Poland to introduce rewards for archaeological finds from 2027 — RMF24
In Poland, from January 1, 2027, metal detectorists will be able to report their intention to search for historical monuments through a special mobile application. Cash rewards are envisaged for valuable archaeological finds. This was reported by RMF24, citing the newspaper Rzeczpospolita.
Notification through the app
Currently, a permit from a heritage conservator is required for legal searches, and, according to the publication, obtaining it takes months. The report notes that only about 1% of searchers operate legally, while the rest work in a gray zone due to the lengthy and complicated permit procedure.
Poland's Ministry of Culture and National Heritage estimated the creation of the app at 2.5 million zlotys. At the same time, legal questions arose over assigning the work to the Institute of Communications without using public procurement procedures. According to RMF24, the app is still at an early stage of preparation.
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Cost assessment and warnings
Amendments to the law on the protection of historical monuments provide for a reward of up to 25 average salaries for a valuable find — approximately 222,000 zlotys. The ministry estimates that payments could reach 3.25 billion zlotys in the first year. Another 3 billion zlotys may be needed for examinations, conservation, and storage of the discovered items.
These amounts are close to the planned budget of Poland's Ministry of Culture and National Heritage for 2027, which stands at 8.61 billion zlotys. Maciej Trzciński, a professor at the University of Wrocław, warned that it would be difficult to determine whether items claimed for rewards had not been found earlier. He also pointed to inaccuracies in the maps of the e-zabytek portal, which do not contain coordinates of archaeological sites.
Paweł Kozłowski of the Polish organization Polski Związek Eksploratorów said that previously, people who found even very valuable treasures received no rewards. In his opinion, estimates of future costs may be significantly overstated. The ministry stated that funds for the payments are secured but did not answer a question about a possible postponement of the launch of the new rules.
