The official summary of the changes in the Florida Statutes regarding SB 868

[hobbit]

here is the official summary of what changes in the Florida statutes under the revised bill:

Currently, Florida law prohibits persons from conducting archaeological field investigations on, or removing or attempting to remove, or deface, destroy, or otherwise alter any archaeological site or specimen located upon any land owned or controlled by the state or within the boundaries of a designated state archaeological landmark or landmark zone, except under the authority of a permit granted by the Division of Historical Resources (Division). Persons engaging in these activities can face criminal penalties, administrative fines, and the forfeiture of any collected materials.
CS/SB 868 expands the area where unauthorized archaeological activity is prohibited to include state sovereignty submerged land and land owned by political subdivisions, and authorizes the Division to issue permits for archaeological research at these locations.
This bill substantially amends ss. 267.12 and 267.13 of the Florida Statutes.

Bear in mind that "state sovereignty submerged land" includes all tidelands from the HIGH water mark seaward. This is ALL the wet sand on every beach in the state of Florida.
Bear in mind that "land owned by political subdivisions" is any land owned by any city, county or state agency. That includes EVERY PUBLIC PARK and EVERY PUBLIC SCHOOL in the State of Florida.
Bear in mind that "archaeological specimen" means anything 50 years or older...it is illegal to take a 1961 Lincoln Memorial cent from any beach or park or schoolyard in the state of Florida under this statue.
There are people who are still not taking this seriously... you jewelry hunters better take note...Granny's wedding ring probably qualifies as an "archaeological specimen"...

 

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[Aka Nameless]

Ouch.

 

[ivan salis]

- under the 50 year rule legally speaking anything 50 years old or older is thought of as "an artifact" and is subject to cause trouble if removed -- geez hope i don't fall down-- being born in feb of 1961 -- I'm over 50 now , so not one could pick me up cuz I'd be a "artifact" fuuny I never thought of myself as a "artifact" till now.

but seroiusly folks --the state of oregon has "laws" now that state that ALL historical items over 50 years old belong to the state --no matter where they are found --be it on public OR PRIVATE LAND * --still think --oh this can't happen in america , well think again --look it up for yourself , folks -- i got no reason to lie , and your already on the internet if your looking at this.

florida folks you best fight it while you still can --or else just lube up and bend over and take it.-- you only get 1 of these 2 choices . --sorry for the bad news--but someones gotta warn you.

 

[TORRERO]

Maybe it's all true, but in 30 years of hunting I have never had anyone come to me and demand to see
whats in my pouch.

Although you can interprete this any way you want, I will choose to interpret it like this.

"If your entention is to go out and desecrete, destroy, remove, desturb or in any way take from
a historical archeological site items for the express purpose of gathering these items for personal or
public profit then you are breaking the law"

If I am walking down the beach with my metal detector and find a 1950 wheat penny I somehow don't
see this as the same, and don't think anyone else will see this as the same thing.

But if you want to stay off the beaches because you think you will be arrested.....
thats up to you....

I will continue to go to the beaches in Florida when I am there on vacation, until the day I see
a sign at ANY AND ALL public beaches expressly prohibiting metal detecting.

 

[ivan salis]

ok change that 1950 wheatie to say a 1750 spanish copper maravedi coin * still think the archie will not care? think again *

in archie "speak" anything over 50 years old is an "possible artifact" because if left alone long enough (say a couple hundred years) that 1950 wheatie copper coin --would be in 2212 a future archie "find" equal to you finding a 1750 copper coin in 2012.

 

[petersra]

I have heard and read stories of 'Once in a Lifetime' finds by folks with a metal detector. Perhaps it is because of these fantastic finds that this law is being proposed. But, say you happen to find a piece of sail cloth with a bunch of silver cobs wrapped inside like the utility worker happened to come across at the inlet, or if you happen to find a gold box with jewels intended for the queen of Spain. You will obviously not be able to keep these artifacts and may even be fined for finding them. Perhaps the state of Florida needs to look at the laws in England regarding found treasure of historical significance, where the state gets the treasure and the finder gets the value of the treasure from the state. This is not a good law, because if it can be interpreted against the finder and for the state, that IS the way it will be interpreted, if not now that at some point in the future. Good luck getting this resolved.

 

[ivan salis]

why can't "joe common man" catch a break once in a blue moon and find something of worth that changes his life fiscally for the better * why must the "state" rule all and get all -- you do the all the work , but the state gets the reward by simple going "mine" ,sorry but thats not quite fair in my book-- but sadly lifes like that most often.

 

[TORRERO]

ok change that 1950 wheatie to say a 1750 spanish copper maravedi coin * still think the archie will not care? think again *

in archie "speak" anything over 50 years old is an "possible artifact" because if left alone long enough (say a couple hundred years) that 1950 wheatie copper coin --would be in 2212 a future archie "find" equal to you finding a 1750 copper coin in 2012.

