Posted by Bill Walden on October 26, 2000 at 03:50:18:
In Reply to: Loose rivet would have been a "steal" posted by Doug May on October 25, 2000 at 21:01:05:
: Mark
: If you had managed to remove that wobbling rivet from the big piece at the exhibition, that would have been a real "steal" (no pun intended). Not many people (maybe none) could claim to have had a rivet from Titanic, and had you held onto it and sold it, it could have brought a lot of money I assume.
: I don't know if I would have the guts to try and remove it, but I wonder - was it really that loose that you thought you would have a chance to remove it? I would be looking all around me for security people. Wouldn't they have cameras all over the place?
: It still would be cool to have a piece like that, at least I think so. If they could sell rivets from Titanic, I bet they would fetch thousands of dollars. Anyone agree?
I agree in so far that it would be a *real steal* and that is it. Such an action would not only be totally illegal but would result in the person taking the rivet getting in major trouble. You could NOT sell it - it would immediately come to RMSTI's attention and they would have you arrested. They are the only entity with legal rights to own any post-1912 recovered artifacts. They have already taken people to court for trying to sell(by email auction) bits of rust and tiny pieces of metal that have been shed from the big piece in transit. Not only would you be forced to return the rivet, but you would face criminal charges. My advice, don't even think about it...