Why is metal detecting illegal

The Antiquities Act of and The Archaeological Resources Protection Act of are federal laws that were created to protect history and make it illegal in almost all cases to metal detect on federal land.

State laws vary from state to state; however, those allowing metal detecting on state property require a permit. Federal Laws The Antiquities Act of was written before metal detectors existed; however, the law still exists and states that it is illegal to "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.

Metal detectors are banned in all US federal and national parks. Additionally, no monuments or historical sites allow you to use a metal detector on their grounds. Additionally, in theory, you could be arrested for simply having a metal detector in your vehicle. State Laws Metal detecting, collecting or digging on 34 state properties requires a permit, and 16 states do not allow recreational metal detecting on state property.

The 34 states that allow metal detecting on state property have additional limitations within state park boundaries. Always check with the park ranger and obtain a permit. Other state properties may include wildlife management areas, state highways, navigable rivers, and--for states bordering the ocean--areas up to three miles offshore. Norfolk:Detecting on Public land i.

Parks, Schools, Beaches, etc. Chesapeake:Detecting on Public land i. Use of electronic metal detecting devices. No person shall utilize any type of electronic metal-detecting device in any public park or recreation facility, unless the property is posted granting such permission, or unless permission is granted, in writing, by the director. Hampton:Detecting on Public land i.

Buckrow Beach require a permit issued by the city. Use of electronic metal-detecting devices. No person shall utilize any type of electronic metal-detecting device in any recreational facility.

No person shall utilize any type of electronic metal-detecting device in any recreational facility without first obtaining written approval from the director, except for the sandy portion of the beaches of Huntington Park, Anderson Park and King-Lincoln Park. This code shall not pertain to Parks, Recreation and Tourism employees working in an official capacity.

Portsmouth:Detecting on Public land i. Suffolk:Detecting on Public land i. Virginia Beach: Detecting on Public land i. Regulations Sec. Damage to property. Upon conviction, such locating devices shall be forfeited to the city and may be seized by an officer as forfeited, and as may be needed for historical purposes, such devices shall be devoted to that purpose.

Preservation of natural resources and public buildings and property. The following shall be exempt from the prohibitions of this section: 1 Fathometers, radar equipment and electronic equipment used primarily for navigation and safe operation of boats and aircraft; and 2 Mineral or metal-detecting devices used in pursuit of authorized activities under permit issued by the appropriate governing official. Penalities may include confiscation of equipment, fines and jail time.

Permitting agency: Department of Historic Resources Party responsible for compliance: The state agency or individual initiating the archaeological field investigation or removal of human remains from archaeological sites.

The Virginia Antiquities Act prohibits damage to or removal of objects of antiquity from archaeological sites on all state-controlled land.

This act does not restrict a state agency from construction or other land disturbing activities on its own land, but does prohibit all "relic hunting" or any archaeological field investigations without a permit from DHR. Permits are issued through the department's Office of Review and Compliance.

Permit required to conduct field investigations; ownership of objects of antiquity; penalty. A:It shall be unlawful for any person to conduct any type of field investigation, exploration or recovery operation involving the removal, destruction or disturbance of any object of antiquity on state-controlled land, or on a state archaeological site or zone without first receiving a permit from the Director.

B:The Director may issue a permit to conduct field investigations if the Director finds that it is in the best interest of the Commonwealth, and the applicant is a historic, scientific, or educational institution, professional archaeologist or amateur, who is qualified and recognized in the area of field investigations or archaeology. C:The permit shall require that all objects of antiquity that are recovered from state-controlled land shall be the exclusive property of the Commonwealth.

Title to some or all objects of antiquity which are discovered or removed from a state archaeological site not located on state-controlled land may be retained by the owner of such land. All objects of antiquity that are discovered or recovered on or from state-controlled land shall be retained by the Commonwealth, unless they are released to the applicant by the Director. D:All field investigations, explorations, or recovery operations undertaken pursuant to a permit issued under this section shall be carried out under the general supervision of the Director and in a manner to ensure that the maximum amount of historic, scientific, archaeologic and educational information may be recovered and preserved in addition to the physical recovery of objects.

E:If the field investigation described in the application is likely to interfere with the activity of any state agency, no permit shall be issued unless the applicant has secured the written approval of such agency. F:Any person who violates the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. Virginia Submerged Resources Law. Top of page. More coming soon. Code of Alabama Title 41 - State Government Chapter 3 - Aboriginal Mounds, Earthworks and other Antiquities Section Reservation of exclusive right and privilege of state to explore, excavate or survey aboriginal mounds, earthworks, burial sites, etc.

