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Iceland the laws regarding metal detection finds

Siggi Palma

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Joined
Mar 11, 2009
Messages
1,882
Location
Iceland
Hey everyone, :D

as some of you knows I am looking into getting a metal detector.

There is no metal detecting club in Iceland. So I decided to look up the National heritage act. As well as customs law.

The customs is fine I can import MD to Iceland

the National heritage act took me some time to read but this is the basics of it.

1st
I can not use a MD with a sole purpose finding national treasure.

2nd
National heritage pieces are considered 100 years of age or older.

3rd
If I find something I can not take it I have to notify the government. If I think the item might be destroyed I can take it but other wise I have to leave it for the Icelandic Museum.

4th
But if I find something of value. Gold or silver items “coins or artefacts" I get compensation and expenses of finding the object. The government decides the value based on the marked value of gold or silver and I get 1/10th of the price. Half of 1/10 goes to the finder the other half to the owner of the land.

How are these laws compared to your country?

Brgds
Siggi Palma:)

Ps what I can gather from reading the museum act it seems that they dont like poeple to use MD :) But its not against the law to use one
 
With certain exceptions, those limitations don't apply across the US.

From listening to our UK members, that seems to be the norm in Europe too. Perhaps some of our EU members will give some more details.
 
Wow... that is really strict.... I find it amazing, if you find it with an MD, you get almost nothing... and if no one finds it, it stays buried and no one gets anything... must be that 'political logic' I keep hearing about... RickO
 
Well what I have gathered so far these laws have not been tested here in Iceland as no one seems to be activly using MD. Well at least using them right. I would off course go by the rules but what I find strange is the ammount they pay you. Let´s say someone would find a rare coin with a huge market value the person would only get 1/10 of the value of the metal.

But I doint think I would ever have to go trough that I would just be happy to be able to find anything and to be out in the nature here in Iceland :)
 
It does seem that the laws are a bit strict. But think of it this way, if you find an artifact that they put in a museum, it would be kind of cool to be able to say that you are the one who unearthed it! Good luck with everything. :)
 
Thanks miss liz I would never do anything to break the rules and off course it would be a honour to have something you find in a museum. I would think that way. Just curious what other countrys law :)
 
Cool to hear it's not "forbidden" by law.
I really hope to visit Iceland soon to visit living cousins and experience the land of my ancestors.
I'd also love to bring my detector along if I could!
Any updates on what you've found or experienced since this post was made so long ago?
Takk fyrir!
 
Re.: This Iceland "national heritage act" (in-so-far as it applies to detectors) :

I'll bet that if you trace it back enough, to whenever it started to mention detectors by name, specifically (or to be APPLIED to metal detectors, specifically), I'll bet that it originated by sincere well-meaning md'rs going in and asking "Can I?" questions.

Ie.: I'll bet that this was was a giant country-wide case of "no one cared till you asked".

And I had to chuckle at the conclusion that, of course, it's not against the law. But gee, ya can't find anything older than 100 yrs old. blah blah. (how's your math skills ? :?: ) Gee, sounds like the type of answers you'd get if you swatted enough hornet's nests asking questions here in the USA too. :roll:
 
Tom's right. It won't be up to the finder to determine the age of a found item. The government will have to determine that, in order for it to be "official". This implies that every piece found is to be turned in, in order to determine it's age, and therefore, value.

Obviously, dated pieces would be exempt, to the point of the 100 year age.

Sigga; In your third point, you say "if you find something, you can not take it". Does your laws say what, exactly, this applies to? Does it apply only to a national treasure or heritage piece? Does it apply to everything that you might find? Those are questions that need to be considered in your situation. A government official might think it applies to everything that you find, but a court might determine it applies only to something above a certain monetary value. Until then, you're stuck in the middle of a legal battle that will cost you.

And in your fourth point, it appears that the finder only gets 5% of value, and the landowner gets the other 5%, but in no case does it exceed 10% of government-determined value.

I wouldn't really trust any government to be honest with it's citizens.

Just my opinion.....Roger
 
Tom's right. It won't be up to the finder to determine the age of a found item. The government will have to determine that,....


If I were in Iceland, and found something, *I* would be the one making those determinations. Because : I don't like to be a bother on busy govt. official's busy schedules. :roll:


...., you say "if you find something, you can not take it". ....

Roger, do you think that identical laws/rules don't exist here in the USA ? Think again :roll: They are known as laws that forbid "harvest and remove" (aka "steal"). And boiler plate obligatory language, to that effect, exists on EVERY SPECK OF PUBLIC LAND EVERYWHERE here in the entire USA.

The laws were so that no numbskull thinks he can take home the park benches. Or start commercially exporting the beach sand or park turf. Could such language be applied to metal detecting ? (we "take" things after all) SURE ! :roll: Just show up at enough pencil pusher's desks asking "can I remove & take things from the park (or forest or beach, etc...) please ?". :roll: Then publish these findings on an md'rs compendium , that seems to spell "dire laws" for the USA too. That's how I bet Iceland started, and got to wonderful answers like the OP got here.

So don't think that this is something that is just for Iceland and any other place that can show some wording like that.
 
I always find these “permission” and “report finds” threads both interesting and amusing.
So go find stuff and then bring your best finds to some museum or municipal authority and ask them if you can keep it . Sounds like you can’t go wrong with that approach 🤔
 
....
So go find stuff and then bring your best finds to some museum or municipal authority and ask them if you can keep it .....

