Print Page - German field prussian find

Since many people are eager to see what is happening on the fields elsewhere here is a nice little goodie to start with.
The Translation reads 3 good penny - A - is minted in Berlin and the reverse is FR with a crown - signature of the Prussian King Friedrich the II. The coin is silver.
(http://img821.imageshack.us/img821/7727/3gutepfen.jpg)

Sometimes exotic things are found in German soil...
Here is link to a series of pictures from north eastern Germany. At times some archaeologists invite some detectorists and the result is fabulous http://www.welt.de/wissenschaft/article9419966/Der-Silberschatz-vom-pommerschen-Acker.html (http://www.welt.de/wissenschaft/article9419966/Der-Silberschatz-vom-pommerschen-Acker.html)
1400 years old Arabian coins in east Germany!

Dear Mike, the rules are different in different districts. In many areas it is forbidden and you'll be fined up to 400€ if you are caught and the police has no mercy. In the vast majority of cases you are just requested to leave the field. Detecting in the forest is forbidden and can cause more harsh reactions.
There is a lot of discussion and tension between the official civil service archaeology representatives and people who like to metaldetect. In some districts the frontiers have softened up and you can be come a volunteer cultural heritage caretaker. You' ve to do several weekend instruction seminars wait a while, assist at excavations and finally get your paper. Now you can go searching on fields. You've to document your finds and if you find something of scientific value it belongs to the state and you get no compensation. In 3 districts Bavaria, Nordrhein Westfalen ad Hessen the state gets nothing (if it is private land) but the find is divided between the owner of the land and the finder.
Very stern are the rules in Baden Wuertenberg. No searching, no digging and tough officials.
The detectorists here are not that organized like in GB. We Germans like to create clubs but if something is forbidden how can you create an official club? Still some sort of clubs exist and recently groups of detectorists have been called to help with archaeological searches. The big bang that has changed the whole public notion of detecting and attention from legal authorities was the find of the famous skydisk of Nebra http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nebra_skydisk (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nebra_skydisk) with a detector and the attempt to illegally sell it. After that the whole community of detectorists was more perceived as robbers selling the finds of cultural history for personal profit. At times this hobby is portrayed in the TV as a forbidden method to substantially boost your monthly income with up to 2000€.
In the long run I think more a more sane attitude will prevail and some sort of detecting permits will be issued.

Thank you Edgar ,

Your information just confirms what i have heard, its a a shame, it is my opinion that all these regulations and rules just restrict the ongoing historical research in your country,

Over here in UK, many amazing artefact's are found by us Detectorists these enhance historical research and help expand the boundaries of knowledge, however we are still frowned upon by archaeologists, who claim we do more damage to their research that good

We too have problems with illegal detectorists, they are called Nighthawkers in the press over here, they raid sites of historical importance at night, and sell their finds for profit.

I hope that things get sorted out in Germany , i would love to detect over there, but without having to worry about being in the wrong.

Cheers Mike

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Metal Detecting Discussions => Metal Detector Finds => Topic started by: Wildboar on September 29, 2010, 10:00:16 PM