tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30969459.post8080920481086846215..comments2023-10-05T05:39:34.163-04:00Comments on The Drawn Cutlass: Spain Arrests Treasure HuntersBobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11402651457453813639noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30969459.post-45968272001408951172008-04-12T11:11:00.000-04:002008-04-12T11:11:00.000-04:00Our system does encourage looting, though, and the...Our system does encourage looting, though, and the attendant loss of important archeological knowledge. I'm not enough of a property rights absolutist to disparage the way they handle it. I think it's a pretty elegant arrangement, in fact, and it has kept relations between detectorists and archeologist (mostly) pretty good. The government doesn't always want to buy the stuff anyway; just important finds.<BR/><BR/>It is *so* much less of an issue for us in the US, though. And, come to think of it, are we all that absolute? You couldn't dig up old graves for artifacts, even if they were on your property.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30969459.post-55075386167688783162008-04-12T09:44:00.000-04:002008-04-12T09:44:00.000-04:00s. weasel: Britain's laws on the topic are pretty ...<I>s. weasel: Britain's laws on the topic are pretty good: if you find something that counts as treasure (for example, gold), you have to offer it to the government. If they want it, though, they have to pay fair market value.</I><BR/><BR/>I think that the law even extends to treasure found on your own private property, too, which goes against US notions of property rights, which favors the "finders keepers" principle. The Scandinavian countries seem to have similar laws to Britain's, I read often of Viking hordes being turned over to the State.<BR/><BR/>Being from the US, I favor our system. :)Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11402651457453813639noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30969459.post-46960072675516607032008-04-12T09:29:00.000-04:002008-04-12T09:29:00.000-04:00Depends on the beach, at least in Britain. In some...Depends on the beach, at least in Britain. In some places, yes. They occasionally pop someone going through Customs with a vacation's worth of pretty ordinary loot.<BR/><BR/>Britain's laws on the topic are pretty good: if you find something that counts as treasure (for example, gold), you have to offer it to the government. If they want it, though, they have to pay fair market value.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com