Here's a test for you to do Gaspipe : Take a valuable coin (like a 1916 D merc, or a 1909 s VDB cent) and walk in to ANY city hall in the ENTIRE USA. Approach the front desk of the park's dept. and say :

"Hi, I found this in *your* park. It's worth $500. Does this fall afoul of the 'harvest & remove' verbiage ? Does it fall afoul of cultural heritage issues ? Does it belong in the city museum ? Or : Can I keep it to sell on Ebay for my own personal profit ? "


What do you think their answer would be in each of these cases ? :roll:

As you can see : We too could find the same answers as Iceland got, if we tried hard enough. And asked the right people, and then rushed to put the answers on circulated compendiums. And then we too could sit around and gripe about our lack of freedoms, eh ?
 
Here's a test for you to do Gaspipe : Take a valuable coin (like a 1916 D merc, or a 1909 s VDB cent) and walk in to ANY city hall in the ENTIRE USA. Approach the front desk of the park's dept. and say :

"Hi, I found this in *your* park. It's worth $500. Does this fall afoul of the 'harvest & remove' verbiage ? Does it fall afoul of cultural heritage issues ? Does it belong in the city museum ? Or : Can I keep it to sell on Ebay for my own personal profit ? "


What do you think their answer would be in each of these cases ? :roll:

As you can see : We too could find the same answers as Iceland got, if we tried hard enough. And asked the right people, and then rushed to put the answers on circulated compendiums. And then we too could sit around and gripe about our lack of freedoms, eh ?
I assume your question to me is rhetorical?
 
Here's a test for you to do Gaspipe : Take a valuable coin (like a 1916 D merc, or a 1909 s VDB cent) and walk in to ANY city hall in the ENTIRE USA. Approach the front desk of the park's dept. and say :

"Hi, I found this in *your* park. It's worth $500. Does this fall afoul of the 'harvest & remove' verbiage ? Does it fall afoul of cultural heritage issues ? Does it belong in the city museum ? Or : Can I keep it to sell on Ebay for my own personal profit ? "


What do you think their answer would be in each of these cases ? :roll:

As you can see : We too could find the same answers as Iceland got, if we tried hard enough. And asked the right people, and then rushed to put the answers on circulated compendiums. And then we too could sit around and gripe about our lack of freedoms, eh ?

Listen Tom ; I realize what your saying and I guess we’re on about the same page . But in case there is any question ; let me state my position clearly. I do not care if you are in Iceland or hunting in some state forest for cellars my position is the same .
If I live in country where my taxes go too waste every day and people who are here illegally are on the line to get massive tax payer funded payouts I sure as hell am not gonna feel guilty about metal detecting on tax payer owned public land . And before I get shouted down I always get permission before going in private property.
So if I find my bucket list Capped Bust large cent it will sure as hell not end up in some state coffers nor will it end up on EBay; I will treasure it all by my lonesome .
 
.... I sure as hell am not gonna feel guilty about metal detecting on tax payer owned public land . ....

Agreed. If a tree falls in the woods, and no one was there to hear it fall, then .... did it fall ?

Thus: The seated dime in the middle of the forest or desert is the same concept. Eh ? :roll:

....
So if I find my bucket list Capped Bust large cent it will sure as hell not end up in some state coffers nor will it end up on EBay; I will treasure it all by my lonesome .

And actually : The private sector has done just as much, if-not-more, than the govt. sector, of studying, documenting, and showing our collective historical past.

For example : When archies go to identify a bottle, or a button, or a buckle, etc.... whose works do they go to for reference ? Yup, you guessed it: The private sector hobbyist digger artifact hunter's reference books. :roll: So if anything : You and I should be given a medal, eh ? :friends:
 
Agreed. If a tree falls in the woods, and no one was there to hear it fall, then .... did it fall ?

Thus: The seated dime in the middle of the forest or desert is the same concept. Eh ? :roll:



And actually : The private sector has done just as much, if-not-more, than the govt. sector, of studying, documenting, and showing our collective historical past.

For example : When archies go to identify a bottle, or a button, or a buckle, etc.... whose works do they go to for reference ? Yup, you guessed it: The private sector hobbyist digger artifact hunter's reference books. :roll: So if anything : You and I should be given a medal, eh ? :friends:
We gotta get you here to New England so you can set your sights higher than seated dimes ! Bust half dimes OK but Seated dimes ?😁
 
Hey everyone, :D

as some of you knows I am looking into getting a metal detector.

There is no metal detecting club in Iceland. So I decided to look up the National heritage act. As well as customs law.

The customs is fine I can import MD to Iceland

the National heritage act took me some time to read but this is the basics of it.

1st
I can not use a MD with a sole purpose finding national treasure.

2nd
National heritage pieces are considered 100 years of age or older.

3rd
If I find something I can not take it I have to notify the government. If I think the item might be destroyed I can take it but other wise I have to leave it for the Icelandic Museum.

4th
But if I find something of value. Gold or silver items “coins or artefacts" I get compensation and expenses of finding the object. The government decides the value based on the marked value of gold or silver and I get 1/10th of the price. Half of 1/10 goes to the finder the other half to the owner of the land.

How are these laws compared to your country?

Brgds
Siggi Palma:)

Ps what I can gather from reading the museum act it seems that they dont like poeple to use MD :) But its not against the law to use one
My wife and I are headed to Iceland next summer for a bike race (The Rift). You saying that I shouldn't bother bringing my detector with me? :)
 
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