The State of Alabama reserves to itself the exclusive right and privilege of exploring, excavating or surveying, through its authorized officers, agents or employees, all aboriginal mounds and other antiquities, earthworks, ancient or historical forts and burial sites within the State of Alabama, subject to the rights of the owner of the land upon which such antiquities are situated, for agricultural, domestic or industrial purposes, and the ownership of the state is hereby expressly declared in any and all objects whatsoever which may be found or located therein.

Section Nonresidents not to explore or excavate remains or carry away, etc. No person not a resident of the State of Alabama, either by himself personally or through any agent or employee or anyone else acting for such person, shall explore or excavate any of the remains described in Section or carry or send away from the state any objects which may be discovered therein or which may be taken therefrom or found in the vicinity thereof. Section Explorations or excavations of remains not to be done without consent of owner of land and not to injure crops, houses, etc.

No explorations or excavations shall be made in any of such remains without the consent of the owner of the land first had and obtained and unless such work is done in such way as not to injure any crops, houses or improvements on the land adjacent to or forming a part of such remains.

Section Explorations or excavations not to destroy, deface, etc. No explorations or excavations shall be made which will destroy, deface or permanently injure such remains; and, after any such explorations or excavations, they shall be restored to the same or like condition as before such explorations or excavations were made.

Metal Detecting in Alabama, or any treasure hunting can get you arrested. Section Disposition of objects taken from remains. No objects taken from such remains shall be sold or disposed of out of the state, but when removed therefrom the objects so gathered shall be retained in state custody and either placed in the collection of the Department of Archives and History or in the museums or in the libraries of the educational or other institutions of the state or they may be exchanged for similar or other objects from other states, museums, libraries or individuals.

Section Exploration or excavation of aboriginal mounds, earthworks, etc. Alabama Submerged Resources Law. An Act for the Preservation of American Antiquitie 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 destroyany historic or prehistoric ruin or monument, or any object of antiquity, situated on landsowned or controlled by the Government of the United States, without the permission ofthe Secretary of the Department of the Government having jurisdiction over the lands onwhich said antiquities are situated, shall, upon conviction, be fined in a sum of not morethan five hundred dollars or be imprisoned for a period of not more than ninety days, orshall suffer both fine and imprisonment, in the discretion of the court.

No matter using detector or grabbing from surface. We have shops selling and servicing detectors, this is completely legal. Their use is not forbidden either but you are asking for trouble :. A sort of mafia they are, thinking that all historical items belong only to them. I am Slovakian but never switched on my detector even in my own garden. Go by these guidelines and you will maybe survive without getting fined or torn apart by a landmine.

Enjoy :D. Please tell about Pakistan. Also, the part about UAE is quite vague. Could you elaborate on it. One can apply for permit outside archeological sites. It used to be free to apply so I guess nobody does it anymore. Hi guys. Is there anyone here from Estonia that can advise on the rules and regulations please? You are wrong about mexico , I live there and what you said regarding to the mafia hands in the beach, ja ja. I am also interested in finding out what the rules are for metal detecting in Georgia, the country in the Caucasus.

Thank you if anyone knows. Even though you should be able to use metal detectors in Portugal with a permit, it is nearly impossible to get one.

Many people have tried, but none was able to do so. Searching near bodies of water is also forbidden without a license. To obtain a license you first need to complete a course where you will be taught the history of Estonia and how to determine if the things you find while metal detecting have any historical value.

I imagine this would be quite hard for a foreigner unless they knew Russian. Few of them are quite forthcoming and allow you to search providing you fill your holes and behave good otherwise.

So basicly in most countries it is illegal and you can end op 8 year in prison for it. So basicly you get a lower prison time when you kill a gold shop owner and steal his gold than a nice walk in nature with your metal detector. Good to know. France — reading about the strict laws and it seems almost totally forbidden. But there is mention of archeological antiquities being specifically forbidden.

WWII artifacts? Is there a distinction or is France just a flat out a no go? TIA from Vet in Phoenix. Actually, it is legal to detect in South Africa. Only heritage sites or historical sites are off-limits. Many people detect in local parks, beaches or on private permissions. It is however required to get permission from the landowner to detect on private land.

If anyone interested or thinking to Come to Turkey and looking for someome loca you all can let me know. Thanks for clearing up how anyone can have a metal detector with zero restrictions. It would give me something else to do besides work and playing video games.

There are some restrictions in the USA. You cannot detect on native lands, national parks, historic landmarks, monuments, bureau of reclamation waterways, railroad lines etc.. Your email address will not be published. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Canary islands Tenerife. Caribbean islands. Comoros islands.

