Here is a case of gold coins found doing some construction work: http://www.kitco.com/news/2014-12-0...an-600-Ancient-Coins-After-Investigation.html Would it have been wrong had these workers gotten away with their find?
I think that if noone comes forward with compelling evidence of ownership, then title should transfer to the finders, and not to the government. It may seem wrong to give the coins to laborers who did not previously own them, especially since they discovered the coins accidentally. However, it is far worse to remove the incentive for private parties to explore and recover, while the government sits idly by, awaiting discoveries, and opportunities to grab windfalls without the least bit of effort or investment.
It is a little unclear whether the guy who paid the ditch diggers to follow his directions building the toilet was the property owner. If so, would he not have a right to whatever was dug up on his property?
In India, any antiquities over 100 years old which come out of the ground are the property of the state. This situation happens all the time over there.
"It is a little unclear whether the guy who paid the ditch diggers to follow his directions building the toilet was the property owner. If so, would he not have a right to whatever was dug up on his property?" If India follows the old common law doctrine that the land owner owns all contained within the land down to the center of the earth, then they would automatically be his. But Indian law is a mish-mash of British common and civil law and any new additions that the Indian government has added, as well as tribal law in some areas, and regulatory rules (can't forget them!). Dealing with any legal wranglings over there is maddening and can take literally decades.
The problem with making a discovery like the buried treasure here was how were the ditch diggers going to liquidate? Get the coins out of Indian jurisdiction then sell them? Melt them and then sell to a gold buyer? Sell at an outdoor flea market saying that they were selling for a good rich friend or their grandfather's inherited collection?
The pols will/have always "skimmed" off any and all discovered wealth from public coffers in a short time so let it be a lesson to all,tell NO ONE and hide it yourself in a new safer spot....
