Weird Law Will Make You Do This If You Find Gold In New York State

People dream of finding gold all the time.  But if you find it in New York state, it might not be as much of a dream as you think.

Picture this.  You're digging up your backyard trying to fix a plumbing issue that you recently came across when you suddenly dig up a box full of gold bars.  Maybe they were buried there years ago and you somehow stumbled upon them.  You'd be set for life, right?

Unfortunately, not if you found them in New York State.

We were sitting around the table visiting family the other day when our uncle brought it up.  He asked, "Did you know that if you find gold in New York State, it doesn't belong to you?"

As my brow furrowed instinctively, I tried to understand what he had just said.  I responded, "Even if I find it on my property, it's not mine?"

He shook his head to say yes.

I had to look this up.

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If you find gold in New York, can you keep it?

So I did.  I just googled, "What do you do if you find gold in New York?"  Sure enough, an article came up about "The King's Law" that dates back as far as 1776.  It states that "All deposits of gold and silver in or upon private lands and lands belonging to the state are subject to state ownership."

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It is in Section 81 of  Public Lands (PBL) CHAPTER 46, ARTICLE 7

So even if you find it on your own land, in your backyard, it belongs to the State of New York.

There is a petition to change the law

Obviously, this feels like a huge infringement on the rights of property owners in New York State.  Most people would want to believe that this is just one of those crazy laws that went on the books years ago that no one pays attention to anymore, but it's not.  There is now a petition on Change.org hoping to change the law as we speak.

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