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Comment by JTbane | Hacker News Reader

Yeah that law is ridiculous. What happens if you are a metal-detecting enthusiast looking for valuables and you stumble upon something archaeological? Are you just gonna get fined?

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I guess that in the same way guns aren't really a hobby in Ireland, neither is metal detecting.

Shooting is more popular than you would think in Ireland, but people tend to keep quiet about it.

In my experience, nearly all metal-detecting enthusiasts hope to find valuable antiques, not modern iron scrap. Alright, some of them hope to find lost jewelry, but also valuable antiques. None of the ones I've known are prospecting for boring metal veins, for example.

There is a bit of a line to be drawn between 'valuable antiques' and things that are 'archeological' though. Lots of people are happy to find bullets and belt buckles from 100 years ago vs specifically looking for iron age artifacts.

>metal-detecting enthusiast looking for valuables and you stumble upon something archaeological?

Most things of value are going to be archeological. If you want gold you do panning.

Sure, in Ireland. In other counties people use metal detectors as well. Recent example:

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/amateur-treasure-h...

An old cache of coins or jewelry is unlikely to be in a stream.

>An old cache of coins or jewelry is unlikely to be in a stream.

And would likely be considered important archeologically.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tara_Brooch

Panning isn’t done for the archeology. It’s done for the gold.

Just wait til you hear about the rules for gold prospecting in Ireland.

TL;DR finds of over 2 grams have to be given to the state (you might get it back).

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