wrote
>Anything found becomes property of the state, and is placed in the custody of the museum.
And this often leads to the exact opposite of what the museum wants: The people will then either keep it or they will sell it on the black market, when they know, that maybe there's some kind of problems and punishments by the law.
I think, the state and museum should pay the guy that finds something and turns it in, rather than punish him. We are talking about very rare historical artifacts sometimes, some collectors are paying a lot for certain things.
Like in my country, a guy found an original dagger from the Roman Empire, dated around 15 BC. I'd like to have such a dagger in my collection and i'd pay a lot for it.
valkrycp t1_jbn9e3i wrote
In most countries anything culturally significant or historic or valuable past a certain amount, goes to the government. Sometimes there is a reward that the museums or gov will give to the person who found it but it's rare that if you found a treasure it's yours, and rare to get a large cut. In many countries you have to report any finds within a certain amount of time.
On private land sometimes it's a deal you make with the landowner before you have permission to scout the land.
A lot of people just don't report their finds and sell them through a black market, or just keep them as souvenirs and don't sell them or notify anyone.
Sharticus123 t1_jbo0ioq wrote
Any system that doesn’t reward people fairly for their find is a system that encourages black market sales.
nybbleth t1_jbnrhtq wrote
In the Netherlands, any treasure like this has to be split 50/50 with the owner of the property on which the find was made; they must also provide archeologists the opportunity to study the find in detail for at least six months; after which the owners are free to do with it as they please.
Mussoltini t1_jbo2c2b wrote
When you say the owners can do with it as they please, do you mean the owners of the land the item was found on or the person who the item?
danielv123 t1_jbofttr wrote
Both are owners. They can do with it as they please.
nybbleth t1_jborzbg wrote
as i said, the find is split 50/50 between them. So it depends on whether its something that can be split easily (like a bunch of coins) or if its like a single item that is co-owned.
colbat45 t1_jbmrz4f wrote
I guess only if you make the find public.
TheBatemanFlex t1_jbmtv87 wrote
I've actually always wondered how hard it is to find a "fence" to sell treasure that was supposed to be relinquished to a museum.
11Kram t1_jbpcqzt wrote
Look at the Dutch auction website Catawiki. They regularly have auctions of ancient artefacts that appear to me to be from outside the normal channels.
Aggressive-Shock-803 t1_jbni22m wrote
Finders keepers in the US, but we don’t have stuff like this.
danielv123 t1_jboflni wrote
In my country you are only allowed to keep things made after 1537. Anything before that belongs to the state.
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