4 ms·

When people find stuff like this do they get a cash reward or anything. Something like this could be kept and sold and end up in a private collection. But when

When people find stuff like this do they get a cash reward or anything. Something like this could be kept and sold and end up in a private collection. But when people notify and they end up in a museum for everyone to see, does the finder miss out?

ByteJockey 4y ago
Depends heavily on the country. I know in the UK, treasure belongs to the crown, but they will usually pay you a percentage for finding "their treasure". In the US, as long as it isn't something that would be sacred to native tribes, it's pretty much yours. In Italy, I'm pretty sure the government just gets it and there's a bunch of burden put on the land owner while they look for more artifacts (there are stories of people destroying roman documents rather than report them to the authorities). It seems like Polish law would be the only relevant one here (I don't think EU law covers any of this), and based on a cursory search they seem to be much closer to Italy than the US on this spectrum.
- mirekrusin 4y ago
  Whatever is found in earth belongs to the government. You probably get 10 minutes fame and nice story to tell on bbqs and that’s about it. Of course any reasonable person would put in pocket two or three of those for kids/grandchildren to give in few years.
  - ByteJockey 4y ago
    That does seem to be the case in a lot of countries. The big exception being the US (including mineral rights). As someone from the US, it was actually quite surprising finding out other countries handled things this way.
    - mirekrusin 4y ago
      I'm too lazy to check the facts, I grew up in Poland and that's what I remember my dad saying.
- OJFord 4y ago
  > I know in the UK, treasure belongs to the crown 'Treasure' being a defined term though, not just literally any non-earth thing you dig up. Finds (that are not known not to be treasure) are supposed to be reported to local coroner to decide/determine its status & next steps. Here's a summary of what counts: https://finds.org.uk/treasure/advice/summary https://finds.org.uk/treasure/advice/summary
rasz 4y ago
In Poland best reward is not being charged with a crime if prosecutor is in a bad mood and doesnt believe in your dog story. (Ustawa z dnia 23 lipca 2003 r. o ochronie zabytków i opiece nad zabytkami (Dz. U. 2003 Nr 162 poz. 1568) defines metal detector usage a felony, 2018 amendment makes it a crime. Any premeditated and deliberate find (metal detector in use, following local rumors/old maps/texts) without proper authorization (pretty much impossible to obtain) is a crime with up to ~$100K fine and potential for 2 year prison sentence. The law is written in a way to discourage any non sanctioned treasure hunting at all cost.

ByteJockey 4y ago

Depends heavily on the country. I know in the UK, treasure belongs to the crown, but they will usually pay you a percentage for finding "their treasure". In the US, as long as it isn't something that would be sacred to native tribes, it's pretty much yours. In Italy, I'm pretty sure the government just gets it and there's a bunch of burden put on the land owner while they look for more artifacts (there are stories of people destroying roman documents rather than report them to the authorities). It seems like Polish law would be the only relevant one here (I don't think EU law covers any of this), and based on a cursory search they seem to be much closer to Italy than the US on this spectrum.

mirekrusin 4y ago
Whatever is found in earth belongs to the government. You probably get 10 minutes fame and nice story to tell on bbqs and that’s about it. Of course any reasonable person would put in pocket two or three of those for kids/grandchildren to give in few years.
- ByteJockey 4y ago
  That does seem to be the case in a lot of countries. The big exception being the US (including mineral rights). As someone from the US, it was actually quite surprising finding out other countries handled things this way.
  - mirekrusin 4y ago
    I'm too lazy to check the facts, I grew up in Poland and that's what I remember my dad saying.
OJFord 4y ago
> I know in the UK, treasure belongs to the crown 'Treasure' being a defined term though, not just literally any non-earth thing you dig up. Finds (that are not known not to be treasure) are supposed to be reported to local coroner to decide/determine its status & next steps. Here's a summary of what counts: https://finds.org.uk/treasure/advice/summary https://finds.org.uk/treasure/advice/summary

rasz 4y ago

In Poland best reward is not being charged with a crime if prosecutor is in a bad mood and doesnt believe in your dog story. (Ustawa z dnia 23 lipca 2003 r. o ochronie zabytków i opiece nad zabytkami (Dz. U. 2003 Nr 162 poz. 1568) defines metal detector usage a felony, 2018 amendment makes it a crime. Any premeditated and deliberate find (metal detector in use, following local rumors/old maps/texts) without proper authorization (pretty much impossible to obtain) is a crime with up to ~$100K fine and potential for 2 year prison sentence. The law is written in a way to discourage any non sanctioned treasure hunting at all cost.