A general hobby metal-detecting rule for Monaco could not be confirmed. Earthworks require prior government authorization, but the reviewed sources do not establish that every small hand-dug recovery is an earthwork or that a detector sweep needs that authorization. Reporting duties are clearer: covered land finds must be handed in within 48 hours, with faster rules for public-road excavations and maritime wrecks. Finding an object does not automatically make it yours.
Can I detect in Monaco?
The short answer for each kind of land. Tap a card for the detail and the rule’s own words.
- Anywhere: national heritage lawNo verdict yetChecked against the source Oct 12, 2026
- Beaches & foreshoreNo verdict yetChecked against the source Oct 12, 2026
- Protected monumentsNo verdict yetChecked against the source Oct 12, 2026
- National parks & nature reservesNo verdict yetChecked against the source Oct 12, 2026
- State forestsNo verdict yetChecked against the source Oct 12, 2026
- Private landNo verdict yetChecked against the source Oct 12, 2026
Open in many areas without a permitPermit, registration, or designated beaches onlyProhibited or effectively closed
The rules, land by land
Anywhere: national heritage law
No verdict yetA general national rule for hobby metal detecting could not be confirmed.
- The Convention européenne du 16 janvier 1992 pour la protection du patrimoine archéologique faite à La Valette (Malte) (European Convention on protection of the archaeological heritage) commits States to prior authorization for archaeological detector use in cases provided by domestic law. That wording does not establish a universal visitor licence or settle searches for modern lost items.
- The captured Loi n° 1.446 du 12 juin 2017 relative à la préservation du patrimoine national (national heritage preservation law) covers heritage institutions, inventories and protection. No complete domestic detector-search regime was established from it and the other captured sources.
- Earthworks require prior government authorization under the urbanism legislation. The separate digging row records this restriction; the sources did not establish whether every small hand-dug recovery counts as earthworks. Neither a detector sweep nor a modern-lost-item search is treated as authorized by this uncertainty.
- Ownership rules for treasure and lost property do not authorize entry or searching. French domestic detector law is not used as a Monaco rule.
What the rule says
“iii) à soumettre à autorisation préalable spécifique, dans les cas prévus par la législation interne de l'État, l'emploi de détecteurs de métaux et d'autres équipements de détection ou procédés pour la recherche archéologique.”
Digging
Permit requiredEarthworks require prior government authorization; works on or in public and private roads are also controlled.
- Article 1 of Ordonnance Souveraine n° 3.647 du 9 septembre 1966 concernant l’urbanisme, la construction et la voirie (urban planning, construction and roads ordinance) requires prior government authorization for construction, earthworks or demolition on any site. It separately requires authorization for work on or in the ground of public roads and their dependencies or private roads.
- Ordonnance-Loi n° 674 du 3 novembre 1959 concernant l’urbanisme, la construction et la voirie (urban planning, construction and roads law) article 1 also controls the specified works. Article 4 preserves third-party rights. Approval of works does not transfer ownership of finds or replace required surrender.
- This row records the express earthworks and road-work scope. No captured definition or official interpretation establishes that every small hand-dug detector recovery is an earthwork, and the rule does not name detector sweeps. It is not a standard hobby permit or a promise of approval.
What the rule says
“Aucune construction, aucun travail de terrassement ou de démolition ne peuvent être entrepris sur quelque emplacement que ce soit sans une autorisation préalable du gouvernement.”
Keeping finds
No verdict yetA finder does not automatically own a detector find; the complete ownership result depends on its category.
- Code civil (Civil Code) article 600 assigns qualifying treasure to a finder on their own land, or half each to finder and landowner on another person’s land. Its definition requires a hidden or buried thing whose ownership nobody can prove and discovery purely by chance. That split is not automatically applied to a deliberate detector search.
- Article 601 requires unknown-owner land finds to be placed in public custody and permits administrative release after an unsuccessful owner search. Known ownership is not erased by discovery. Permission to search and permission to retain are separate questions.
- Loi n° 815 du 24 janvier 1967 concernant les épaves terrestres (law on land-based found property) provides a reclaim procedure for finds within its public-access scope. Ordinary items are initially held for one year and one day; deteriorating items for six months, and perishables for fifteen days unless immediate sale is necessary. Article 4 then permits claims by the loser, pledge-holder or finder for one month, fifteen days or forty-eight hours respectively, with identity, proof or receipt requirements and possible verification delay. This is not an automatic award of all finds.
