Florida Isolated Finds Policy

ron lord

Bronze Member
Apr 2, 2007
1,301
1,621
Zephyrhills Fl
🥇 Banner finds
3
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
6
Detector(s) used
excel 1000 with 8 inch coil, Garrett AT MAX and a silver U MAX
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Hello;

So, basically any manmade artifact 50+ years old including coins, cobs, watches, rings, including (surface finds i.e beaches) are ILLEGAL to remove?
If you hunt by Fla. artifact law ,every thing over 50 years is an artifact, that means sand, and rock too. All coins belong to the U.S. goverment, not to the state of Fla.
 

Tom_in_CA

Gold Member
Mar 23, 2007
13,837
10,359
Salinas, CA
🥇 Banner finds
2
Detector(s) used
Explorer II, Compass 77b, Tesoro shadow X2
.... You won't find a '50' year old rule/law in the statutes. Not there anymore......

Ah but the devil is in the details G.I.B. : Because "historical or archaeological value" IS defined as "50 yrs. old or older". Hence you need to resume turning in your 1958 -59 pennies . Because we all know you're a law-abiding md'r. So .... hurry: Go do the right thing, and make us all proud :)
 

G.I.B.

Gold Member
Feb 23, 2007
7,187
8,537
North Central Florida
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
CTX 3030 / GTI 2500 / Infinium LS / Tesoro Sand Shark / 1 Garrett Pro-pointer / 1 Carrot / Vibra Probe 580 (out on loan) / Lesche M85 / Mark1 MOD1 EyeBall
Primary Interest:
Other
Ah but the devil is in the details G.I.B. : Because "historical or archaeological value" IS defined as "50 yrs. old or older". Hence you need to resume turning in your 1958 -59 pennies . Because we all know you're a law-abiding md'r. So .... hurry: Go do the right thing, and make us all proud :)

ahhhhh nope.

People like to talk about the 50 year old rule.

How about somebody putting up a link to it?
 

Bumpstick

Hero Member
Jun 1, 2008
602
229
Lake Country WI.
Detector(s) used
MineLab/ Excalibur&Exterra705/ Gold Bug
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I am saving every pull tab I find for that special moment.
 

G.I.B.

Gold Member
Feb 23, 2007
7,187
8,537
North Central Florida
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
CTX 3030 / GTI 2500 / Infinium LS / Tesoro Sand Shark / 1 Garrett Pro-pointer / 1 Carrot / Vibra Probe 580 (out on loan) / Lesche M85 / Mark1 MOD1 EyeBall
Primary Interest:
Other
People like to talk about the 50 year old rule.

How about somebody putting up a link to it?

Anybody??

(insert cricket sounds here)
 

Lats

Jr. Member
Jan 17, 2015
48
36
Westchester, NY
Detector(s) used
White Surf Dual PI, Ace250 with Double D Coil, Stealth 720i Hybrid, Beachmaster, CTX 3030
Primary Interest:
Beach & Shallow Water Hunting
Ok. It's official. I'm an antique. That means the wife can't remove me from my recliner.
 

lookindown

Gold Member
Mar 11, 2010
7,089
4,935
Florida
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
ACE 250,AT PRO, CZ21...RTG pro scoop...Stealth 720
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I found all my 50 year and older stuff before they made that law. :icon_thumright:
 

Treasure_Hunter

Administrator
Staff member
Jul 27, 2006
48,252
54,327
Florida
Detector(s) used
Minelab_Equinox_ 800 Minelab_CTX-3030 Minelab_Excal_1000 Minelab_Sovereign_GT Minelab_Safari Minelab_ETrac Whites_Beach_Hunter_ID Fisher_1235_X
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting

Bigcypresshunter

Gold Member
Dec 15, 2004
27,000
3,338
South Florida
Detector(s) used
70's Whites TM Amphibian, HH Pulse, Ace 250
Primary Interest:
Beach & Shallow Water Hunting
If anyone here has ever had this man in the trench coat stop them, fishing through their apron looking at coin-dates, please let me know.
No but I had Federal Law Enforcement officers pay a visit to me at work to question me about something I wrote here at TN. I believe I told you this story before. They questioned me on 3 different occasions within the same week. They asked vague questions if I was the man that wrote on a treasure site and if I was interested in Archaeology. I said no I am not into Archaeology, but I am interested in history of the area and it was probably me that wrote on a treasure site.. They didnt have trenchcoats but they had uniforms and guns and they asked where I had obtained some items I had in the office. One item was an old Coke bottle the other a railroad spike I was using as a paperweight.. I said I found the Coke bottle on private property and the RR spike was already here when I started working.

Well thats my story. I held up well under questioning I think and they never questioned me again about Treasurenet or anything I found.

Also they didnt leap out from behind a rock. They just parked outside and walked in. They were all nice guys just doing their job to see if I broke the law.
 

Last edited:

Nitric

Silver Member
Mar 8, 2014
4,796
6,249
Dallas,GA
Detector(s) used
CZ6A
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
No but I had Federal Law Enforcement officers pay a visit to me at work to question me about something I wrote here at TN. I believe I told you this story before. They questioned me on 3 different occasions within the same week. They asked vague questions if I was the man that wrote on a treasure site and if I was interested in Archaeology. I said no I am not into Archaeology, but I am interested in history of the area and it was probably me that wrote on a treasure site.. They didnt have trenchcoats but they had uniforms and guns and they asked where I had obtained some items I had in the office. One item was an old Coke bottle the other a railroad spike I was using as a paperweight.. I said I found the Coke bottle on private property and the RR spike was already here when I started working.

Well thats my story. I held up well under questioning I think and they never questioned me again about Treasurenet or anything I found.

