Water Detecting in Italy

[UK Brian]

Thats why you need to find out the rules before you start detecting. A few countries don't worry about finds unless they are pre 1600. Many set the line at 1700. Others say no detecting for antiquities but you can search for modern losses, I think its fifty or sixty years old in Italy. If you find something older its your good luck but the difficulty comes when lots of older items turn up. If you found a Roman site there could be a few hundred coins/artifacts surrounding it. You should at this point stop (which is very hard to do) and report to the local authorities.
In the U.K. if you dig down to a large signal and find its a pot briming with coins then they don't want you to continue in case of damage to the hoard container. You should be credited with the finding of all those coins even though you haven't actually recovered them.

If you comply with the law you rarely lose out because even if they are not operating a Treasure Trove system there are discretionary payments that will be made to encourage people to declare their finds. Don't comply and a million dollar find would just be confiscated.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Brian, you say:

"Thats why you need to find out the rules before you start detecting."

What do you do then, the countries whose laws are nebulous or vague? Like, take the case of Switzerland on that link (just as an example, don't get lost in the example).

What you're saying makes sense (I mean, who can argue with "asking", eh?). But it's what results, that makes me wonder. There have been people who .... in "trying to do things right" ask multiple bureaucrats, travel consulates, cops standing on street corners, or whomever else they think has authority. The person they ask might look at something nebulous like this, and say "no". Then the dejected md'r tucks his tail between his legs, and leaves the detector at home. Then he gets to his tourist beach destination, and sees other md'rs out there, having no problems whatsoever. Or he opens up his internet one day, and sees posts from persons in that country, apparently having no problems whatsoever. Even with dealers and clubs in those countries.

This is what I'd be afraid of, is getting arbitrary "no's", when in fact, no one really cares. Or if they get enough people inquiring, perhaps they'll simply clarify, and make laws, to "address this pressing issue", clarifying, outlawing, and simply starting to take notice of things, that perhaps never occured to them (ie.: laws written 100 yrs. ago to protect cathedrals and pyramaids, and you make yourself a target for them to apply those things to).

I've seen this psychology on small scales (cities and states here in the USA, the "no one cares till you ask" psychology), and just wonder if it doesn't also happen on national scales too.

 

[jenkiel]

What kind of bullshit is this Ivan !!!! Welcome to Norway Americans No problem for you to MD here... Norwegians like you.

Just follow the rules.

Have a nice day. Jens.

 

[UK Brian]

When Yugoslavia was Yugoslavia pre the civil war and still strictly communist, if you contacted their Embassy they would give you a firm no regarding detecting. The attitude in the country itself was very different which you started to realise from the moment you flew in to the airfield shared with the military with a line of rather dented looking Migs lined up along the runway. Strictly no photos you were informed....at which point everyone got their camera's out and started taking snaps.
Ask re detecting (and give a demonstration as few had seen a detector) and someone would have a word with the local authorities or a landowner (its not all state farms as you might think) and set you up with sites for the rest of your holiday. A few jars of real coffee which they didn't seem to be able to get hold of, really greased the wheels.

I would take a detector anywhere in Europe on the assumption that you will be able to detect as most places allow them to be used subject to the local rules which are always get the permission off a landowner or if its a beach see if there is a curfew in which case stick to detecting before the holiday makers decend and come back after they leave in the evening. The bloke who had his brand new Excaliber confiscated at the start of the year arrived at the resort and saw several people detecting when he got up in the morning but had breakfast before heading back out. He should have twigged something was wrong by the fact they had all packed up and left. Even then its not the end of the world because if you can crawl well you are still likely to be let off with a warning as the police have better things to do than start filling in forms.
Come to Britain and the fact that you can read all the keep off signs (nature reserve/SSSI's.Ministry of Defence etc) keeps you safe on the beaches but we now have a permit system being introduced (one for each beach !). The idea is that a ten pound ($15) fee would be paid to the local council and that would cover you for the year. As it is, we are supposed to have the permit now but its free and until they start charging the local authorities haven't got the funds to police the rules. So some get the permits but most don't bother. I've 18 beaches nearby I work regularly but also do runs in the camper along whole stretches of coast checking for sand movement. When the charges get imposed its going to make life really difficult.

 

[Serpent]

Yo! I'm in Italy. I went out just once in the past two years... Too much work... Up on a hill in the woods, I found a Gander watch. I usually checked out beaches and countryside. Found a gold ring the first time out, then all the rest, just pocket change and a worn silver Austrian coin from around 1850. The very last time I hit the usual beach, after the bathing season was over, I found the sand dug up as if it was hit by a meteor shower... Holes all over the place... At least I covered up all the holes I dug up... sheesh...
You can find Italian Lira and rusty Euro coins, lots of tin cans and tin foil, some cheap chinese toy cars, lawn chair rings, and those beautiful aluminum pull-tabs... Grrrr....
Tinfoil is the easiest thing to discover before digging it out.
Fabio

Thanks for your reply, Fabio!
Good to know that in principle detecting is possible here... Do you usually ask for permission to search the beach? As far as I know, most of Italian beaches are private, but I'm not sure that custodians are present there after the end of bathing season.

 

[Serpent]

In general, it seems that detectorists' life in Europe is getting more and more difficult.
Now I just wonder if there is any country in Europe with no restrictions for detecting, at least on beach...

 

[Serpent]

I just posted this picture today to the Fisher classic site. Finding lots in 5 hours over 4 days in the Ticino part of Switzerland. Had a few folks come up to me, and they were friendly. Averaging about $16.00 an hour in coins, and found a small 18 kt ring. Looks like I was the first one there after the beach closed for the season, but also dug a lot deep. These are the coins that I needed to tumble to clean up, there were several more including Euros.

Nice finds, Silverboy!
Just a curiosity - do people really swim in Swiss lakes? I was sure it's too cold... Are there any good beaches, e.g. sandy ones?

 

[Tom_in_CA]

I'm just curious: whether the beaches are private or public there, I'm assuming the public can come and go from them, right? I mean, do people need to ask permission to go to them? And once there, do they need to ask permission to do any particular thing they want to do? (ie.: fly a frisbee, dig a sand-castle, skip stones on the water, etc...). If not, and if detecting (for modern coins let's say) is not against the law, then why would they need to "ask permission"? For example, if they didn't have to ask permission to fly a frisbee (since I would assume that's not forbidden by law), they why is detecting treated differently in our mindset? To "ask" merely pre-assumes something is inherently evil, damaging, or illegal (lest why would you have thought you needed to ask permission?)

 

[krokdundee]

Hi All
We never had any problems detecting the Italian beaches.
The authority's told us, when the summer is over, you can detect all Italian beaches.
We were there with 4 guy's for a week, we dit, Pescara, Pineto, Roseto degli Abruzzi, Giulianova, Alba Adriatica, Martinsicuro, San Bernadeeo del Tronto and a couple more.
6 detector frinds off mine hit Rimini and suroundings a month ago, no problems at all.
Regarts from Holland
Gerrit