knowing and understanding federal acts and relic hunting

[ArcadianDelSol]

yes Im hitting the ground running. 5 minutes old my account, and two threads already.

In Missouri where I currently live, there are no local laws that would apply to relic/coin hunting. I am directed to be familiar with two federal acts that Im sure EVERYONE here already knows about. So I have a question about HOW these acts are applied.

I mostly hunt for coins, and not even old ones. There are some swimming holes around here that, even without a detector, I could dig a spade into 3 square inches of dirt, and find about 4 quarters and a dime. The reason for using a detector? who has time for pennies?!

So the bottom line is it is against the law to remove anything that is 100 years or older. So I have a mayo jar full of quarters and dimes from the 60s and 70s, and then out of nowhere, I pull up a 1901 dime.

WHAT DO I DO NOW?

The obvious answer is to NOT put in the mayo jar - put it in a sock or a shoe or something. But lets say I want to be a good little boyscout. The moment I realize "uh oh this dime is actually an artifact" do I have to re inter it to the soil - do I have to tote it up to the local ranger (resource police) station and hand it over? Or am I already a felon by the time I started digging?

 

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[jeff of pa]

Ever hear the Phrase "Ignorance is Bliss" ?

99.9% of the People in this Whole Country
Are Ignorent to these Laws

at least till somone points them out to them
by Bringing them up.

Ignorance of the law by the people won't keep you safe.

but Ignorance of the law by Authorities will.

Why Educate them ?

Nuff said

 

[ArcadianDelSol]

Ever hear the Phrase "Ignorance is Bliss" ?

99.9% of the People in this Whole Country
Are Ignorent to these Laws

at least till somone points them out to them
by Bringing them up.

Ignorance of the law by the people won't keep you safe.

but Ignorance of the law by Authorities will

Nuff said

I hear what you're saying - unfortunately, the local authorities here are counted among those who are misinformed and in ignorance - and during my inquiries yesterday, was told that it was actually illegal and the local park police were under the impression they had the right to confiscate metal detectors upon discovery.Clearly both are false, but I need some means of addressing this. I dont want someone confiscating my detectors because they see them in the back of my truck.

 

[seger98]

I know that in the state of Wisconsin, you can dig on state land with permit & must turn in everything you find to the ranger you got the permit from, but you can keep the money, I would assume that means a coin that your talking about, the 1901 dime? When did money become an "artifact" the rest of the stuff you can keep if the ranger doesn't deem it an artifact.. I wonder if the rangers went to collage to be qualified to make that call. But that's just Wis.

 

[ArcadianDelSol]

I know that in the state of Wisconsin, you can dig on state land with permit & must turn in everything you find to the ranger you got the permit from, but you can keep the money, I would assume that means a coin that your talking about, the 1901 dime? When did money become an "artifact" the rest of the stuff you can keep if the ranger doesn't deem it an artifact.. I wonder if the rangers went to collage to be qualified to make that call. But that's just Wis.

coin story was simply to make a good example: honestly, if I dig up some twisted up chunk of a revolver, whose to say its 100 years old or not? Seems to me that as long as Im not taking a backhoe to an indian burial mound, there really isn't much of a legal issue. But Im quickly learning having moved to MO from the east coast, that many provincial authorities tend to have a larger vision of the extent of their authority than what they actually have.

 

[stefen]

Tongue-in-cheek, a body needs to have a MD unit thats calibrated from zero to 99 years...

Obviously, a person has no means to know the age of an artifact, unless of course, it has an engraved date .

Then too, pinning a badge on a chest, does not give the wearer instant forsight and knowledge...knowledge is obtained thru education and experience (and the ability to read and to remain current on local applicable laws). The applicable law is written as an all-encompassing, blanketed law, and is only enforced to the letter when it suits the purpose of the enforcing individual.

Many law enforcement-types make up [policy] which is enforceable when not questioned or challenged. Having a MD unit in your vehicle, generally, cannot be confiscated, if its not in use. The illegality is the actual use and not the ownership of the device.

In short, drop the old coin in your mayo jar and forget about the black helocopters and conspiritors.

 

[Lowbatts]

Coins remain unqualified as antiques. How long would it take some of the zealots in government to shut this site down if that were not the case?

As for your local police confiscating your gear, better get some new local police. Just can't picture an average town that would have cops take away from their revenue gathering on the roadways to take detectors.

BTW, police auction season is coming upon us soon, I urge you all to get to your local police auction to see what confiscated goodies are resold at great savings to the buyer! Our local police auction usually is the third week of March and there are any number of great finds there. Might even get a slightly used detector at incredible savings!

 

[Tom_in_CA]

First of all, different types of federal land that may be held to different rules. For example: A sensitive historical federal park site like the "Richmond National Battlefield" might be different than vacant forested woods in the middle of nowhere, or other such innocuous (non-historical monument) area.

Ie.: some federal sites would be off-limits from the get-go, and age rules wouldn't apply. But others would fall under your 50 or 100 yr. rule, (if anyone even cared or noticed you to begin with!)

One time I was detecting in Stanislaus National forest here in CA, at some old campgrounds. A passing ranger stopped his truck, and told me "you can't do that". After some chit-chat, he changed his tune to "well, you can do it for modern money, jewelry, etc... but if you find anything older than 50 yrs. old, you have to turn it in". He never even said where I was supposed to take it to, who to give it to, never gave me a phone # or address, etc...

After that he drove off, and I continued to hunt. I guess at that juncture, it's up to someone's math skills, etc.... Something tells me that if a bunch of md'rs routinely went in turning in old coins (either the 50 or 100 yr. rule), it would probably just mess things up. I mean, what are they going to do with some cruddy V-nickels, IH's, etc... that, in truth, are probably not worth more than a few bucks each?

If I were a ranger getting this stuff "turned in" it would only raise red-flags that perhaps it ought to simply be off-limits, to keep things simple? Why should they be bothered with having to have some staff member keep records, store things, etc.... Seems like you'd just be a nuisance to them.