- For maritime wrecks, Code de la mer (Maritime Code) article L.712-2 places wrecks of archaeological, historical or artistic interest in the State’s private domain if the owner or successors remain unknown, without removing declaration, publicity and claim-period requirements. Article L.712-4 allows authorized transfer of an isolated such wreck to a salvor; no automatic transfer or guaranteed hobby reward is inferred.
- The complete title outcome for deliberately searched terrestrial archaeological objects could not be confirmed. Cultural-property inventory and export controls in the 2017 heritage law do not by themselves establish ownership of every old object.
What the rule says
“Le trésor est toute chose cachée ou enfouie, sur laquelle personne ne peut justifier sa propriété, et qui est découverte par le pur effet du hasard.”
Reporting finds
Must be reportedHand in finds from public-access places within 48 hours; some finds have a faster deadline.
- Under Loi n° 815 du 24 janvier 1967 concernant les épaves terrestres (law on land-based found property) articles 1–2, money, jewelry, securities, effects and other found property discovered on public roads, in public places or places open to the public, in publicly accessible parts of private buildings, or in passenger vehicles must be handed to the public authority within forty-eight hours. Delivery is to the Direction de la Sûreté Publique (Public Security Directorate) or a police station.
- In a place open to the public or a passenger vehicle, the item may instead be entrusted to the operator or an employee, who must deliver it to the authority on the finder’s behalf. Article 2 provides for an immediate receipt recording the finder and discovery details; retain it for any later claim.
- Objects found in excavations beneath a public road must be delivered immediately to the Public Security Directorate under article 90 of Ordonnance Souveraine n° 3.647 du 9 septembre 1966 concernant l’urbanisme, la construction et la voirie (urban planning, construction and roads ordinance). The provision preserves any applicable article 600 treasure rights.
- Code de la mer (Maritime Code) article L.711-1 requires anyone discovering a maritime wreck to declare it within twenty-four hours to the Direction des affaires maritimes (Maritime Affairs Directorate). A person who salvages it must also keep it at that Directorate’s disposal. This is separate from the forty-eight-hour land-property rule.
- Code civil (Civil Code) article 601 also requires public custody of unknown-owner land finds. The forty-eight-hour deadline is not extended here to every private-land discovery, and no additional domestic archaeological-reporting recipient or deadline is inferred from the Valletta Convention’s State undertakings.
What the rule says
“est tenu de les remettre à l'autorité publique dans les quarante-huit heures de la découverte.”
Beaches & foreshore
No verdict yetPublic beach or bathing access does not establish permission to detect or recover objects.
- Code de la mer (Maritime Code) articles O.751-1–O.751-7 regulate bathing and beach conduct. The captured municipal bathing order also addresses seaside use. Neither is treated as an express right to search with a detector or dig in the beach.
- Earthworks authorization, land-found-property surrender and maritime-wreck declaration rules remain separate. Whether every small sand recovery counts as regulated earthworks was not established by the captured sources.
- Marine protected areas and scientific or mineral exploration have their own rules. Fishing restrictions and scientific-research authorizations are not applied as blanket hobby-detector rules, and this row does not cover neighboring French waters or beaches.
What the rule says
“Les plages et lieux où la baignade fait l'objet d'une surveillance sont indiqués par une signalisation destinée à l'information du public.”
Protected monuments
No verdict yetThe complete detector rule at protected monuments and archaeological sites could not be confirmed.
- Ordonnance-Loi n° 674 du 3 novembre 1959 concernant l’urbanisme, la construction et la voirie (urban planning, construction and roads law) articles 5 bis–5 ter protect identified heritage through planning prescriptions. Work that compromises those prescriptions can be refused or authorized subject to special conditions.
- These planning controls and the general earthworks authorization rule do not establish a complete detector regime for every protected monument or archaeological site. The relevant district instruments and all site rules were not captured.
- The Valletta Convention requires State measures for archaeological protection and qualified excavation. No general hobby permission or visitor research-permit route is inferred from that obligation.
What the rule says
“Lorsque les constructions ou les travaux sont de nature à compromettre les dispositions visées au précédent alinéa, les autorisations d'urbanisme sont soit refusées, soit accordées sous réserve du respect des prescriptions particulières déterminées dans l'autorisation.”