Metal detecting is allowed but requires a license. The use of metal detectors requires special permission. I wonder where things stand with beach hunting in Northern Ireland Norway. Metal detecting is allowed only after getting permission. The use of metal detectors requires permission. South Africa. Metal detecting is permitted only on beaches. Its not allowed in sweden you cant even metal detect on your own land.

Beach search is allowed in some areas on a very limited basis. The find desired by all treasure hunters. NEW Wireless Nokta PulseDive. NEW 2 in 1! Photo, video review, depth test. New fashion among detectorists. Super find with metal detector. Posted in Reviews Tagged diggers' tips. Zeppelin Hitler on July 7, at Brad Fallon on August 10, at Martin on March 11, at Martin Arnold on December 14, at R ff on October 27, at JM on July 21, at Tareq on July 21, at It is certainly illegal to enter Iraq with a metal detector.

Jan-Erik Andersen on February 10, at Patrik w on January 30, at Luis on February 11, at Leonardo Ciocca on February 11, at Laszlo on May 9, at Nick on March 20, at I agree these comments are added stupor as the people that make them. Robert on December 20, at Invece da scrive la tuo versione per chiarire le cose te preferisce insultare ,,, povera Italia.

Alex G. Benjamin Handwerker on June 5, at MattDetector on February 12, at Pat Reuse on February 12, at Martin on March 16, at Hi Tex Can you tell me how it looks like according to law in Belgium? Seilem on May 8, at B Belgii je povoleno hledat? Trevor on February 13, at Simon on May 7, at Dave Rathy on July 19, at Oliver on February 24, at Louis A on February 13, at Richard on February 13, at Metalmaniac on March 3, at Darren Mitry on January 28, at Pat on February 9, at Poland: Search with metal detector requires a permit from WKZ, on beaches are allowed.

OGOZ on September 28, at Qwert on October 14, at Nonamer on July 22, at Poruta on October 30, at As far as I know, it is still legal to use metal detector to search for meteorites in Poland. Mats on August 3, at Nadeem on June 1, at Jp on May 6, at David Dunn on July 30, at George on May 6, at Paul on May 7, at John on July 6, at Paul is talking his usual propagandist, anti-detectorist nonsense. Joe Labancz on January 2, at David Watson on March 5, at David on August 31, at Hz78 on May 7, at Blizz on May 7, at Zsolt dobray on June 11, at JCW on July 21, at Nelson on May 11, at Juan Rouillon on May 8, at Catherine L on August 14, at Claudiu on April 30, at Hi how I can get the license for metal detectors in UK.?

Can you send me more details please. Justin Cornelius on May 8, at The comment on the Bulgarian site is wrong. He is talking about Belarus?? Salvador on May 8, at Florian on October 30, at Xander on May 12, at Chris on May 8, at Arne Hertz on May 8, at And that is the short version Also you cant treat Germany as one country.

Bent Rasmussen on June 15, at Denmark Please update with text from Arne Hertz. Deividas on October 22, at Janno on May 10, at Lembit on March 10, at AK48 on May 19, at Jarno Moleveld on June 27, at Netherlands is over all allowed.

However there are some rules: Allowed list: — You are allowed to search on private property with permission of the owner. Arul on July 11, at Basavaraj on July 13, at I m from India.. Can I find gold at India beaches.

Kris on July 18, at In general yes, but mostly tolerated except for MD diving. Leonardo Caponi on July 24, at Jonny U on October 18, at Omar on October 23, at Wefin on November 4, at Depend on your view.

Meteorites can be exposed in museums too. By law they are treated as natural resources minerals which are all state property. Arne Hertz on December 3, at George Johnston on December 6, at Saulius on December 9, at Ken on October 29, at Mark on December 18, at Is Gran Canaria same as Tenerife as going in 6 days with my detector? Tomas on December 25, at Jari on December 30, at Aureus on January 15, at Alex Cartwright on January 18, at Jim on January 30, at Jim MacKenzie on January 30, at Detecting is also prohibited on the Cape Cod National Seashore.

Greg on February 7, at Richard on May 22, at Thomas Cleary on February 12, at Kalf on March 3, at Cambodia not allowed, but…… Maybe 5 or 10 local Khmer have a detector, incl. Helga Tsai on March 4, at Hans on April 5, at Marat on April 19, at Mattias Hult on April 28, at Does anyone know what the situation is like in the republic of Georgia on this matter?

