Hello Everyone, thanks to pepperj for redirecting me to this thread.
I hope I can answer some questions on metal detecting in Romania.
I am a German citizen.
I study medicine in Romania since October of 2017.
I have an authorization to metal detect here. (just got it 2 weeks ago)
So how did I get it and what are the rules?
I joined a facebook group and looked at some web pages and finally collected all the necessary info on the topic.
As a foreigner it is possible to get an authorization if you have a residency number called CNP number. It is like a social security number here. If you are a Romanian citizen it's not a problem anyways, but for foreigners we need to show we are at least legal residents here. (Students, for work, family visa, etc..)
When you get your CNP number for one of the above reasons, you have to do the following.
1. Go to the main police station in your city and speak to the Cultural heritage officer (Patrimony officer), he is in charge of issuing the authorizations. Explain the situation. He will tell you exactly what paperwork you need but usually it will go as follows:
2. Bring your detector to Romania AFTER you spoke to the patrimony officer. Be sure to have an invoice of when you bought the detector if you bought it in Romania.
3. If you bought your detector abroad (like me) or second hand, go to a notary and make a legal statement that you bought your detector abroad and that you are tho owner of a model XYZ detector with serial number 1234456...etc
4. Go to the police treasury and pay a fee of like 2USD.
5. Make a copy of your ID
6. Within 30 days of bringing the machine into the country or buying it in Romania, bring all that stuff with your detector back to the police officer and you will sign a declaration in front of him. he will check the serial number of your detector and then issue an authorization some days later.
Do's and Don'ts
It is important to know a detector is like a gun here. Every new machine you buy needs a new authorization. So the authorization is for the machine, not the person alone.
-Once you have an authorization, you are allowed to search anywhere in Romania, BUT not on known archeological areas or anywhere within a radius of about 500meters to 1km around that area, depending on the site.
-You can search anywhere on state-owned land like forests, meadows, etc.
-If you want to search on a private property you need the land owner's permission, after that you are good.
-Anything older than 100 years must be inspected by a museum and you will most likely have to give it up but you will be reimbursed a 40% cash reward on the appraised amount of the value of whatever you hand over to a museum.
- I strongly recommend hunting with others and carrying your authorization along if you do not speak the language fluently (I don't so I carry a copy)
If anyone is in Romania and wants to hunt together, I would be super happy to join them or let them join me.
Just pop a message for any further doubts!
Thank You very much in shedding light on this often dark topic.
