There is Always One

In England and Wales, the BBC reports that there is a feeling that metal detectorists are not being serviced quickly enough: "Delays placing heritage at risk, metal detectorist warns" (BBC 27.04.2022)

A metal detectorist says delays in deciding the fate of rare finds have led to a black market in our heritage. Pete Beasley, an enthusiast from Hampshire, said it was taking years for discoveries to be processed and as a result some people had stopped handing their finds to the authorities. [...] Mr Beasley handed a pure gold Norman ring into the Finds Liaison Office in Winchester two years ago, that has yet to be returned [I presume they mean 'to the landowner' PMB]. "This takes forever and it shouldn't, these are experts. It should take weeks rather than two or three years," he said. [..] Mr Beasley warned unless the system was fixed people would stop handing finds over and sell them on the black market instead.

This is, one assumes, the same Pete Beasley who reportedly gave up his job as a brickie in 2008 "to become a full-time treasure hunter".