National parks & nature reserves
No verdict yetA general detector rule for Monaco’s nature reserves could not be confirmed.
- Code de l’environnement (Environmental Code) article L.312-3 allows terrestrial nature reserves to be created by sovereign ordinance, with their protection and management rules fixed in that ordinance. The enabling provision is not a blanket detector ban or permit.
- Code de la mer (Maritime Code) articles O.230-2–O.230-7 establish marine protected areas and management arrangements. The captured text includes species-protection and fishing restrictions, but those do not establish a general permission to detect or recover manufactured objects.
- Complete reserve-specific management prescriptions and a universal hobby-detector rule were not captured. An urban public garden is not automatically a national park or nature reserve; the ordinary detector and earthworks questions remain distinct.
What the rule says
“Les réserves naturelles sont créées par Ordonnance Souveraine après avis du Conseil de l'environnement. L'Ordonnance Souveraine procédant au classement fixe notamment les prescriptions, les mesures de protection et les modalités de gestion afférentes à la réserve naturelle qu'elle crée.”
State forests
No verdict yetA state-forest detector rule could not be confirmed, and the captured government report identifies no forest area in Monaco.
- The government’s 8e Communication nationale de la Principauté de Monaco (Eighth National Communication), dated December 2022, states that no forest area is present in the territory. This is dated geographic context, not a detecting prohibition or permission.
- Urban parks, gardens and marine reserves are not treated as state forests. The general earthworks restriction and unresolved detector rules remain separate.
- No Monaco state-forest detector procedure was established in the documented search, and forest rules from neighboring France are not imported.
What the rule says
“La sensibilité de la Principauté au risque incendie est mesurée, aucune zone forestière n’étant présente sur le territoire.”
Private land
No verdict yetA landowner’s agreement does not settle the unresolved private-land detector rule.
- Code civil (Civil Code) article 446 gives the landowner rights above and below the land, including excavations, subject to special laws and regulations. It does not give a visiting detectorist an independent right to enter or search.
- The urbanism legislation requires prior government authorization for earthworks, including work on private sites, and works on or in private roads. Any authorization remains subject to third-party rights; whether every small hand-dug recovery falls within earthworks was not established.
- Landowner consent does not establish title to a lost object, satisfy a reporting duty, or resolve heritage controls. No general visitor permission to sweep a detector or recover modern losses is inferred.
What the rule says
“Sauf, dans tous les cas, les modifications résultant des lois et règlements spéciaux.”
Even where detecting is allowed, archaeological and historic sites are protected, and you must fill every hole and follow posted rules. Always confirm the current rule with the land manager.
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The national detector question
The Convention européenne du 16 janvier 1992 pour la protection du patrimoine archéologique faite à La Valette (Malte) (European Convention of January 16, 1992 on protection of the archaeological heritage, Valletta, Malta) commits States to specific prior authorization for archaeological detector use in cases provided by domestic law. That qualification matters: the treaty does not itself establish a universal visitor license or settle searches for modern lost items.
The Loi n° 1.446 du 12 juin 2017 relative à la préservation du patrimoine national (Law No. 1.446 of June 12, 2017 on preservation of national heritage) covers heritage institutions, inventories and protection. A complete domestic detector-search regime was not established from that law and the other reviewed sources. French domestic detector law is not applied as Monaco law, and the unresolved question is not permission to search.
Earthworks and private land
Article 1 of the Ordonnance Souveraine n° 3.647 du 9 septembre 1966 concernant l’urbanisme, la construction et la voirie (Sovereign Ordinance No. 3.647 of September 9, 1966 on urban planning, construction and roads) requires prior authorization from the Gouvernement Princier (Government of Monaco) for construction, earthworks or demolition on any site. Work on or in the ground of public roads and their dependencies, or private roads, is also controlled.
These are express earthworks and road-work requirements. The reviewed material does not define every small hand-dug target recovery as an earthwork, and the provision does not name detector sweeps. It is not a standard hobby permit or a promise of approval.
Article 446 of the Code civil (Civil Code) gives a landowner rights above and below the land, including excavations, subject to special laws and regulations. It gives a visiting detectorist no independent right to enter or search. A landowner’s agreement does not settle heritage controls, reporting or title to a lost object. Authorization for works remains subject to third-party rights.