Pp on June 19, at Blass on July 31, at Where can I find it? Petr on August 26, at AW on August 30, at Montague Flange on September 4, at Ireland is wrong Northern Ireland is same as Wales and England. Use the Crown Property Foreshore map. Fatou on September 18, at B Jones on September 20, at David Wittman on September 21, at What about Nassau Bahamas is it still permitted to metel detect beaches water? Matteo on September 28, at Your statement about real smugglers is pretty true for all Balkan countries.

Claude on October 21, at Michael Miller on October 3, at Conrad Whitaker on October 4, at Ati on October 7, at Jimmy Livefjord on October 27, at Also you may keep coins from later than , everything after that you must give to the state. Taras on November 19, at Espen Solum on November 25, at Woolie on November 30, at Andy Foster on December 16, at Gerry Erdmann on December 30, at Chris topher Bartlett on January 8, at Francois on January 9, at COM did not update this information after a warning one year ago!

John Ehley on January 15, at Numis on February 3, at Gayatri on February 4, at Is it legal of the use of metal detector in India? SirJohn on February 9, at Is metal detecting allowed on St. Thanks for any information. Robby fish on March 3, at Alex on March 8, at Tonis Kannel on April 25, at Sundays are free? Wout on March 28, at Is it allowed to search here?

Anthony on April 22, at Ceol on April 15, at Jim on May 21, at Mark Anderson on June 2, at Thor Wallgren on June 4, at If there is an archaeological site in the area, you will not get the permit.

Ceol murfy on June 14, at Totally illegal to search for artefacts with or without a metal detector in Ireland. Billy on June 23, at Hi Can I metal detect on the beach in lido Di jesolo Italy, thanks. Paddywack on June 23, at NB on October 24, at John Benjamin Kerkhoven on June 25, at Ross Noodles on July 4, at Kiss Bal? Shaunte k poe on July 29, at Can I export or import Metal detector at any Country?

Graham mcleod on August 4, at What is the law in new Zealand with metal detecting. Monika Zavadovics on August 22, at Does somebody knows about the law detecting in Seychelles??? Mark on October 11, at I would like to know the answer to this question too, please. Monika Zavadovics on October 28, at Jerzy on August 22, at Hey Do you have any new information about the metal detector brought to Egypt. Corp on August 23, at Chris Boyd on September 14, at DrTones24k: Metal Detecting Hawaii.

A Travel Treasure Adventure Vlog. Charles on October 8, at Charles on December 26, at I was there, metal detecting is allowed in Madagascar. Mateusz on November 6, at I repeat the question. Can I use a metal detector in Madagascar?

Hi,is it allowed to metal detect in lanzarote and fuerteventura? Jippy on November 20, at Chris Kon on November 19, at Martin on November 22, at Brian on December 1, at Jill on December 2, at Ilkka on December 5, at Rasyidin on December 17, at Pat on December 18, at If I need some papers from the state Denmark where to go for them.

Jaroslaw on January 11, at Lloyd on January 23, at Amjad on January 29, at Apart from 31 coins and some jewellery, almost all of the Leominster hoard remains missing. We have lost the ability to learn more about the period they were from. Nighthawkers tend to offload their illicit gains through specialist dealers or online marketplaces such as eBay or Facebook.

We also closely cooperate with these experts when enforcing our policies. We will remove any listings that do not comply, and take action against the sellers. We are continuing to improve the methods we use to detect and remove posts and listings that involve the illegal sale of historical artefacts.

Powell and Davies are not the only nighthawkers to defraud us of our cultural history. Mark Harrison of Historic England says that because Cox and West kept returning to the scene of the crime, they were caught red-handed. They caught them in the act … when we downloaded their cameras, we found that they had taken pictures of themselves digging the holes.

Wait a minute, I say. They actually photographed themselves committing a crime? Is there a profile of a typical nighthawker? Harrison says not. Other experts agree. But reading through the list of nighthawking cases Harrison has worked on during his career — he helpfully sends it over — a few things stand out. Every case involved a white male, usually middle-aged, working alone or in a pair.

One case even involved a former police officer. What makes someone wave a metal detector in a rainy, pockmarked field for hours on end? The police take nighthawking seriously. But there is a split over the best way to deal with metal detectorists who do not technically break the law, but hang on to items that they should be handing in. In England and Wales, treasure must be reported. But other archeological finds, such as belts, buckles, fragments of Anglo-Saxon pottery, you can keep.

But it is not illegal if you do not. In Scotland and Northern Ireland, however, all archeological finds have to be reported. Not everyone thinks our leniency is a good thing. People are just walking off with objects. Barford is a controversial figure — many in the archeological establishment do not agree with him, at least not publicly. These figures have been disputed.