Eight Easy Steps to locate a Coin Cache! Victorian Parish Maps!
Ever wanted to find that elusive cache of coins in your local area?
Thanks to one of the members on the forum, this simple eight step guide to getting closer can help you.
Andrew is an experienced member with "...31 years of collecting Antique Bottles and chasing "treasure" with Metal Detectors..." up his sleeve so you can believe that the tips he gives out are valuable and useful.
In this instalment, Andrew covers the use of Victorian Parish Maps to help you locate that lost cache that has long remained buried. Come and have a read, follow the guide, then grab your metal detector and head for that old race track or school in your area that everyone totally forgot ever existed.
Thanks again Andrew.
So why does this page not get updated?
There is a very simple answer to this.This is not where all the action takes place.
The idea of this landing page was to ensure that relevant information is available on the landing page of the site and that all other information and activity takes place in the forum. Once you have come here then you can always bookmark the forum landing page and never have to return here unless one of the administrators posts something in the forum advising people of something interesting that may have changed on the site's homepage.
Remember, this is a site where, at first glance, you get the information you may be after and then if your interest has been stirred, come and join the rest of us where the real activity about Metal Detecting and Relic Hunting takes place.... In the forum.
Registering in the forum
Due to some automated bots registering in the forum, I have had to increase the difficulty in reading the registration code you need to enter. I am sorry that it has come to this, however, it is better that I weed out these fakes now rather than later. To ensure that you are not mistakenly taken as a bot and your account deleted, please post at least one message in the forum after you have registered even if it is just to introduce yourself as that will avoid the situation.
In other news, well sorry to say there is not that much as the lead up to Christmas is keeping me very busy and I have had little time to do the things I would like to. I know there are several members who are in the same situation there so I know I am not alone when I say "I'll be glad when Christmas is over".
Fossicking in New South Wales
The following is an extract from the NSW DPI web site:
Since August 1992 when the Mining Act 1992 commenced, fossicking licences have not been required for fossicking in New South Wales. Under the terms of this Act, fossicking may now be carried out anywhere in the state providing the following conditions are met:
* No other Act or law applies which would prevent it;
* The landholder's consent is obtained;
* The consent of any public or local authority having the management, control or trusteeship of the land is obtained; and
* The titleholder's consent is also obtained, where the location is covered by a current title under the Mining Act 1992 (www.legislation.nsw.gov.au). (This title may be an exploration licence, assessment lease, mining lease, mineral claim or Opal Prospecting Licence).
Prospecting or Fossicking vs. Relic Hunting (final installment)
What is covered by Heritage Victoria?
Are you ready for some long reading?
I was very impressed with the time and effort put into the reply from Heritage Victoria.
Q. Do I require any sort of special permit to perform metal detecting for coins and relics?
- Some aspects of the Heritage Act 1995 may be relevant to your metal detecting activities, particularly the sections that relate to the protection of historic archaeological places (Aboriginal archaeological places are protected under different legislation). The Heritage Act differentiates between objects/relics that are exposed on the surface of the land, and those that are buried.
- You may collect objects that are exposed on the surface of the ground, but you must obtain the approval of the land owner before metal detecting and again when an object is found(who in most cases is the legal owner of the object) - see section 128 of the Act
- For a place to be considered an archaeological object it must be more than 50 years old - this includes coins, ceramics, bottles.
Q. Are pre-decimal coins considered as historical artefacts?
- Any pre-decimal coins (or other objects) dated from 1958 are not covered under the Act and heritage regulations do not apply.
Q. I understand I must seek owners permission to metal detect on private land, but what if Heritage Victoria has an interest in this land?
- If you are digging to investigate a detector reading and found yourself exposing any archaeological material, you must stop digging, backfill the hole and let us know of the site/objects as soon as possible.
Q. How can I determine if the area I want to do some metal detecting in is prohibited by Heritage Victoria?
- In terms of finding object under the surface of the ground, the Heritage Act states that it is an offence to disturb an historical archaeological site (section 127). You should not do any digging or other disturbance work in an area that may be considered as an archaeological site. Obviously, in some cases it may be difficult to know when you are in the vicinity of a site, but some usual pointers include the presence of deteriorated or ruinous building remains, scatters of visible ceramic, glass or metal fragments, or unusual formations in the ground.
Q. Am I required to report ALL finds to Heritage Victoria?
- If an object (or site) of archaeological significance is discovered during your metal detecting, you must do the following:
- safeguard the object from damage – (generally by reburying)
- inform the Executive Director of Heritage Victoria (9637 9470) that you have the object and describe the object/s to the Executive Director
- make the object available for identification and conservation if required by the Executive Director.
