what if i found somthing then what?

[jgodfrey1]

Lets say a friend was on a state park in florida and found a few spanish gold coins and dug them up and took them home.How would he sell them

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Minelab PRO-FIND 35 Waterproof Pinpointer Metal Detector for Experts with Tone ID & Adjustable Sensitivity - Grab it through Amazon!

[Jimi D Pirate]

Anything found on Florida's beaches except state and federal parks are 100% yours! It's funny that some items I have found just happened to be outside of their boundaries!

 

[wreckdiver1715]

Jgodfrey1, tell your friend that it is only OK to hunt Florida state park beaches with permission from the park ranger in most cases. National Parks are off limits for treasure hunters. The standard ROE (rules of engagement), in this type of situation is to follow the law.
http://www.flheritage.com/archaeology/underwater/finds/metaldetecting.pdf
Since the Isolated Finds Program has been arbitrarily discontinued in the state of Florida, there is no longer a requirement to report the isolated find. That is unless the coin was found on the beach, and then the law of finds applies. Otherwise, if it is older than 50 years old and found anyplace but the beach the law requires that it be left as it is found. http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes...67/SEC13.HTM&Title=->2001->Ch0267->Section 13
As for selling the coins on EBay! Well, that will always be problematic. The simple truth of the matter is that if the coin is recovered from a legally permitted archaeological site, the coin can be certified by the legal owners/salvager as being from a particular wreck. This can increase the coins value significantly on the open market.
Your friend, on the other hand, may find himself subject to an investigation due to a crackdown on individuals illegally removing items from shipwrecks and get this, selling them on EBay. This will be a judgment call for your friend. If all he has is a detector and a sand scoop, the odds are he will not have a problem. However, if he owns a boat with underwater detecting, and scuba equipment aboard, he may be in for a nasty ride.

 

[tom yerian]

The last resort is make a mold, melt the gold in a crucible, ( it melts very easy), when in molten state,if there is anything floating on top of molten gold, slew it off, put it in mold and let it set. Take to a jewler, and have him certify it to 99.9995% as gold. Now have jewler stamp it as to purity. If asked where you got it, you melted down all the gold rings,watches etc. you collected over the years. they can't prove different,or you can just keep it, make a necklace out of it.You can always sell your gold to a jewler, a dentist.....got the picture? Now isn't that a bunch of s--- to go through, because you found some gold artifacts? the "Big Brother" society that is slowly taking hold in this country, has actually made you a criminal.Find out who your state and Federal reps are,find out where they stand on the issues of treasure, artifacts ect. If they are against your rights to keep what you find and, then tell them you will no longer support them, and you will advise all who you know, to following your lead!....Capt. Tom

 

[cptbil]

DO NOT MELT THE COINS DOWN!
You'll DESTORY the value!
I know of some silver coins, that are worth $1500 - $2000 each!
Melted down, you'd get about $5.00 each !
There are buyers, &, I have one! , who'll pay a good & fair price for gold and silver, coins/artifacts, etc. and they leave paying the sales tax up to you!
If You Know what I mean?

 

[wreckdiver1715]

I must strongly agree with cptbil on this issue. Even if the coin is just a beach find with no identifiable history directly related to the coin. It is still a coin with a history. A shipwreck coin will still be worth more than whatever it is after you melt it down.
If you must sell the coin, donate the money to a candidate that supports the rights of individual treasure hunters to hunt our own waters, over that UN den of thieves, and all of there co-conspirators, foreign and domestic.

Q