Coins

Bruce R · May 10, 2016

I've seen in this forum where old coins are considered artifacts and subject to laws concerning their removal. Now, would this apply to American coins ? They are, after all, still legal tender no matter how old they are, they were simply discontinued, not canceled, get my drift? Now you wouldn't go to Walmart and blow a double eagle on a cheap pair of sneaks and some M&Ms, but if you wanted to, they'd have to accept it. If I get Indian head pennies and Mercury dimes in change, was I cheated ? Not by any laws I ever heard of.

Tom_in_CA · May 10, 2016

Bruce, in this case, you have to apply the "does anyone really care?" test of things. Otherwise, you're over-thinking it.

Sure, there's maybe some state or federal parks with a "50 yr. rule" (hence who's to say if the 1964 penny in your change was "Found" versus given to you in change from the store?). But think of it this way: If your 5 yr. daughter picks up a seashell from the beach, she is technically violating the laws forbidding "harvesting" and "removing". Right ? But seriously now: Did anyone *really care* if/when your daughter picked up the seashell ? OF COURSE NOT ! Hence so-too can you apply that to your question as well.

If someone archie (1 in 10,000 people) cared that you have a 51 yr. old coin, fine then: Don't do it in front of that archie. Problem solved.

cudamark · May 11, 2016

Bruce R said:
I've seen in this forum where old coins are considered artifacts and subject to laws concerning their removal. Now, would this apply to American coins ? They are, after all, still legal tender no matter how old they are, they were simply discontinued, not canceled, get my drift? Now you wouldn't go to Walmart and blow a double eagle on a cheap pair of sneaks and some M&Ms, but if you wanted to, they'd have to accept it. If I get Indian head pennies and Mercury dimes in change, was I cheated ? Not by any laws I ever heard of.

I believe for the most part, you are correct. In the case of silver certificates, There was a cut-off date in which you could exchange them for actual physical silver, but, as far as I know, they're still legal tender and can be spent just like a modern dollar bill. I'm not sure if gold coins are treated in the same way. At one point in 1933, it was made illegal to own gold, and you were asked to turn gold coins in for paper money. It's legal to own gold coins now, but, I'm not sure the coins were returned to full legal tender status or not. As for falling under the ARPA laws, coins are only treated as artifacts if they are more than 50 years old and have some historical tie to the artifacts found with them.

Bruce R · May 12, 2016

So, an 1860 coin dug at a Rev. battlefield is fair game?

Tom_in_CA · May 12, 2016

Bruce R said:
So, an 1860 coin dug at a Rev. battlefield is fair game?

Bruce, are you referring to ARPA ? If so, that would only apply to federal lands. Not state, city, county, private, etc.... (unless drawn in by specific inclusion. Meaning, some state parks have equivalent cultural heritage verbage).

Or are you referring to coins not in an archaeological context ? If so, this has been a bone-on-contention and debate for a long time. Because there is wording in ARPA that, on the surface, makes it appear that coins and bullets are exempt. But a closer reading of that reveals that this is only true in-so-far as those "coins or bullets" are not found in an archaeological context. And you know full-well what some purist archie will say: That all their entire park or forest is "an archaeological site".

Naturally there is a good come-back for that (although it will probably fall on deaf ears): That there is a numerical designation system of archaeological sites:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smithsonian_trinomial

So as you can see, for a site/spot to be "archaeological", it has to be designated as such. So what does that tell you? That obviously PRIOR to getting such a designation, it WASN'T an "archaeological site" (you can't have it both ways, eh ?). Hence your 1860 coin, found on federal land, yet outside of an archaeological site, would technically be exempt. But as I say, this will probably fall on deaf ears.

There's scores of coins being found, at federal sites, that are older than 50 yrs. old I betcha. And unless you were at Ghettysburg, Shiloh, or an obvious sensitive monument, parading yourself in front of bored rangers, then ... keep your math skills to yourself.

cudamark · May 13, 2016

Bruce R said:
So, an 1860 coin dug at a Rev. battlefield is fair game?

If it's designated as a Federal historical site, You'd be banned from hunting at all, regardless of what you're trying (or succeeding) to find. Now, if it's private property and/or you have permission, then I'd say it's fair game.