Metal Detecting plus Big Mouth equals arrested!

[johnnyblaze]

Nowadays keep everything to yourself!Or just share with like minded individuals like TNET...
Metal detectorist who struck gold with Bronze Age ring during illegal search is fined after touting it to a museum

~Blaze

 

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[Treasure_Hunter]

He was illegally searching private land according to article and failed to report it as required by their laws...No defense at all.

Per article "[FONT=&quot]illegally searching private land" "[/FONT][FONT=&quot]failed to report his find of "treasure" to the coroner within two weeks as required by law. Instead, he touted the ring - worth between £500 and £600 - to a local museum, the court was told."


[/FONT]

 

[johnnyblaze]

What really makes me mad is they say we are stealing or damaging artifacts when i see them bulldozing thousands of Historic sites losing the relics forever..It should be mandatory to dig Historic sites for coins and relics before development!!!

~Blaze

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Thanx for the link.

Aside from the fact he was trespassing , another word-of-caution to take from this story, is the aspect of having touted it to any museum at all.

There's been stories of persons who gleefully showed their relics to museums, EVEN THOSE FOUND ON PUBLIC ALLOWED LAND, and got "scolded" by museum personnel. There's sometimes folks who man museums, who are of the purist archaeological bent. Who disdain md'ing, even where not dis-allowed.

 

[wingmaster]

It say's he was illegally searching private land but did he have permission? and was only illegal because he didn't report it?

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

It say's he was illegally searching private land but did he have permission? and was only illegal because he didn't report it?

Either way he was violating the England's treasure laws, no different than violating our laws against hunting battlefields here... He knew he was suppose to report it and instead he was dumb enough to call museum trying to sell it....

 

[Terry Soloman]

Stupid is as stupid does.

 

[b3y0nd3r]

What really makes me mad is they say we are stealing or damaging artifacts when i see them bulldozing thousands of Historic sites losing the relics forever..It should be mandatory to dig Historic sites for coins and relics before development!!!

~Blaze

THAT is the truth!

 

[BARKER]

Hi; He deserves what he got. Lost the find plus a Fine. Good.!!! He had NO permission to hunt the land AND he "KNOWS" the English Trove Laws. Where is Crusader ??
In England "EVERYONE" knows they NEED permission from the Landlord to hunt a site. The Police are not stupid. I bet they DID check with the landlord.
Second: EVERYONE in England "knows" the Trove Laws. You make a "historic find you MUST report it to the Coroners Office. They will hold a Hearing on the find to decide if the item found is worth their keeping. IF they decide to keep it they MUST pay you the "FULL" Market value of the find. 1/2 goes to the Landlord and 1/2 goes to the Finder. END OF STORY.!!
He disturbed someones land. That is called Trespassing, even here in the USA. He took something of value, that is called Grand Larceny here. He LIED about his finds circumstances, that is called PERJURY here. These 3 Laws alone carry a 2 - 3 year JAIL sentence & or Fines. I'm GLAD they made an example of him. Bravo to the Museum Personel for doing the RIGHT thing. What say ye Folks ?? I await. PEACE:RONB

PS: I wonder what would happen if We had those Trove Laws Here ?? I await.

 

[kcm]

The article said he was trespassing - meaning he did not have permission. Maybe the facts were skewed? I don't know.

As for historic places getting bulldozed every day, that's probably true - along with places being burned, robbed, and even some that get ripped apart by tornadoes and hurricanes. Problem is, people can do what they want with their property. If it's public land, then the gov't has the say - unless there happens to be an organization that petitions the gov't to spare some particular place for historical reasons.

That old saying also holds true - One man's trash is another man's treasure. For people in business (including contractors), time is money - and they can't risk taking the time to inspect every little item on the "possibility" that it might be of interest to someone. ...Kinda like people who throw sewing needles in the sand at tot lots - we WISH it wouldn't be, but it happens. All we can do is carry on and, if something matters to us enough to speak out, then maybe some relics may be saved.