Protected monuments and archaeological sites
Articles 5 bis–5 ter of the Ordonnance-Loi n° 674 du 3 novembre 1959 concernant l’urbanisme, la construction et la voirie (Ordinance-Law No. 674 of November 3, 1959 on urban planning, construction and roads) protect identified heritage through planning requirements. Work that compromises those requirements can be refused or authorized subject to special conditions.
The planning controls, earthworks rule and treaty obligations do not establish a complete detector regime for every protected monument or archaeological site. Complete district instruments and site rules were not available in the reviewed material. No general hobby permission or visitor research-permit route is inferred.
Beaches, reserves and forest geography
The Code de la mer (Maritime Code) and municipal bathing rules regulate beach and swimming conduct. Public bathing access is not express permission to detect or dig. The earthworks question and the reporting duties below remain separate; the guide does not extend to neighboring French beaches or waters.
Article L.312-3 of the Code de l’environnement (Environmental Code) allows terrestrial nature reserves to be created by sovereign ordinance, with protection and management rules in that ordinance. Marine protected areas have separate controls on extraction and fishing. Those provisions do not establish a universal detector ban, hobby permit or permission to recover manufactured objects.
Complete reserve-specific management rules were not available. Urban gardens are not automatically national parks, nature reserves or state forests. A December 2022 government report states that Monaco has no forest area; that is dated geographic evidence, not a current forest-access permission or a detecting prohibition. A Monaco state-forest detector procedure could not be confirmed.
When and where to hand in or declare a find
Under articles 1–2 of the Loi n° 815 du 24 janvier 1967 concernant les épaves terrestres (Law No. 815 of January 24, 1967 on land-based found property), money, jewelry, securities, effects and other found property discovered on public roads, in public places or places open to the public, in publicly accessible parts of private buildings, or in passenger vehicles must be handed in within 48 hours. Deliver it to the Direction de la Sûreté Publique (Public Security Directorate) or a police station.
For a find in a place open to the public or a passenger vehicle, you may instead entrust it to the operator or an employee, who must deliver it to the authority on your behalf. Article 2 provides for an immediate receipt recording the finder and discovery details. Keep the receipt for any later claim.
Objects found in excavations beneath a public road must be delivered immediately to the Public Security Directorate under article 90 of the 1966 urban planning ordinance. That requirement preserves any applicable Civil Code article 600 treasure rights.
A maritime wreck must be declared within 24 hours to the Direction des affaires maritimes (Maritime Affairs Directorate) under Maritime Code article L.711-1. Anyone who salvages it must also keep it at that Directorate’s disposal. This is a separate duty from the 48-hour land-property rule.
Civil Code article 601 also requires unknown-owner land finds to be placed in public custody. The 48-hour rule is not generalized here to every private-land discovery. No additional domestic archaeological-reporting recipient or deadline was established from the treaty’s State undertakings.
Treasure and ownership
Civil Code article 600 assigns qualifying treasure to the finder on their own land, or half to the finder and half to the landowner when found on another person’s land. Its definition requires a hidden or buried thing whose ownership nobody can prove, discovered purely by chance. The split therefore cannot automatically be applied to a deliberate detector search.
Known ownership is not erased by discovery. Under article 601, unknown-owner finds go into public custody and administrative release may follow an unsuccessful owner search. Permission to search and permission to retain remain separate. The complete title outcome for deliberately searched terrestrial archaeological objects could not be confirmed; cultural-property inventories and export controls do not by themselves establish ownership of every old object.
Maritime Code article L.712-2 places wrecks of archaeological, historical or artistic interest in the State’s private domain if the owner or successors remain unknown, while preserving declaration, publicity and claim-period requirements. Article L.712-4 allows an authorized transfer of an isolated such wreck to a salvor. Neither automatic transfer nor a guaranteed hobby reward is inferred.
Claiming land-based found property later
Law No. 815 has different periods for different objects within its public-access scope. Ordinary items are initially held for one year and one day from discovery; items subject to deterioration for six months; and perishables for fifteen days unless immediate sale is necessary.
After those periods, article 4 allows the loser, pledge-holder or finder to claim during a further month for ordinary items, fifteen days for deteriorating items, or 48 hours for perishables that were not sold immediately. Identity, proof or the finder’s receipt requirements apply, and restitution may be delayed for verification.