Also they didnt leap out from behind a rock. They just parked outside and walked in. They were all nice guys just doing their job to see if I broke the law.

That's insane! I wonder how many people this has happened to? Maybe you don't want to say, but what was the subject of the post they were following? You said archeology but, what?

I heard that forums are watched. But what is the line, that they will put in the effort to track someone down?
 

Bigcypresshunter

Gold Member
Dec 15, 2004
27,000
3,338
South Florida
Detector(s) used
70's Whites TM Amphibian, HH Pulse, Ace 250
Primary Interest:
Beach & Shallow Water Hunting
That's insane! I wonder how many people this has happened to? Maybe you don't want to say, but what was the subject of the post they were following? You said archeology but, what?

I heard that forums are watched. But what is the line, that they will put in the effort to track someone down?

Yes forums are watched. Facebook is monitored. Its the new age of law enforcement. People like to brag and that makes their job easier.

In my case I think they had been reading my Swamp Gold thread http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/treasure-legends/11712-swamp-gold.html with great interest. I made the mistake of posting where I was working. This is how they tracked me down. I would imagine they have other ways but this was not a warrant for arrest. This was just a probe to ask a few questions. I think they thought I was doing something illegal but they never said what. They never bothered me again about it. I thought they were nice guys just doing their job.
 

Doubter in MD

Bronze Member
Jan 18, 2013
2,104
2,927
Maryland
Detector(s) used
Bounty Hunter
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Yes forums are watched. Facebook is monitored. Its the new age of law enforcement. People like to brag and that makes their job easier.

In my case I think they had been reading my Swamp Gold thread http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/treasure-legends/11712-swamp-gold.html with great interest. I made the mistake of posting where I was working. This is how they tracked me down. I would imagine they have other ways but this was not a warrant for arrest. This was just a probe to ask a few questions. I think they thought I was doing something illegal but they never said what. They never bothered me again about it. I thought they were nice guys just doing their job.
since they monitor this site I would imagine you'd say that whether they were or not. :laughing7:
 

dieselram94

Gold Member
Jun 17, 2011
9,174
6,675
Mid Coast Maine
Detector(s) used
Xterra 705, Tesoro Sand Shark, Garrett Pro Pointer (mine). Fisher F2 my son's
Primary Interest:
Beach & Shallow Water Hunting
No but I had Federal Law Enforcement officers pay a visit to me at work to question me about something I wrote here at TN. I believe I told you this story before. They questioned me on 3 different occasions within the same week. They asked vague questions if I was the man that wrote on a treasure site and if I was interested in Archaeology. I said no I am not into Archaeology, but I am interested in history of the area and it was probably me that wrote on a treasure site.. They didnt have trenchcoats but they had uniforms and guns and they asked where I had obtained some items I had in the office. One item was an old Coke bottle the other a railroad spike I was using as a paperweight.. I said I found the Coke bottle on private property and the RR spike was already here when I started working.

Well thats my story. I held up well under questioning I think and they never questioned me again about Treasurenet or anything I found.

Also they didnt leap out from behind a rock. They just parked outside and walked in. They were all nice guys just doing their job to see if I broke the law.

Glad you held up under their questioning. Seems our tax money could be better spent than on harassing people from a treasure site!


Sent from a spun out toilet paper tube (one ply)!
 

Bigcypresshunter

Gold Member
Dec 15, 2004
27,000
3,338
South Florida
Detector(s) used
70's Whites TM Amphibian, HH Pulse, Ace 250
Primary Interest:
Beach & Shallow Water Hunting
since they monitor this site I would imagine you'd say that whether they were or not. :laughing7:

Now Im not saying they are reading everything. Thats not possible. But they did tell me that they had a person that reads this stuff. Im going to guess that a computer kicks out certain words too. The only thing I was ever worried about was losing my job. All you need to do is read the news and you here all the time arrests from Facebook or people losing their job from something they wrote on Facebook. Now this happened about 3 years ago. Its possible they were concerned about historical sites. I would never suggest to anyone to dig in a historical site in Florida.
 

Bigcypresshunter

Gold Member
Dec 15, 2004
27,000
3,338
South Florida
Detector(s) used
70's Whites TM Amphibian, HH Pulse, Ace 250
Primary Interest:
Beach & Shallow Water Hunting
Its very scary stuff. I grew up as a child collecting stamps, coins, rocks, bottles, baseball cards, even a few fossils...you name it, I collected it. But its different now in Florida. We don't know if its legal to discover or sell some of these items. What about the finds I made 30 years ago? Are they legal? Can I sell them?

I no longer metal detect except the beach. Im thinking of the possible tooth fossil that a co-worker found in the road fill and gave to me a few years ago. Im going to have to toss it back...
 

Last edited:

Nitric

Silver Member
Mar 8, 2014
4,796
6,249
Dallas,GA
Detector(s) used
CZ6A
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Its very scary stuff. I grew up as a child collecting stamps, coins, rocks, bottles, baseball cards, even fossils...you name it, I collected it. But its different now in Florida. We don't know if its legal to discover or sell these items. What about the finds I made 30 years ago? Are they legal? Can I sell them?

I no longer metal detect except the beach. Im thinking of the possible tooth fossil that a co-worker found in the road fill and gave to me a few years ago. Im going to have to toss it back...

You know? I was just thinking and you make a good point! What about the stuff found and collected by plowing, by Great Grandfathers And passed down! Some of that stuff has been sitting in peoples closets for over a 100 years! How would anyone prove when It was found? Heck My great grandfather was part Indian and had stuff passed down to him. How would anyone prove that? And the way some of these laws work they just take your stuff and ask for proof later! Which in most cases can't be done! (I know someone this happened to on a different subject)
 

Top Member Reactions

Users who are viewing this thread

Top