What if I found a Treasure dated before the country was suppose to exist?

[Tommi]

Hello fellow TH's

I'm in Australia, and I'm searching for a shipwreck that was suppose to have sunk in Australia before Captain Cook even arrived on our shore. Now what happens if I find it?

Under a declaration made under the Historic Shipwrecks Act, all wrecks which are more than 75 years old are protected, together with their associated relics. So I can assume that the Federal Gov. would step in and say its there ship now even though its suppose to be a Galleon from another Country.

Australia's historic shipwrecks form an invaluable, limited and irreplaceable resource. The Historic Shipwrecks Act 1976 , which is administered by this Department, protects historic wrecks and relics in Commonwealth waters, extending from below the low water mark to the edge of the continental shelf. Each of the States and the Northern Territory has complementary legislation, which protects historic shipwrecks in State waters, such as bays, harbours and rivers.

Now the ship I am after is above the low water mark, and maybe 1.5miles from the shoreline.

And to make matters even worse for myself, it is located within the grounds of a National Park, which means nothing can be disturbed.

So, if I locate the wreck should I:
A, Tell the Gov. and hope for some kind of finders fee?
B, Be a modern day pirate, and get what I can as fast as I can

I can argue that the gov. hasn't made any efforts in locating the shipwreck, or even trying to find out if it really exists.

That said, I must also include that the Australian Government does not like the idea of its history to be challenged, for example, it has been documented that 3 Egyptian Hieroglyphics sites have been found on Australia's mainland, only one site hasn't been destroyed, the two others were broken up and dumped in the sea. The remaining one is in a National Park and bit to big to be broken up without any Greene's noticing.

(Awareness Quest is a site with many strange artifacts that have been found in Australia. http://www.awarenessquest.com/ )

 

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[JakePhelps]

I would go with B Governments are theifs

 

[jeff of pa]

I say Think About The Results From Going ALL Ways.

AND Decide For Yourself Which You Want To do.

I say That Because I'v Never Been A Follower, So I can't say you should, Listen to Anyone.

Including Me Of Course?

? BEST OF LUCK !

? ? ? ? ? ? ?Jeff

 

[SomeGuy]

It doesn't sound like the ship was carrying treasure, so any value would be in the artifacts. I think they would be hard to sell; without provenance they would have little value.

It seems the real value here is historical, and part of your dilemma is to protect that treasure from destruction by the authorities. So I suggest option C: Irrefutably document the find, have a reliable witness (perhaps a trusted news reporter) and then exercise option A.

 

[Tommi]

I'm thinking a little bit of all

I would differently have to document the whole finding process with the media before telling the gov. so that's a great idea!
Hopefully the Federal Gov. would give me a cannon

This is from the local paper, it kind of relates to the one I'm looking for

Govt to protect Fraser Island shipwreck site
Queensland Environment Minister Dean Wells says the site of a shipwreck on Fraser Island will be protected, even though it is not as exciting as it first seemed.

It was first thought the wreck may have been Portuguese, pre-dating Captain Cook, but it now appears it was an east coast passenger vessel called the Marloo, which went down in 1914.

Mr Wells says the site will now be declared an area of archaeological significance.
He says there may be many other wrecks in the sand, although they are probably not very old.
"I don't think that we're going to find the missing ship of Magellan," he said.
"Magellan had three ships I think - I don't think we're going to find the missing one that goes down.
"I'd be surprised if we found a Spanish galleon or a Portuguese caravel there ever - but we might."