Ancient Pot of Gold

Debi

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Medieval 'pot o' gold' discovered by construction workers

Just in time for Saint Patrick’s Day — two construction workers in Holland have discovered a real-life “pot o’ gold.”

The workers from water company Oasen made the stunning find when they were laying pipes in the new town of Hoef and Haag, in the province of Utrecht, LiveScience reports.

During the construction work, they dug up a medieval cooking pot that contained 12 gold and 462 silver coins. The coins have been dated to the 15th century. It's unclear at this point who will keep the coins.

After finding the pot, "it literally and figuratively rained coins," the company explained in a press release translated via Google Translate.

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I hope the finders get to keep them
 
I hope the finders get to keep them
I think after something that old is uncovered, they make you turn it in to some museum. But they probably got compensated pretty well.
 
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Stuff like that belong in a museum or somewhere where it can be preserved and viewed by the public. A finder's fee is in order.
 
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I have no idea what Holland's antiquities laws are, but finds like these are always controversial. Do the finders get to keep it? Does it belong to the state? Since it was found while the finders were working for a company, is it the construction company's property now? It is also entirely different if the company is just working, or if they are actively searching for antiques. Treasure hunters have always been at odds with the government. They definitely need to incentivise the finds, or people will never come forward in the first place. Professional treasure hunters spend millions of dollars researching and searching for lost treasure, do they deserve all of it or just some of it?

My overall opinion is, in order to keep people coming forward with these finds, is to provide some structure of reward money. Some of it is already governed by law, such as treasure found out in international waters. I agree with Critter, that the treasures belong in a museum for ALL to see and enjoy, not a private collector's safe, locked away forever.
 
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I have no idea what Holland's antiquities laws are, but finds like these are always controversial. Do the finders get to keep it? Does it belong to the state? Since it was found while the finders were working for a company, is it the construction company's property now? It is also entirely different if the company is just working, or if they are actively searching for antiques. Treasure hunters have always been at odds with the government. They definitely need to incentivise the finds, or people will never come forward in the first place. Professional treasure hunters spend millions of dollars researching and searching for lost treasure, do they deserve all of it or just some of it?

My overall opinion is, in order to keep people coming forward with these finds, is to provide some structure of reward money. Some of it is already governed by law, such as treasure found out in international waters. I agree with Critter, that the treasures belong in a museum for ALL to see and enjoy, not a private collector's safe, locked away forever.
I agree. But often the guy that spent his life and savings on hunting gets robbed of any reward by the governments. It’s sad. They deserve compensation.
 
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I agree. But often the guy that spent his life and savings on hunting gets robbed of any reward by the governments. It’s sad. They deserve compensation.
I agree. I figure most of the time if someone is searching for a particular treasure, they know up from what they will be entitled to. It's the un-planned discoveries that you may have ownership disputes on, and also sometimes governments just step in and claim it. Then, what if you have a Roman hoard found in England for example. Does it "belong" in a British museum or an Italian museum? Same with shipwrecks - does the treasure belong to the country in whose water the ship was found, or the country the ship is registered to? How old does it have to be to be declared "up for grabs"?
 
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I agree. I figure most of the time if someone is searching for a particular treasure, they know up from what they will be entitled to. It's the un-planned discoveries that you may have ownership disputes on, and also sometimes governments just step in and claim it. Then, what if you have a Roman hoard found in England for example. Does it "belong" in a British museum or an Italian museum? Same with shipwrecks - does the treasure belong to the country in whose water the ship was found, or the country the ship is registered to? How old does it have to be to be declared "up for grabs"?
I don’t lnow how they figure it out. I bet a lot just gets spirited away quietly.