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If I'm running an excavator at a construction site and I dig up a relic like this, do I get to keep it? Do all items of a certain historical significance immedi
by slingnow 5y ago
If I'm running an excavator at a construction site and I dig up a relic like this, do I get to keep it? Do all items of a certain historical significance immediately get confiscated by a government body?
- stickydink 5y agoIt's going to depend on the country, and exactly what you dig up (bones is going to be different than gold coins). But in the US, dig up a gold bowl in your backyard? You'd do well to contact a museum or something, but it's yours.
- heikkilevanto 5y agoAt least here in Denmark (probably most of Europe), anything really old you dig up belongs to the state. They do pay some kind of compensation for the finder.
- rolleiflex 5y agoSame in Turkey, and this applies to ancient (not modern) shipwrecks as well. While diving my cousin and uncle found an ancient shipwreck off the Aegean coast of Turkey that was recently revealed by moving silt, reported it to the state, and have gotten a fairly significant compensation out of it. Eventually their find ended up in the local antiquities museum. There are some things that are ancient but common so you can keep, like Roman or Byzantine coins, but even then, you should bring it under for review so they can either pay you the value of it and hold on to it, or give you back with confirmation saying it’s not rare and OK to keep as a keepsake.