I want to thank you for answering my post on MD'ing in Italy and Croatia. It may have kept me out of jail.

[John 'n' W.Va]

While in Italy I met two guys from France MD'ing on Fumachinio Beach. They said they only got 50 euros for the day with an older model Fishers. They spoke little English, but we had a good time in our meeting. He even gave me his e-mailing address. I didn't have much time,but would have loved MD'ing in Italy.

Anyone for black sandy beaches.
[attachment 173922 fiumicinobeach.jpg]

I found this place I thought would be good to MD, but without a detector why ask.

[attachment 173923 Col..jpg]

Croatia was the place that could have gotten me in trouble. Laws are vague there. The Croatian embassy just said it is illegal to dig artifacts.
These mountains had a lot of old ghost towns and lots of land mines!

[attachment 173928 Velebitmt..jpg]

The town (Nin) where I was standing was over 4000 years old. Even the water is off limits here. That didn't keep me from trying to eye something.

[attachment 173930 boatmt..jpg]

So I just had to hike around and take pictures of the treasures I found. I couldn't say more about the people of Croatia; they are a wonderful people.

[attachment 173932 lakesoverview.jpg]

I hope you don't mind the pic's. Thanks for looking. Now back to a 60 hour work week.

[attachment 173933 bigfalls2.jpg]

 

[Hart-IN]

Awesome pictures, John. Amazingly beautiful scenery.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

So apparently detecting is ok on Italian beaches, as ......... I guess, those guys weren't having any problems

 

[John 'n' W.Va]

I'm sure the black sand gave them a lot of problems.

I met an other poster on the forum and he lives in Italy. He has no problem.

 

[UK Brian]

Glad you had a good trip. Thats not really black sand though. See my picture of a beach on the Tasman sea. Three feet of volcanic black sand that even a pulse didn't penetrate. The next morning the sea had helpfully stripped most of it off.

 

[UK Brian]

Areas like Val D'Aosta, Lazio and Calabrria have bans. The rest are subject to the age of the find. It was that you could find items from 1500 to the present day and keep them after paying 10% of the value to the landowner. I've a feeling that there's now a 50 year age limit. You can still detect and accidently find older items but not deliberately search for them.

Age restrictions are coming in more and more. In Hungary you only have to worry about items pre 1711. Bit like that little known Oregon statute that makes it illegal to INTENTIONALLY unearth artifacts more than 75 years old without a State permit (applies even on private ground).

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Now honestly Brian, you tell me: Is anyone really standing over a metal detector hobbyist, as they search, reading the dates of the coins you and I find? I mean, seriously now, if it's ok to find newer items, is anyone really going to sit there with a calculator doing the math to see how many years old an item is? Sheesk, if I were there, and "accidentally" found an item over the supposed XX number of years old, I highly doubt someone is standing there to tell you that this particular item, you can't keep or find. I mean, seriously, what's to stop you from just sticking that one item in your "other" pocket?

I mean, so too is it ok, probably, to detect in any park, school, of all different levels of city or county govt. in the USA, and no on really cares less, right? But I bet if you found a sold gold bar, and then took that gold bar into city or county hall, explaining to them that you "found it on their land, and would like to know if you can keep it", I bet they'd say "no, that belongs the govt., since you found it on our land, and it exceeds XX value or years old blah blah blah". So why would anyone go ask if they can keep the gold bar they found, the coin they found, etc....? That's like asking if you can pick your nose. I just don't get it.

 

[trkdrvr36]

i dont think it would be intentional bcause you dont know the age they should just ban digging if that is the case.HH!!!!

 

[UK Brian]

Sad really. These are the laws in those particular countries. Just like driving over the speed limit you can do it as often as you want at your own risk.


You are in the U.S. Airport security has never been higher. How do you get your items home ? There's been lots of reports in the last few years of confiscations and prosecutions at various airports. Heathrow often features in the headlines which is why if you come to the U.K. on one of the rather expensive detecting holidays they now offer to get your finds home to you....if they are not considered important enough to be retained.

 

[John 'n' W.Va]

Sad really. These are the laws in those particular countries. Just like driving over the speed limit you can do it as often as you want at your own risk.


You are in the U.S. Airport security has never been higher. How do you get your items home ? There's been lots of reports in the last few years of confiscations and prosecutions at various airports. Heathrow often features in the headlines which is why if you come to the U.K. on one of the rather expensive detecting holidays they now offer to get your finds home to you....if they are not considered important enough to be retained.

Security is high, but I think a lot of things still get through. I put my (foreign) change in my carry on so I wouldn't have to show it at every gate I went through. Wonder what that looked like in the scanner. Also a few pet rocks I picked up. Is that legal?

 

[Tom_in_CA]

John in W.VA, a friend of mine noticed that every time he went to England or Europe, that on the return trips through airport security, they would .... just like here .... be checking for weapons, explosives, drugs perhaps, etc.... Believe me, airport security HAS THEIR HANDS FULL, just checking for those major things. He noticed that, for example, no one riffles through your pocket change, or inspects your cell phone or other such minor things (unless for some reason, the x-ray inspection shows some sort of weapons shape on their viewer screen?).

So the next time he was returning from England, he just pared down the specific coins he thought were most note-worthy: some roman coins and a gold coin. He simply put them in with his pocket change! That goes through the scanner along with your shoes, belt, keys, pocket combs, etc.... and no one even takes a second glance at them! He just got on the plane and headed home with his "pocket change".

 

[fongu]

Those photos you took were a treasure trove to me. Love that beautiful scenery. As far as the Antiquity Laws in the UK, I respect them and would try to work with them if I was fortunate enough to travel there. I'm not familar with the other countries, tho. Inquired about an island called Ibiza in Spain, I believe, but decided against it. I'd like to think this one place with all it's beaches would produce some nice jewelry and maybe pay for the trip. The older towns are probably off limits, tho.

Thanks for posting those photos, they really made my day.