Italy

[billfishbelize]

Going on a trip to Italy in a few days and thinking of putting the CZ-20 in the suitcase. Anyone know about laws or what ever on hunting in Italy? BB

 

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[Terry Soloman]

Going on a trip to Italy in a few days and thinking of putting the CZ-20 in the suitcase. Anyone know about laws or what ever on hunting in Italy? BB

First: You lucky So-and-So! Google the Italian Embassy and give them a call. They should be more than willing to help you. - Terry

 

[Dano Sverige]

The 1939 Act of the custody of artistic and historic objects affords protection to all objects and coins of historical or archaeological value including coins. All objects are State property and must be reported to the Superintendency of Arts. Rewards may be offered up to 1/4 of the value.

Metal detecting is forbidden in the following areas:

Val D'AOSTA

TOSCANA

LAZIO

CALABRIA

SICILIA

Coins found minted after 1500 can be kept by the finder and 10% of their value has to be paid to the landowner.

That's at least 10 years old, so get better info, preferably from an Italian or Italy based detectorist first. Just trying to give you an idea. If you're only going to do beaches then it should be the same as Spain - "get on with it, but if police pull you you could be in trouble"!

 

[Tom_in_CA]

billfishbelize, you could inquire ahead to border consulate bureaucrat people, as Terry suggests, but I would side with Dano's advice, as the better advice: ask local hobbyists. There are hobbyists there in Italy (sometimes you see their posts on forums, posting pix of finds from beaches, land, etc...). You can check with the various manufacturer websites (garrett, fisher, whites, ML, etc...) where they list their international dealers, and just click on, or call, whomever they list to Italy, and trace down clubs or hobbyists in that area. They can give you the real skinny.

The reason not to base your answer on asking a bureaucrat, is you may get a technical answer, that applies to federal land, or historic monuments, or shipwreck salvor laws, etc.... I mean, the same thing could happen to an Italian getting ready to vacation here in the USA: if he were to inquire of some bureaucrats here, he might get a "no", because the answer is being couched in terms of ARPA laws, state park's laws, mel fisher legal hassles, lost & found laws, damage & destruction laws, and other such nonsense. Yet we all know, that detecting goes on here, and so long as you're not a nuisance snooping around historic monuments, no one cares.


For example: there's been the humorous incidents of people inquiring ahead to various mexican travel consulates, to see if detecting in mexico is allowed. They get a "no". So they leave the detector at home. Imagine their surprise, when they arrive at their mexican beach resort, and see other guys detecting the beach, without a care in the world.

 

[Daedalus]

I have a friend that lives there and in his words you have to be real careful where you detect. And they are watching for artifacts being taken as has been a problem lately .
You do need to check as they will take you in if you are detecting in the wrong place so be sure that you know where you can go to detect .
They go as a club and get permission first from the Government agency that has control over the area that they are working, they get a letter of permission that they carry with them at all times.
And the law's are not the same for each part of Italy , So as said above by all do get into contact with the proper people first.
If you like you can PM me and I will try to get into contact with my friend and put you two together so he can help you get this right. It is a good place to hunt at and you are allowed , but they have had to many of the losers that are taking there history to sell so they are a little gun shy at this time .

 

[John CA]

The 1939 Act of the custody of artistic and historic objects affords protection to all objects and coins of historical or archaeological value including coins. All objects are State property and must be reported to the Superintendency of Arts. Rewards may be offered up to 1/4 of the value.

Metal detecting is forbidden in the following areas:

Val D'AOSTA

TOSCANA

LAZIO

CALABRIA

SICILIA

Coins found minted after 1500 can be kept by the finder and 10% of their value has to be paid to the landowner.

That's at least 10 years old, so get better info, preferably from an Italian or Italy based detectorist first. Just trying to give you an idea. If you're only going to do beaches then it should be the same as Spain - "get on with it, but if police pull you you could be in trouble"!

Where are you visiting in Italy? I am in Toscana. Be very careful metal detecting in Italy, or you may return home without your metal detector. Most if not all beaches are usually ok and I say usually ok because you never know. I have lived here for 3 years and have found only 2 metal detector dealers in all of Italy, so that tells you how popular our hobby is here. There are metal detecting clubs scattered around and most meet in Umbria between Toscana and Lazio to hunt.
My recommendation is to visit the local comune or visitors center and ask them where you are allowed to metal detect, if they give you a map and show you as some will, ask for a permit to hunt, make them stamp it with the comune seal and have them sign it. The bureaucracy here is killer so if you don't do this and you are stopped you may never see your detector again, but if you have permission with a seal and signature you have something to fight back with. I live in a small town so I can usually hunt in the hills without any problems, some of my neighbors have let me hunt their land but warn me not to tell anyone what I find because they do not want their land becoming an Archeological digging site. I haven't really found much of anything exciting some modern coinage, some WWII relics and a Roman coin in horrible condition. The beaches are usually the best, but again get permission even if others are detecting, I really can't stress that enough. England is the place to metal detect if you ever get to visit there. Have a nice trip and good luck detecting here in Italia.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

John, you say:

"The bureaucracy here is killer so if you don't do this and you are stopped you may never see your detector again ......"

