Romania metal detecting question.

[JustKeepDigging]

Hello all! I had a quick question in regards to metal detecting in Romania. My fathers side of the family lives in Romania and they own a bunch of land. They told me to just buy a ticket and I could detect all I wanted. Now, I read online that it may be illegal? Is that so even if I'm on my own land? What's the best way going about this?

 

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[WaterScoop]

You need to google "Countries that allow/do not allow metal detecting/metal detectors. I live in Moldova, not to far from Romania, I can tell you from personal experience you need to be very very careful, the primary threat will be from the local mafia--They exist in rural areas--There unfortunately is the possibility of your detector/equipment being taken by someone wanting it for personal use. Using international mail is a substantial risk of the item either being "lost" in the mail or being confiscated by less than honest postal folks. You also need to consider putting your relatives at risk--It can and does happen. I have lived in Moldova several years & have a better than average understanding of what life is in the former soviet republics.

Here is your proof POSITIVE Tom_from_California_that_doubts_everything
From a person in Romania. Moldova was a part of Romania when I lived in Romania in the 70’s

I still think you are

 

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[Tom_in_CA]

You need to google "Countries that allow/do not allow metal detecting/metal detectors. ....

waynokan,welcome to T'net. Yes there's been several attempts , over the years , that people have done to try to make a compendium of laws of various countries. And yes you can google that, and find various forum threads on various md'ing websites where ...at first glance .... you'll find someone who's citing laws, and/or relaying answers they found by asking a border consulate. Thus ... who can argue with sources like these ? But the devil becomes in the details .

The trouble with trying to start a compendium like that, is that a lot of what an ultimate "yes or no" relies on, is NOT cut & dried "no metal detecting allowed" language. Instead, the answer will often rely on ancillary language about cultural heritage. And even when exact language that does indeed address metal detectors specifically , yet only in certain contexts. Ie.: certain forms of land, or certain age-cutoffs, or .... yes as long as you have a permit, etc...

So what you end up with , when doing the google search, is finding lots of places with dire sounding stuff (and/or outright "no's"), yet hobbyists there who ... when using common sense .... are doing it. Thus, oddly, some of the countries that got a "no" on their list, it came as a big surprise to local hobbyists there, who were left scratching their heads saying "since when ?" See how that works ? Thus it's not as easy as googling it.

The psychology of no one wanting to believe good news, and everyone preferring to believe bad news, is heavily at play here. It is only natural to want to believe the "safe" answer. So if you google it and find posts, links, etc... that say "it's illegal", yet you find other posts that say "it's ok", people will tend to side with the ones saying it's not ok. Or at a minimum: They will attempt to "get to the bottom of it". And how best to do that ? Ask yet-another official there. Who in turn couches the pressing question in terms of shipwreck salvor laws, exporting gold bars, raiding the pyramids, etc... And then the vicious loop continues.

TH'r and waterscoop, I am NOT saying this to advance the notion that any particular country is therefore legal. I have no doubt that ... yes ... laws and yes enforcement exists. I am just commenting on the PATH that mdr's go to, do DISCERN the laws.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

....--There unfortunately is the possibility of your detector/equipment being taken by someone wanting it for personal use....

Things like this would be normal travel safety tips, that a person would employ no matter WHERE you travel. Eg.: "don't drink the water" or "watch out for such and such corruption" and "don't walk dark alleys in the bad side of town", etc...

 

[WaterScoop]

I dont call going to jail good news Tom.


Right now you are defending your position with




But I digress!

 

[Tom_in_CA]

I dont call going to jail good news Tom....

I wouldn't go to jail any-more-so than the persons there now, practicing it. In some way fashion or shape, if they're not going to jail, then I'd mimic their type detecting. And then ... presto ... like them ... no jail They're not "grasping at straws" they're not "smoke and mirrors", they've just found some way to work within the system, to discover and navigate the real skinny.

 

[WaterScoop]

You can’t mimic squat since you are foreigner. You will stick out like a

 

[Tom_in_CA]

You can’t mimic squat since you are foreigner. You will stick out like a
View attachment 1532742

How do you figure ? They're caucasian skin just like me . Oh ... let me guess: They tests accents and language proficiency, right ? Men in black trench coats, stationed at each street corner, and corn field . To test the accents of people , eh ?

If the "permit" is not available to anyone besides residents , I could understand that (since you probably have to show ID to get the permit, etc...). That's easily solved: Befriend a local resident. He gets set up with the permit . And you merely tag-team buddy up with him.

To whatever extent I'm exploring to see how a person could fit within the system, (ie.: find a way to make it work), you're doing the polar opposite: To find any shred of reason why it would fail. That's understandable. People do that here too. They study the laws of a park, and a ton of "what if?" questions. Eg.: does "alter and deface" apply to me ? does take/remove/harvest apply to me ? Etc.... And unless they get red carpets rolled out (express "yes's") they will tend, as I said above, to play it safe, assume the worst, etc... I can understand that. Yet ... oddly, they find out later that exact park gets detected routinely. Ok, then what ?