I'm at a loss as to understand this statement....
Are you saying that if you find a 1750 Spanish Maravedi coin on the beach you are going to hold it under the archies nose and shout "LOOK WHAT I FOUND" !!
About the only people who ever know I found something is my wife (who really is not interested) and my Gold buyer...
You guys make this sound like it's going to be a Police state on the Florida beaches...
and I can tell you that the Police are going to say that they have better things to do than spend
thousands of man hours on beaches accross Florida checking ever detectorist pouch to see if you
have found that "Elusive" 1950 wheat penny or God forbid the 1750 copper Spanish Maravedi
like I'm really going to find this ....... RIGHT .. @!@!@!@!

 

[Grace O'Malley]

"Oh, that solid gold jewel-encrusted box. Yes, Mr. State Official, I bought that old thing at a yard sale last week."

 

[Aka Nameless]

For the record, we have the same 50 year law in California...

 

[bigscoop]

why can't "joe common man" catch a break once in a blue moon and find something of worth that changes his life fiscally for the better * why must the "state" rule all and get all -- you do the all the work , but the state gets the reward by simple going "mine" ,sorry but thats not quite fair in my book-- but sadly lifes like that most often.

Ivan, not to change the subject, but I've often wondered this same thing about lotteries across this country. Why must one individual get 30 million instead of thirty individuals getting a million? Why draw just one set of winning numbers when you could just as easily draw thirty, or say one ticket per however many millions were up for grabs? Pass the wealth around, instead of it all going to one place? Different source, same reasons, I suppose.

 

[TORRERO]

"Oh, that solid gold jewel-encrusted box. Yes, Mr. State Official, I bought that old thing at a yard sale last week."

And how many of those have you found

 

[aquanut]

Hey Sheeples,
This law states very clearly "any land! public or private including submerged lands. Just because your interest is beach hunting and you don't feel threatened, remember how Hitler did it. SLLLOOWWLLYY...
This is a direct result of 3 archaeologists in Tallahassee lobbying their brand of reasoning to well intentioned legislators. One had the ball to say he'd rather the artifacts rot at the bottom of the sea rather than have them brought to the surface by a treasure hunter. Chew on that for a while.

 

[seeker41]

"sheeple" was very accurate!
is there any good news yet?

 

[Grace O'Malley]

"And how many of those have you found "
Let's see in the past month....14K CZ necklace for 50 cents.....8g 935 ring for 25 cents....solid silver snuffbox thingy from Thailand for 50 cents.........well, you get the idea.
I've found lots more treasure at yard sales than I ever have MDing.

 

[hobbit]

ok change that 1950 wheatie to say a 1750 spanish copper maravedi coin * still think the archie will not care? think again *

in archie "speak" anything over 50 years old is an "possible artifact" because if left alone long enough (say a couple hundred years) that 1950 wheatie copper coin --would be in 2212 a future archie "find" equal to you finding a 1750 copper coin in 2012.

I'm at a loss as to understand this statement....
Are you saying that if you find a 1750 Spanish Maravedi coin on the beach you are going to hold it under the archies nose and shout "LOOK WHAT I FOUND" !!
About the only people who ever know I found something is my wife (who really is not interested) and my Gold buyer...
You guys make this sound like it's going to be a Police state on the Florida beaches...
and I can tell you that the Police are going to say that they have better things to do than spend
thousands of man hours on beaches accross Florida checking ever detectorist pouch to see if you
have found that "Elusive" 1950 wheat penny or God forbid the 1750 copper Spanish Maravedi
like I'm really going to find this ....... RIGHT .. @!@!@!@!

Have you ever read any of the stories of the amazing things people have found on the Treasure Coast over the years? There are plenty of stories available, if you care to look. I, for one, would like to read a few more. No one thinks police are going to go around harrassing MD'ers on a regular basis, dude. Perhaps your scepticism surrounding the potential impact of this legislation stems from your obvious cynicism towards the possibility of ANYONE making a spectcular find. Conditions on the Treasure Coast have been remarkably poor over the last several years. But things WILL change. Many people will make spectacular finds in the future. The future is a long time. It probably won't be me. It probably won't be you. But it will be someone. I think they should be able to tell their stories without fear.

 

[ivan salis]

big scoop - the point of a lottory is this making money via taxing the poor --the lotto was started in ancient china as a way to get poor farming folks to pay their taxes * -- you see when the warlords went out to gather their taxes the peasents hid all the money and the warlords had a hard time collecting taxes --they could only use so many chickens and goats * --so one of the warlords advisors said -- give each person who pays their taxes a number and draw one winner to be made very wealthy with a "big cash prize"-- it is cheaper than using lots of troops to hunt down their hidden money in the long run and in hopes of "getting rich" they will pay the taxes --a lotto is a form of taxation on the poor -- ps they only they want one person getting rich from the lotto at a time (and they heavily tax that one person) --the rest of the poor people they want steadily working -- tax wize you want only 1 person not working rather than 30 of em --the govt needs the steady tax income to loot money from .

 

[Cappy Z.]

There is no legitimate government. Without the threat of gov't sponsored violence, people wouldn't obey even traffic signs. What goes around comes around.

 

[CMan1]

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