These procedures are not an automatic award of every detector find. The shortened periods and claim windows matter; simplified guidance about one year and one day does not cover every object.
Limits of this guide
The reviewed official texts establish the scoped reporting duties and earthworks authorization requirement. They do not resolve the general hobby-detector question, every small-recovery interpretation, all district and site rules, complete reserve management conditions or the ownership of every deliberately searched archaeological object.
No excavation or discovery scheme from an unenacted parliamentary proposal is applied as law. Forest geography remains tied to the December 2022 report. The seven unresolved detecting and ownership questions remain unknown; those gaps do not authorize entry, searching, recovery or retention.
Sources
Official and statutory sources this page is based on (source check: October 12, 2026):
General hobby detecting and seven detecting or ownership questions remain unresolved. Earthworks and reporting rules retain their express scopes. Complete domestic detector implementation, small-recovery interpretation, district/site instruments and reserve management rules were not established; forest geography is supported only as of the December 2022 report.
- Code civil (Civil Code)
- Loi n° 815 du 24 janvier 1967 concernant les épaves terrestres (Law No. 815 of January 24, 1967 on land-based found property)
- Code de la mer (Maritime Code)
- Loi n° 1.446 du 12 juin 2017 relative à la préservation du patrimoine national (Law No. 1.446 of June 12, 2017 on preservation of national heritage)
- Ordonnance Souveraine n° 3.647 du 9 septembre 1966 concernant l’urbanisme, la construction et la voirie (Sovereign Ordinance No. 3.647 of September 9, 1966 on urban planning, construction and roads)
- Code de l’environnement (Environmental Code)
- Arrêté municipal n° 72-33 du 21 juillet 1972 portant codification des textes réglementant la pratique des bains de mer le long du littoral de la Principauté (Municipal Order No. 72-33 of July 21, 1972 codifying sea-bathing rules along the Principality’s coast)
- Ordonnance-Loi n° 674 du 3 novembre 1959 concernant l’urbanisme, la construction et la voirie (Ordinance-Law No. 674 of November 3, 1959 on urban planning, construction and roads)
- Convention européenne du 16 janvier 1992 pour la protection du patrimoine archéologique faite à La Valette (Malte) (European Convention of January 16, 1992 on protection of the archaeological heritage, Valletta, Malta)
- 8e Communication nationale de la Principauté de Monaco à la Convention Cadre des Nations Unies sur les Changements Climatiques — Décembre 2022 (Monaco’s Eighth National Communication to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change — December 2022)
- Proposition de loi n° 195 sur la conservation et la protection du patrimoine national (Bill proposal No. 195 on conservation and protection of national heritage)
- Division de l’Administration et de la Formation (Administration and Training Division)
- Restituer un objet trouvé (Hand in a found object)
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Frequently Asked Questions
- Can I use a metal detector in Monaco?
- A general hobby-detector rule could not be confirmed. The archaeological treaty refers to authorization in cases provided by domestic law, while the reviewed sources do not establish a complete domestic regime for every hobby search. French detector law is not substituted for Monaco law.
- Does digging up a target always require an earthworks authorization?
- Earthworks require prior government authorization, but the reviewed sources do not establish that every small hand-dug recovery counts as earthworks. A detector sweep is not named by that rule. This uncertainty is not permission to dig.
- How quickly must I hand in something found in a public place?
- Covered land-based found property must be handed to the Public Security Directorate or a police station within 48 hours. A qualifying establishment or passenger-vehicle operator can receive it for delivery on your behalf. Objects found in excavations beneath a public road must be delivered immediately.
- What if I discover a maritime wreck?
- Declare it to the Maritime Affairs Directorate within 24 hours. If you salvage it, keep it at the Directorate’s disposal. Declaration, recovery authority and ownership are separate questions.
- Do I get half of treasure found on someone else’s land?
- Civil Code article 600 provides that split only for qualifying treasure: a hidden or buried thing whose ownership nobody can prove, discovered purely by chance. It is not automatically applied to a deliberate detector search.
- Can I keep unclaimed property after a year and a day?
- That period alone does not give automatic ownership. Law No. 815 has a further claim procedure, identity and receipt requirements, and shorter periods for deteriorating or perishable property. Heritage and maritime categories can raise separate ownership questions.
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