[SyneRyder]

Is there a reason why they're so vague about which country it was found in?

It's repeatedly described in the article as "a West-European country", and that it was "close to the border of The Netherlands." That seems to suggest either Belgium or Germany. Is it just to make the location harder for others to find, or because borders are in dispute or have shifted since it was buried?

(Probably unrelated, but I see on Google Maps a forest & bog 20km from the Netherlands border, where the German border appears to be split in two by a Belgian railway line running through it.)

[lower]

I don't think there are any border disputes in this area.

Perhaps the hobby-archaeologist wanted to remain anonymous because unearthing historical artifacts with a metal detector is illegal in some places. In Germany one needs a permit at least and must leave finds undisturbed so that archaeologists can see the context of the find. If the hobby-archaeologist is searching illegally, then he/she may be afraid that the location of the find may lead to him/her.

[staffanj]

That railway and strange border is an old remnant of the Treaty of Versailles.

[SyneRyder]

Oh wow! I knew I'd get an interesting reply. That helped me find some more info on the Travel StackExchange [1] & Fascinating Maps [2], if others are interested. I'm especially fascinated by Rückschlag, a single house & garden that is German territory within Belgium:

[1] https://travel.stackexchange.com/questions/105503/is-this-we...

[2] https://fascinatingmaps.com/strange-german-exclaves-in-belgi...

[bchallenor]

There's a fascinating YouTube series called "The Most Complex International Borders in the World" about enclaves and exclaves. [1] There are even some "counter-enclaves", e.g. a part of the Netherlands inside Belgium inside the Netherlands. [2]

[1] https://youtube.com/watch?v=gtLxZiiuaXs

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baarle-Nassau