Mozete li mi reci.......? Is metal detecting allowed in Italy or Croatia?

[John 'n' W.Va]

I will be going to Italy Aug, 27 for a week. I won't be MD'ing there. We will be mostly in Rome. My wife will be showing me her old hang outs from when she use to live there. Fortunately she speaks Italian. Than we will fly to Croatia's Dalmatian coast. The beaches are packed there all summer. Ever MD in a town over 2000 years old. It makes my mouth water. We will than stay at a friend's house near Zagreb. The town used to be an old Roman settlement before the Croatians took over. My wife just knows I will end up in jail.

Dovidenja
Ivan Jelcic

 

[Tom_in_CA]

I can't speak for that small little spit of country/land, but I will say this, as an example of how the question can pan out, depending on who you ask, and how you ask it. This is about a different country, but will serve to illistrate the point:

There was a fellow who once posted on a beach hunters forum, a bunch of nice rings he'd gotten while on vacation, at a beach resort in Spain. He and his wife couldn't believe their good luck, as the beach in front of their resort just seemed plumb full of good easy pickens. The fellow got back to the states, and posted pix of his fun finds. A few people chimed in "atteboys", but one person chimed in that the fellow had broken the law, and that detecting in Spain was/is illegal. But the wierd thing is though, no one said anything to him, or seemed to even care. There's detector dealers there, hobbyists, etc... But the reason some people might get a "no", if they ask a travel consulate, is the answer is being couched in terms of shipwreck salvor "treasure" type stuff (ie.: exporting gold bars, raiding the pyramaids, antiquities, etc...). Or the answer given is in terms of federal land (in much the same way as you might get a "no", if you asked a lawyer here if detecting in the USA is ok, because perhaps he's answering in terms of ARPA, or is thinking of Mel Fisher type hassles, etc....).

The same confusion has occured when people wonder if they can detect in Mexico, or an beach resorts in Mexico. They ask a border lawyer, or bureaucrat, or someone down there. They get a "no", for the reasons stated above. Well imagine the travelors surprise, when they arrive in Cancun or wherever, and see that detectors are a common site on tourist beaches?

So your best answer, to get the the REAL skinny, is to talk to persons there locally. If there's a forum or dealer, or club, or whatever, close by (even if in the next country over) ask them. And make sure to distinguish between antiquities and treasure type stuff, verses casual beach fumble finger modern change type stuff (and naturally, if you found a 1000 yr. old coin, your math [to figure age of coins] never was that good anyhow, right? )

 

[UK Brian]

Italy is more relaxed on metal detecting than many European countries though there are restrictions mainly related to the age of finds. Croatia is a little different as its still suffering the effects of the homeland war with 104 towns and municipalities contaminated with mines and unexploded ordinances. Its estimated there's still over 93,000 mines to be removed. There are 16,000 signed areas where mines still exist.
Though the principle tourist areas were cleared first there have been cases of mines washing down to the sea.
Then add there's the usual archaeological areas that are strictly out of bounds.

I would make time for detecting in Italy or Slovenia which is not far northwest of Zagreb and was not involved in the war or get your friend to check the situation in the area your going to.

 

[margiop]

I am italian, live close to Venice, if you drive close to me we could manage a hunting day.
Regards,
Danny

 

[LuckyDig]

I have an uncle that lives in Ardea Italy, he came to visit about a month ago and we talked about metal detecting there and he was saying that in most areas there metal detecting is not allowed due to archaeological digs and sites. He did talk about the outlying areas that aren't so populated being ok to poke around in but if you are out with a metal detector you are sure to attract attention and be visited by the police. My Italian isn't the best and his English isn't too hot so I am sure some of this was lost in translation but he said when I came to visit him next summer to leave my detector at home. Probably not what you wanted to hear but figured I would pass it along.

 

[John 'n' W.Va]

I am italian, live close to Venice, if you drive close to me we could manage a hunting day.
Regards,
Danny

Danny, that sounds like a lot of fun. The closest I will be to you is Zadar. My time will be very short. Only 2 days on the coast, than I will be near Zagreb, in a town called Sisak. My friend lives there. If the metal detecting is good I want to give him my detector. He is retired and could use a little extra income. He may not even like detecting, but if I can show him how to do it and find a few coins, he might like it. The town is an old Roman town over 2000 years old. Finding a few old Roman coin couldn't hurt. I wonder how much an old Roman coin is worth?

 

[UK Brian]

From a dollar to a few dollars if in the condition in the picture (which I gave away on the forums a couple of years back). Silver a lot more, but again condition is all.
Age means nothing with Roman coins as they were produced and are found in such quantities.

 

[whites27]

Hi

I just read your information about detecting near Venice. What are the laws in Italy regarding beach detecting there?

Many thanks

 

[Tom_in_CA]

whites27, read my advice above: ask this question of locals, who detect there. To find them, see if the major dealers (Fisher, Whites, Garrett, etc...) list any dealers in Italy, since they usually have a drop-down menu of their dealers, listed by state, country, etc......

Because if you go to ask a bureaucrate or deskbound lawyer type, you may get an answer, that has no bearing on reality. Heck, even to ask on a forum like this, I have often see people post "no's" for various countries, d/t info. they, themselves, get from somewhere else. And then someone else will come on saying, "gee that's funny, we detect there all the time, and no one cares".

There are clubs around Europe, dealers, forums specific to those countries (where you can often find english speakers), etc...... They would know the real skinny, I would think.

 

[DJB_78_0844]

I'm not sure about those 2 countries. But I will say I was in Croatia in the year 2001. Where I was at there were land mines and minefields all over. There was a cemetery next to a bombed church that was mined and marked off. When it comes to Croatia, I dont think I would dig anything up there!!! We were digging a fighting hole and out popped a mine!!

 

[UK Brian]

To expand my post of 11th August most of Italy is O.K. wth the exception of Lazio, Toscana, Val D'aosta, Sicilia and Calabria plus all the normal archaelogical and religious sites that are out of bounds in every country. No problem with finds that date from 1500 to the present day though 10% of value should be paid to the landowner. All your earlier finds will be accidental whilst looking for modern stuff won't they.

I detected a number of beaches in Italy this year with no problem but there's beaches in the Med that may have seperate protection under S.S.S.I. (Sites of Special Scientific interest) rules or could be the site of a Roman port or similar. These are the areas where you do get big fines or your equipment confiscated. I normally ask a dealer of the current situation but a dealer like mediaelettra.com can't be relied upon to know local byelaws in an area a few hundred miles away.

 

[John 'n' W.Va]

They said no problem MD'ing there. I played it safe and left my MD'er at home. That won't happen again!! There are sooooo many places to detect.