Archeologists Forced to Give German Farmer $1 Million for an Ancient Roman Bronze Found on His Property

In Germany, archeologists tried to cheat a property owner of what was rightfully his, but truth and justice this time prevailed:

After the man learned that this was no ordinary
find, he sued the government to get his fair share of the value.

When archeologists uncovered a 2,000-year-old Roman horse head during a dig on a farm in Lahnau, Germany, in 2009, they immediately knew it was the find of a lifetime. Now, almost 10 years later, a court has concluded that the farmer who owned the land deserves to profit off of the discovery, too. The incredibly well preserved antiquity had been left at the bottom of a 36-foot well, covered with water and protected from air. Initially, the state had paid the farmer just €48,000 (about $55,946) for the head, which was found on his property. But the man, whose name has not been made public, sued the government after reading news reports about the gravity and value of the discovery, which was trumpeted as one of the best preserved Roman bronzes in the world. On July 27, the Limburg regional court concluded that the farmer was entitled to half the estimated €1.6 million ($1.8 million) value of the antiquity. The local government now owes man a total of €773,000 (nearly $904,000)—plus interest.

Kate Brown, A German Farmer Was Just Awarded Almost $1 Million for an Ancient Roman Bronze Found on His Property Artnet news July 30, 2018