 

[DirtLurker]

If "the law" is this strict about one guy having found 1 ring (which was recovered) how strict should the law be on people who are looting ancient sites around the world and have been for centuries. These ancient human heritage sites are being BOMBED and UTTERLY DESTROYED not to mention the selling of artifacts which will never be seen by the public or learned about by science, yet nobody does a thing. this guy finds one little gold ring, reports it late and gets prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Too harsh IMO but decent article and I'm sure he learned his lesson. detecting is costly already and to get a fine on top... ouch.

but then I dig mostly pulltabs n pennies so I don't realy know what it's like to dig REAL treasure

 

[BARKER]

Hi Dirtlurker; Your right. The looting and detsruction of ancient sites has been going on for Centuries probably back to the beginning of Civilization. It's called War. Just look at ISIS. Same thing. We, the USA has been trying to do something via our Military. I agree more needs to be done. As for this guy with the ring. To put it bluntly, he is a THIEF.!! The Trove Laws were Enacted to prevent just exactly his type of activity. He could have followed the Laws and been Rewarded for it. NOPE, he "CHOSE" to break the Laws. Sorry, no pity here. PEACE:RONB

 

[kcm]

If "the law" is this strict about one guy having found 1 ring (which was recovered) how strict should the law be on people who are looting ancient sites around the world and have been for centuries. These ancient human heritage sites are being BOMBED and UTTERLY DESTROYED not to mention the selling of artifacts which will never be seen by the public or learned about by science, yet nobody does a thing. this guy finds one little gold ring, reports it late and gets prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Too harsh IMO but decent article and I'm sure he learned his lesson. detecting is costly already and to get a fine on top... ouch.

but then I dig mostly pulltabs n pennies so I don't realy know what it's like to dig REAL treasure

Different laws in different lands, and various levels of enforcement even within a single country. There's no doubt that much will be lost forever.

 

[bill from lachine]

Skippy,

First off this guy should have reported the find to the coroner during the prescribed time limit and also should have had permission from the landowner from the get go so no sympathy on my part.

Insofar as the find being out of context, etc....let's just say I got into a p**sing match with some archie PHDs at Brown University over the whole context crap as I was taking an online course a few years back....

My contention was the vast majority of finds we all make are either urban green spaces, plowed fields, etc....where the soil has been filled, plowed, landscaped, etc so the context means squat end of story....let's just say they weren't to impressed with my attitude so I decided to close my account and walk away from the course rather than slicing and dicing them which was my first inclination....lol.

Regards + HH

Bill

Might be actually interesting if our history... was...well... HISTORIC. I hardly think 200 years means that we should lock down the nations lands. Do you realize how much TRASH is taken out of the ground on a daily basis by metal detectorists who would then have to "call in" their belt buckle find? What a joke. Half that stuff is in the ground because people tossed it out. For them it was garbage. Why can't we dig it up?

Battle sites, I can sort of see. Historical sites that are likely to be of some significant historic purpose, OK, maybe, if it's not private property, but to lock down the COUNTRY? PAH! I say... PAH!

Of course, none of this means anything to me, I only hunt sites less than 40 years old. LOL

 

[BARKER]

Hi Skippy; The English know how to use common sense. we are not talking about a single buckle or button or coin or jewelry found on the beaches. We are talking about if someone found for example Custer's gun or something then that would be Historic. an ancient ring IS historic and belongs to ALL of the People; not just one bloke. I used to go to England every year. It's been a while though. I loved it. And YUP I followed their Laws. I had a great time and found a lot of cool stuff and NEVER got bagged for it either ok. PEACE:RONB

 

[Tnmountains]

Here when they find large burial sites full of burial goods they will just doze it over after a brief inspection. They say nothing new to be learned. Yet they would rather that the civil war bullet or artifact be lost then be recovered by a citizen. I get it. I also get this guy was doing wrong and got caught so he has to pay the Piper. Every hunt I do I get permission and its harder and harder every year to get the "Yes". But keep trying I will.
No hunt here is ever just a walk in the park. I can dream though

 

[Honest Samuel]

I love the United States of America for many reasons including we do not have the same laws and rules as England pertaining to treasure hunting.

 

[Slingshot]

"Don't tell anybody" - Karl Von Mueller

 

[DirtLurker]

Different laws in different lands, and various levels of enforcement even within a single country. There's no doubt that much will be lost forever.

Hopefully much more will be found for all to appreciate!