Florida Isolated Finds Policy

tarpon123 · Jul 27, 2015

Hello;

So, basically any manmade artifact 50+ years old including coins, cobs, watches, rings, including (surface finds i.e beaches) are ILLEGAL to remove?

lookindown · Jul 27, 2015

Shhhhhh... :evil5:

Tom_in_CA · Jul 27, 2015

tarpon123 said:
Hello;

So, basically any manmade artifact 50+ years old including coins, cobs, watches, rings, including (surface finds i.e beaches) are ILLEGAL to remove?

tarpon, so too is the CA state parks "boiler-plate" cultural heritage verbage. Yet you can hunt beaches till you're blue in the face here. And I've got news for you: None of us in any state (to my knowledge) has ever had a man in a trench coat , flashing federal credentials, "leap out from hiding behind a rock or tree" armed with a calculator, to do the math on the ages of coins found .

If anyone here has ever had this man in the trench coat stop them, fishing through their apron looking at coin-dates, please let me know.

Thus tarpon: This is sort of one of those "spitting on sidewalks in new york" types of laws. If it still really bothers you, here's the solution: stick the coin back in the ground. Presto, problem solved.

frogmaster-riviera · Jul 27, 2015

artifact of 50 years old :laughing7:

tarpon123 · Jul 27, 2015

camel's nose under tent... they are doing the same with fishing restrictions ... tallyhoo then for my 1964 penny!

dieselram94 · Jul 27, 2015

Hmmm, not a chance I would tell anyone what I had for finds...they'll have to go through the trouble of getting a search warrant first. To hell with this law! Lol

Sent from a spun out toilet paper tube (one ply)!

Higgy · Jul 27, 2015

That "law" was instituted in case they want to lay claim to someone's treasure, if found. They wont waste their time bird-dogging folks for pocket change. Its only there if someone finds something big and they hear about it.

dieselram94 · Jul 27, 2015

Higgy said:
That "law" was instituted in case they want to lay claim to someone's treasure, if found. They wont waste their time bird-dogging folks for pocket change. Its only there if someone finds something big and they hear about it.

This is why silence is golden...

Sent from a spun out toilet paper tube (one ply)!

MrMikeJackie · Jul 27, 2015

Yes my name is 14k, says so right here in this ring.

tarpon123 · Jul 27, 2015

golden silence.. yup that's a rare but valuable find. Okay, I'm off to detect

Treasure_Hunter · Jul 27, 2015

"What gold officer, I never find anything but pull tabs and loose change."

ivan salis · Jul 27, 2015

by the so called --50 year rule --all 90% silver coins of 1964 and earlier (silver dimes , quarters and halves) are now illegal to find and remove * all wheat cents are like wise illegal to remove since they were last made in 1959* --- and 1965 or earlier -- old beaver tail pull tabs off a beer / soda can would even qualify as a man made item--"50 year old artifact" ... so I say we start mailing in those --50 year old beavertail pulltab artifacts to the state archies for proper historical "cataloging" and storage..

Treasure_Hunter · Jul 27, 2015

I have had police stop and talk to me at the beach, ask if I found anything good when I told them no, they said well maybe you will soon and then moved on..... Police have more important things to do then worry about what someone found with a detector at the beach. In 9+ years never once has a police officer told me to turn anything in.... I have returned jewelry that was lost and identified by owners too.....

MrMikeJackie · Jul 27, 2015

Treasure_Hunter said:
I have had police stop and talk to me at the beach, ask if I found anything good when I told them no, they said well maybe you will soon and then moved on..... Police have more important things to do then worry about what someone found with a detector at the beach. In 9+ years never once has a police officer told me to turn anything in.... I have returned jewelry that was lost and identified by owners too.....

Many of the guys by me that metal detect are police. It helps them relax and relieve stress.

Tom_in_CA · Jul 27, 2015

Higgy said:
That "law" was instituted in case they want to lay claim to someone's treasure, if found. ....

Right. It's one of those things where there's "intent" and there's "reality". Same for laws that, for example, forbid "harvesting" or "removing" or "collecting". OF COURSE those are meant so that no one can start commercially harvesting sand , or to take home the park benches, etc.. Were they ever meant to forbid your grade school daughter from picking up a seashell ? Of course not.

Thus with this 50 yr, or cultural heritage thing, you *might* find some purist archie to get his panties in a wad (if you asked enough purist archies enough silly questions). But realistically, it's rarely ever applied to random fumble finger losses. Sure: If you're snooping around an obvious historic sensitive monument. But no, not for beaches, etc.... Just keep it mum if you (gasp) find a 1964 penny.

metalhealth · Jul 27, 2015

most everything i find was dropped within the last 2 weeks or so. so nothing to worry about

G.I.B. · Jul 27, 2015

FS 267.115

Once upon a time there was an isolated finds related law, but it's not around anymore.

They changed it to talk about anything of archeological value a while ago. (they got tired of me mailing in my 1958-59 pennies while declaring the public beach as an historical site)

You won't find a '50' year old rule/law in the statutes. Not there anymore.

So, hunt away, enjoy, and keep your modern non historical stuff...

In Part:

267.115 Objects of historical or archaeological value.—The division shall acquire, maintain, preserve, interpret, exhibit, and make available for study objects which have intrinsic historical or archaeological value relating to the history, government, or culture of the state. Such objects may include tangible personal property of historical or archaeological value. Objects acquired under this section belong to the state, and title to such objects is vested in the division.

UnderMiner · Jul 27, 2015

With this logic some older pull tabs are considered historic artifacts and are illegal to remove from the beach. :laughing7:

lookindown · Jul 27, 2015

Treasure_Hunter said:
I have had police stop and talk to me at the beach, ask if I found anything good when I told them no, they said well maybe you will soon and then moved on..... Police have more important things to do then worry about what someone found with a detector at the beach. In 9+ years never once has a police officer told me to turn anything in.... I have returned jewelry that was lost and identified by owners too.....

Yeah, detectorist find and return more items than any other people do...Ive returned rings, phones, even a dog collar with tags...who else returns stuff the way we do?...nobody.