What is classified as "Historic"

[johnnybegood]

Ok so there are strict laws about removing "historic" items from a location.
What makes an item classified as historic?Just because its old?

If im out in the woods and i find a few coins and colonial buttons am i removing historic items?
Now im not looking for guesses or what people might think this means..Im looking for actual facts...
I would like to know in case i ever run into a hysterical society person or trouble...
Thanks
John

 

[gmanlight]

If there is a sign out front that says Historic site.
Actually there are sites and whole districts , it depends on were u are.

 

[hershey1]

If it(your find) is over 50 years old you are supposed to notify your state archealogical department as to the location, description of item. Now you know and don't think for a minute those people have'nt and still monitor these forums very closely. It is easy to find out this information. You can not legally keep an old coin even if found in your own yard. That is why a lot of people choose not to post their finds. HH

 

[johnnybegood]

There are so many laws that no matter where you go someone could find something wrong with it..
All of us hunt in questionable areas at one time or another.Its the only way to preserve history..
I mean,would you rather see it fade away under the dirt.Alot of people would say yes just to shut you down..People are pretty miserable here in Rhode Island..
I have found things here that would give "historians" more knoweledge on what went on here in the colonial times....But im worried about mentioning it to my local historical society...Its a shame i would donate alot of this stuff..Its not about the money..



Metal detecting,once you get hooked to this lifestyle,that lure of treasure......Its an adrenaline rush just talking about it..

John

 

[cometguy]

It means different things in different places. As someone mentioned there are also historic districts or areas where hunting is not allowed. If the strict wording of some of these laws is enforced you might have to turn in some of your wheat pennies. You have to go with laws on the books in areas that you plan to hunt. I especially hate the ones that target private property and even the finders property. Sometimes it doesn't seem like we are living in the land of the free. Good luck.

Don
HH

 

[KeyBored]

Johny-B-Good.....I have included excerpts of the 3 primary acts that govern relic and relic collection at the federal level (there are various state and even county specific rules that govern metal detecting and what constitutes a relic, If you were to ask my wife what she thinks a relic is, she would probably show you a picture of me

...The ARPA is the only one that actually puts a date value on what is considered an artifact. Of note....in the state of New York the age of an archive is considered 50 years old vs the 100 years in the ARPA. If any folks have any other relevant laws, acts or state or federal directives please drop me a note...I always like to read up on things like that.....cheers and Merry Christmas.








The American Antiquities Act of 1906 was passed to protect the relics and artifacts that lay below ground from being dug up by, armchair historians, relic hunters, Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That any person who shall appropriate, excavate, injure, or destroy any historic or prehistoric ruin or monument, or any object of antiquity, situated on lands owned or controlled by the Government of the United States, without the permission of the Secretary of the Department of the Government having jurisdiction over the lands on which said antiquities are situated, shall, upon conviction, be fined in a sum of not more than five hundred dollars or be imprisoned for a period of not more than ninety days, or shall suffer both fine and imprisonment, in the discretion of the court.

National Historic Preservation Act of 1966

 

[goldman55]

How does Europe handle this? Seems every time i read something found their, it is reported finder gets half the value. If it is a cache or something seems like they got their act together their.

 

[johnnybegood]

Jeez it looks like no matter where you go they can find something wrong with it!!!!
Two many laws that is why this country is destroyed...
Im just gonna hunt where i please and be an outlaw about it...
If you wanna find the good stuff you gotta have some stones.....
John

P.S. thanks for the great info guys..

 

[jbow]

It ususally begins as an effort to protect Native American burial sites when some law is being pushed HOWEVER, once a law is passed some regulatory administration of oppression and misery bureaucrats write regulations to enact enforcement of the law. That is when it is generally expanded to make it illegal for your kid to pick up a rock or for you to detect for old coins.

We seriously need a second American revolution. The federal government takes in about 7 billion dollars every day and they cannot make ends meet with it... and it is OUR money. We need fewer departments, fewer bureaucrats, fewer laws, and different elected officials.

Do you remember freedom? I actually heard stories about it when I was a kid.

J

 

[jbow]

In Georgia the law says that you have to have written permission, on your person, if you are detectin on private property with permission. Personally, I know few people who bother with it unless they are on a property that borders a Nat battlefield park. The rangers seem to think that no one should hunt on the neighbors land and will sometimes call DNR. I know of one guy who had to pay a fine and got several years of probabtion. I know of another guy who was approached by an officer who just happened by and saw him. The hunter had permission but not written permission and the judge threw it out of court... so I guess it is up to the judge you get sometimes. Georgia is a little different from some states in that regular "law adiding" citizens are given a bit of latitude in most cases that involve legal nonsense like this... now you wouldn't want to get caught digging into a mound, that would be different I am sure.
Maybe it is a roll of the dice but if you don't exercise freedom you WILL lose it. So, some laws, like this one... get ignored a lot because it is a stupid law. If you have permission, you have permission... duh. Besides the law was, as I referred to in my first post, enacted to protect Native American sites and then was expanded by bureaucrats to include detecting of old coins or really anything.
I guess I consider it civil disobedience to disobey laws like this. I am not advising you to do the same but I feel that sometimes you have to take freedom if you want it. I believe I would have a good chance of winning something like this before a jury and I would pay to fight it... because I believe I am right and the law is wrong.

Julien

 

[johnnybegood]

I figure as long as your neat with your holes and such,All they will really do is ask you to leave..

Also if it is posted no trespassing then i respect that...If not it could be state or town land..Written permission is ridiculous..

This is not a hobby for the worry wart.....

 

[Steve(MS)]

Got that right Jbow, it is ridiculous the kind of laws, in my State all land
is considered posted by legislation.
There was an enactment that makes it illegal to pick up arrowheads, I don't know
if that is State or Federal.
I remember when neighbors were nice and didn't mind somebody actually being on
their property.