Interesting... French customs seize 'priceless haul' of Roman coins and artefacts man claimed he 'found in garden' https://www.yahoo.com/news/french-customs-seize-priceless-haul-142002996.html The Telegraph
Very interesting! I always go straight to the pictures then read the story. Here some are to wet the appetite: A Roman dodecahedron. Which they state in the article that there are only 100 known
European metal detectorists: "Look at my coins that I found on my private property!" European governments: "You mean Our property?"
But he didn't find it on his own property, did he? That's what he pretended, but he was apparently lying. That's kind of the point. What makes you think he had permission of the landowners to dig? Or that he wasn't digging on public property? Can we please not make dubious comparisons to Stalin when someone gets caught stealing?
If France doesn’t have a Treasure Trove law, I’m not exactly sure how they can prove he found these artifacts on either private property or Government lands. Maybe other members can clarify. Sacre bleau, J.T.
I don't think that 'responsible government' is reducible to Stalinism. Having lived with irresponsible government in my own country, sporadically but relentlessly, over the last four decades, it makes sense that people wouldn't know the difference. From here, the bottom line is merely this: Would you rather have your society owned and operated by mercantile interests, or would you rather have regulations in place about which you have even the slightest chance of influencing by your vote? Because, everywhere I ever worked in the private sector, they Told you --however implicitly: Your Vote Doesn't Matter. Full (alliterative expletive of choice: ) Stop. It's more like, if you have this level of cultural heritage in the first place (some of it in the ground), it shouldn't be reducible to a commercial commodity.
I was able to find this article, which claims it's illegal to detect anything in France, and that finders will have the objects confiscated and are handed a 1500-7500 Euro fine. The only times someone is compensated or allowed to keep the find, is if the find was accidental, such as a farmer stumbling upon a hoard while plowing his field. However, since detecting is a deliberate activity that doesn't apply and the objects go to the landowner in their entirety, or to the state if on public land. (2.2.1 & 2.2.2) In Belgium I presume the law is similar, but since he owned the orchard he could claim to have accidentally found it and therefore been compensated. I can't really blame him for trying his luck in Belgium, but I do feel the legislation is atrocious and at least partially to blame.
He cannot claim that he accidentally found the coins, that he had stumbled across half of them in his back garden during a clean-up. They investigated, and the article says: "However, upon inspection of the ground, she concluded it was “impossible” that this was a Roman site given the “context”. and "She alerted French customs, which later confirmed that the coins had actually been collected during "the looting of various sites in France” – mainly in the eastern Grand Est region."
@cmezner, thank you for reemphasizing that in this instance, deliberate deception appears to have been involved. If true, that in itself would propel this from the level of legal theory and practice to something on a more mundane, criminal level.
If French law dictates that every coin you find belongs to the "State", that is draconian and wrong. They should follow the British example/ where it is shared between landowner and finder/ and that "state" can make a generous offer to both parties. Its only when the "State" becomes a bully that finders will keep their "finds" secret.
I have to agree; from a distance, British policies, amorphous as they are (...from a country without a written constitution), are much more balanced between all interests involved. ...And that the French level of micromanagement can lead to this sort of thing. But then, as has recently been pointed out here, there are criminal elements among UK detectors as well. ...Meh, what do I know?
You probably know way more about coins, then some pencil pushing govt. beauracrat. These "control freaks" want to stop all private ownership of historical artifacts. This happened to my former hobby (butterfly/moth/ beetle) collecting. Countries like the USA thru the Lacy Act, began enforcing CITES rules/ soon foreign Countries restricted collecting. Now, the hobby has gone "underground". John
WOW! I would not have guessed that the laws in France and others in Western Europe would be so strict. Makes jolly old England seem positively liberal. Now I understand why Monty Python was so “mean” to the French in their skits...e.g. ” I fart in your direction, English dawg” J.T.