 

[WaterScoop]

Like I said prove us wrong, you already stick out in this post like two sore thumbs. You are also a sore debate loser.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

.... You are also a sore debate loser.

How do you figure I lost. Didn't we all conclude there is legal md'ing going on there ? Hence not disallowed ?

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Just go there and help those family members find that "wedding ring they just lost". Don't over-think it. JMHO

Tom here is the issue, as usual your saying, just go, ignore the laws and lie. That may work in some places in America but not in many eastern European countries and their prison system is not something most want to challenge.

 

[WaterScoop]

I guess if you LIE and pretend you are somebody you are not in order to bypass laws then that in your mind makes you a winner.



Under STANDARD NORMAL DEBATE LAWS (I’m sure you can do your own research on Google rather then put this back on me to show you where like you have done in the past and like to do) YOU did not have enough facts to substantiate your claims therefore YOU CLEARLY LOST THE DEBATE by all standards

NEVERTHELESS in your special LALA LAND that’s considered a victory, for the rest of us YOU LOST.
Be a graceful loser and sharpen your ax for the next debate rather then a sore loser.
and continue to wine like a little girl.





It’s your world we just live in it.

 

[JustKeepDigging]

Wow, uhhh....Thanks guys! [emoji28] Didn't expect #111 posts, but I guess I got my answer! [emoji23]

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Wow, uhhh....Thanks guys! [emoji28] Didn't expect #111 posts, but I guess I got my answer! [emoji23]

You got relatives there, as you said. Right ? Then if all that was said about a 'permit' is right. And if it's only available to residents ( ?? true ?), then simply get your relative set up with the permit. Just accompany him as a twosome, and ... presto, no laws broken. As for the rest of the stuff, sure, ... see what else the permit requires .

Or you can touch base with the locals that we all agree are there and practicing the hobby. See what they're finding, what permits they need or got. What they do with their finds, etc... I would go with this latter approach.

 

[pepperj]

. What they do with their finds, etc... I would go with this latter approach.

So what camp are you in: ?
1)The one that reports everything for finds.
2)The ones that report nothing as there's no need to in their camp,
3)The camp that reports a bit, pockets a bit and keep quiet about the latter approach
Note each camp has the same amount of folks.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

So what camp are you in: ?
1)The one that reports everything for finds.
2)The ones that report nothing as there's no need to in their camp,
3)The camp that reports a bit, pockets a bit and keep quiet about the latter approach
Note each camp has the same amount of folks.

I wonder what the md'rs in Jupiter, FL does ? That's the OP's home origin avetar. If they dug deep enough, I guarantee they'd find obligations (lost & found, cultural heritage, tax obligations, etc...) at each and every place they hunt in FL too.

But I already know the retort: "spitting on sidewalks" laws are not enforced in the USA: But in other countries (as seen in hollywood swashbuckling scenes of the middle east, and KGB scenes of cold war Russia) will chop your hands off , and wait at every street corner. Ok then, just hang out with locals (which the OP has relative there). If they keep both their hands doing day-to-day life up till now ... then ... ok, they would know the local do's and don'ts.

 

[WhatsDaLaw]

Like I said prove us wrong, you already stick out in this post like two sore thumbs. You are also a sore debate loser. - Waterscoop

If you are claiming that it is against the law, please show the written law and where that written law can be found.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

....
If you are claiming that it is against the law, please show the written law and where that written law can be found.

We've already shown it's NOT "against the law". Given certain protocols. So if "hoops to be able to do it " meant I lost, then waterscoop is right. If "legal vs not legal" is the question, then he lost. No big deal

 

[WhatsDaLaw]

I've read opinions, but I haven't seen anyone produce a written law and a source for that law. There may be one and a person may be able to conform to it if there is. But,without seeing one and the source of such ,it's a matter of what a person wants to believe.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

... I haven't seen anyone produce a written law and a source for that law. ...

Uhhh, no, ...then you haven't read all the posts yet. Chapter and verse did come up. And it does specifically address this. And there are indeed hoops. Read again. The conversation then changed to things like what type land it applies to, who can get the permit, if it is enforced, etc.... But as for "show me the law", that was put to rest. As for being totally off-limits, that was dispelled. Read again.

 

[WhatsDaLaw]

Hello all! I had a quick question in regards to metal detecting in Romania. My fathers side of the family lives in Romania and they own a bunch of land. They told me to just buy a ticket and I could detect all I wanted. Now, I read online that it may be illegal? Is that so even if I'm on my own land? What's the best way going about this? - OP

Tom, I would say that the no one on here has given the OP a valid reason not to accept what has been told by relatives that are familiar with the area. There may be a valid reason to be concerned and the OP is concerned about the legality because they read something online. My opinion as to the best way to go about it is to try to not be seen by anyone someone don't trust seeing them detecting.