What strikes me as ironic, in this statement, is it's the exact same statement we see here on USA forums, about hunting USA sites too For example: Someone will come on line asking if the can detect BLM land, or a certain state's parks, or a certain city's sandbox, etc.... And sure as h*ck, someone else will come on with the advice that their best bet is to "ask the powers that be, inquire about if permits are needed, etc....." (afterall, you can't be too safe, eh?) And the reason those persons give for this advice, is almost word for word like your statement: "Because if you don't, you might face, fines, confiscations, and jail!".

 

[John CA]

Tom is this something new that is happening in the states within the last three years? I am from CA and detected in CA, AZ and IL for 20 years and never had a problem. This is not a good thing if our hobby is looked at as if we are criminals
Here in Italy the laws are not specific and to get through it will take time and money, even with a permit you will have explaining to do but you will only get escorted out and not fined, jailed or have your detector taken away, most Carabinieri are not unreasonable but I would not take that chance to give them a reason to take unreasonable action.
When in Italy have a document stamped and signed, the Italians loves to stamp things with their local seal
Italy is mild in comparison to France I hear they are brutal, I think the best places to detect in Europe are the UK, Germany and Greece.

 

[U.K. Brian]

They can and have confiscated detectors in Italy just as they do in Spain and even the U.K.

Best thing to do is e-mail a detector dealer in the country your going to and ask what the present state of play is though you can't go wrong with seeking permission as if they say no you can ignore it and if they say yes you have a bit of paper that gets you out of any trouble.
I've never had any problems in France you just have to avoid sensitive areas such as the 2nd World War landing beaches or anywhere that can be classed as a war grave. Some beaches have local byelaws forbidding detecting as have most of the countries in the world. Greece is a different matter and though people do detect there I would not risk it. Egypt is a total no go.
Britain isn't as open as it was as you should have a beach permit and that only covers the a specific beach. Much of the forest areas is under the Forestry Commision and a total no go. Some commons and parks have restrictions that can't stop you detecting but can prevent you recovering the find. Castles/Stately homes can be under the Ministry of Works and Buildings or the National Trust. Both will have you arrested. "Public" footpaths only give you the right to walk them not to detect/dig. Safest way as with any country is to get permission off the farmer or landowner who's land you want to search and you should be fine and they will know any areas on their ground where there are restrictions as to digging.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

John, sorry if I was not more clear. I was trying to evaluate your comment about the need to inquire of bureaucrats ahead of time, because to not do so, "could result in detector confiscations". I was pointing out that this same statement gets put forth, even in countries where detecting is not a problem. ie.: like the USA, where we all know you can detect till you're blue in the face (barring obvious historic monuments, etc...). For example, you say you've detected in various USA states for over 20 yrs, w/o a problem. I agree! So have I. But then sometimes I see someone inquiring about detecting the very same areas, and someone else comes on warning them "you can be arrested, your machine can be confiscated, etc...."

Thus, when I hear this admonition (fears of arrests, jail, confiscations, etc...) get put forth in other countries, I often wonder if it's not the same thing?

I have inlaws in France and Italy (d/t my sister married a French fellow). I have entertained the notion many times of going there to detect, as I would have no lack of local connections, via my brother in law. But the mere thought of doing so, caused me to look into this very matter (ie.: "is it allowed?") And as I poured through all the pro's and con's (seeing the very warnings/fears cited here, as an example), I compared it to fears/warnings cited elsewhere, that ..... in reality, don't have any relevance to actual in-field conditions (unless you were a nuisance poking around obvious historic monuments, or someone who sticks out like a sore thumb begging for attention, etc...) Which leads me to wonder if you will NOT get a real-world answer, by asking bureaucrats, border consulates, etc.... Oh sure, you may get a *technical* answer (based on treasure trove laws like if you were raiding pyramaids, etc... or shipwreck salvor stuff, or poking through obvious historic monuments, etc...). Yet oddly, there are no shortage of md'rs in those very countries we are led to believe that "detecting is not allowed". Doh!

Thus, I was just seeing the irony of your statement, that it too has been bandied around even in the most open generous countries for md'ing.

Brian, I have no doubt that "confiscations" have occured there in Italy, just as "confiscations" have probably occured in the UK, USA, and anywhere. I mean, stories of extremes are bound to occur anywhere. Like, I'm sure there's motorists who have been "roughed up" for nothing but a tail-light out too. Or horror stories at the border for nothing but a single pack of cigarretes that someone forgot to pay export duties on, etc.... Yes: "anything can happen". It can happen in your country too, where detecting is common-place, because an md'r failed to use common sense, or simply ran into a rogue archie having a bad day, etc.....