Posted on 04/16/2018 10:51:15 AM PDT by C19fan
Do you have any idea what it costs to be an expert these days?!
/s
Hey kid, those are mine. Uh, yeah, ... I mean I dropped them uh, a thousand years ago. Really.
Don’t know the situation in Germany. In Britain found treasure is ‘treasure trove’ and property of the Crown. But the Brits are smart in that regard. They pay fair market value for whatever the Crown (usually museums, etc.) want to keep. The finder gets paid and whatever coins or treasure aren’t interested in. That way, people aren’t encouraged to keep such finds to themselves and the finds are able to be studied scientifically by experts.
YEARS ago there was a radio comedy show called “The Phil Harris and Alice Faye Show”. One of the recurring characters was a somewhat dim boozer called “Remley”.
One day he shows up with a treasure map he bought for $10 - “the guy swore it was real”. It referred to a spot in someone’s back yard.
Harris and Remley sneak in the and start digging. After a few minutes, Remley excitedly says “I hit something metal!. “Keep digging” advises Harris. “I got it! It’s a big, round silver disk. It has writing on it.” “What’s it say? What’s it say?” Harris almost screams in anticipation. Remley wipes the dirt away and says,
“Pontiac”.
Thanks fieldmarshaldj.
Bkmk
A quick search indicates that in three “states” in Germany that if you find stuff on non-historical sites (like farmland with no known old battles, etc.) it is split 50/50 with the property owner unless another arrangement has been made.
In the rest of Germany, the government gets to keep all of whatever they deem is of “archaeological importance”, with the detectorist or landowner getting nothing.
Although I suppose the landowner does get a pre-dug swimming pool for the months that his field was out of production.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
