The E-Sylum:  Volume 6, Number 34, August 24, 2003, Article 20

BURIAL SITES

  Regarding coins recovered from shipwrecks and other
  burial sites, Joe Wolfe of Sterling VA.writes: "This is a
  popular topic among treasure and relic hunters, only our
  discussions concern searching for relics near or inside
  graveyards and near or in graves.  It is of course illegal in
  all states to dig in a grave or graveyard to recover relics or
  coins and no responsible treasure hunter does this. There
  are a multitude of marked and unmarked grave sites on
  land in the US outside of graveyards and most no longer
  contain any remains but when marked show the spot
  where the deceased was laid to rest. It would of course
  be illegal to dig a marked grave.

  Unmarked graves where no remains have survived are
  often unknown until relics or coins are recovered. Finding a
  row of shirt or coat buttons may indicate a grave site or only
  a coat. Also finding a civil war belt plate with coins next to
  it might indicate a grave site or a pair of pants.  I myself
  found old iron nails arranged in a rectangular pattern six foot
  in length which does indicate a coffin in an unmarked grave.
  I moved away from the grave before starting to search again.
  There is no certainty a grave exists when no remains have
  survived and no coffin was used and so it is not illegal. It is
  of course illegal to dig an unmarked grave when one is found.

  Emotions run high when discussing digging for relics near
  graveyards. Nearly all treasure hunters avoid it and encourage
  others to avoid it also. When someone is seen near a graveyard
  with a metal detector they are assumed to be desecrating
  graves and present a bad image of our hobby so most treasure
  hunters avoid it.

  In the case of a sunken ship there is no certainty that remains
  stayed within the ship when it sunk nor afterwards so in fact
  the sunken vessel may contain no remains. And if it did at one
  time the remains have by now merged into the mud, dirt, and
  sand of the ocean floor. A sunken ship is not a burial site but
  merely the site of an accident. It is not a grave since no person
  was buried there. In some cases we as a society create shrines
  to persons lost in accidents or wars such as the battleships in
  Pearl Harbor but we do not treat the crushed automobile or
  bus from a traffic accident as a shrine.

  A sunken ship is not a grave nor burial site but it may be
  declared a shrine when society chooses to do so.  I say
  recover the coins and then later if there is enough interest then
  the site could be declared a national shrine if needed."

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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