Great Dane

"Objects from the past, including coins found in Denmark and for which no one can prove his right as owner, are danefæ, if they are processed from valuable material or have special cultural-historical value"
The Museums Act §30, sec. 1

If you find items that are covered by the Danefæ legislation, you must submit them for Danefæ treatment.
You can see a list of what is danefæ Here!

Where to go with metal detector?

When you want to go with a metal detector, always remember to get permission from the landowner. Furthermore, you must be aware that metal detectors must not be used on protected ancient monuments and in the State Forests.
Hopefully your detector gives a signal of exciting finds below the ground surface and here you must remember that you must only dig into the depth of the plow layer - typically down to 30 cm from the ground surface.
Further excavation may only be carried out by museum staff.

You can see the National Museum's guide to danefæ Here!

You can see the Palaces and Culture Agency's guidelines on danefæ Here!

How to prepare your search

  • Contact the landowner and get his permission for your search.
  • Always bring a GPS and make sure the date is set to WGS84 or Euref89. You can read how in the guide for your gps.
  • Found objects must be packed in individual bags - preferably zipper bags - with your own find number and GPS coordinates.
  • Go as systematically as possible in the fields - even if no finds are made immediately. The museum is very interested in knowing where there are fields with finds, but also where there are fields where, despite intensive searching, there are no finds.

Submission of items for danefæ treatment

From and including 2024, it is only possible to hand in detector findings for a Danish assessment with us via DIME. You can register as a user at DIME and record your findings there.

We get quite a lot of finds every year and we need them from help to get them dispatched as quickly as possible. There are a number of things you can do to help.

Digital preparation:

  • Fill in identification. If in doubt, use Indeterminate. We are not so happy Awaiting determination or Root box!
  • Fill in the date to the best of your ability.
  • Always fill in the material the objects are made of. If you are in doubt, you can use the category Indeterminate.
  • It is also a great help if you describe the item in a few words.
  • Before handing in, you must prepare the findings that you want to hand in. You must do this both physically and in DIME.
  • In DIME, click the findings you want to submit via the button Submitted to the local museum. In column Submitted supports only list the findings you have on the day in question. Other findings that are ready, but which you do not hand in according to agreement, must continue to have the status of Fully edited in DIME.
  • One find takes as long as 10 finds from the same field. Wait to hand it in if you expect to go to the field again.
  • Preferably hand over a maximum of 50 finds from a field, more than it is difficult to keep track of.
  • When you have clicked off the findings to be submitted, you generate an Excel sheet via DIME of the findings you have included. You must send this to us in advance when you make an appointment. And you are ready for that now!


Contact the museum's archaeologists on phone 25 52 83 83 or e-mail:plan@vestmuseum.dk and make an agreement on delivery. You can make an agreement to hand in either in Holbæk or in Ringsted.

Prepare your items:

  • The finds you have with you must be arranged by cadastral number and be in DIME number order within each cadastre. We can recommend bag closures to keep track of your finds. These are the ones that Inger shows here!
  • Please do not clip, glue or sew the bags together!
  • Don't use very small bags - we have to write a lot of things on them!
  • Please also leave a white field on the bag free so we can write here.
  • When handing it in at the museum, we will fill in your receipt for the handing in together. Now you are done.
  • We then give them a journal number and x-number and send them to the Danish National Museum for assessment.
  • In that process, they can change the status to in DIME Incorporated into the collection, but you are welcome to return the finds that are not declared Danish.
  • If your objects are declared Danish, you will receive a notification directly from the National Museum.


Remember, it is not only Danish cattle that have a cultural-historical value! Objects that bear witness to, for example, craftsmanship and trade are rarely rare, but of great cultural and historical interest!

If you or the landowner have any questions, please feel free to contact us.

Submission of Danefæ in resealable bags
Great Dane

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Note: Danish only