would you return a diamond ring?

Dave Rishar

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Several scenarios here. Make of them what you will.

1. At the ATM outside of the bank, I find a debit/credit card. It has a name, a CC number, and the security number on the back. It was not signed. The wrong person could conceivably have some fun with that. The bank was open at the time, so I walked in and turned it in to a teller. Was that correct? And before you answer, how do I know that the teller did the right thing with it? Should I have given it to the police? Would they have done the right thing with it? Should I have simply shredded it? Should I have not trusted others and simply tracked that person down myself? What if the bank hadn't been open?

2. At a park, I pulled a dog tag with the owner's name, phone number, and address. This is personally identifiable information and I didn't feel comfortable throwing it in the trash, so I phoned the owner as I was shutting things down for the day. She lived only a few blocks from the park and it was no hardship to swing by there on my way home. She wanted the tag, so I dropped it off. Was it my responsibility to contact the owner? Should I have gone to a responsible authority instead? What if the owner had been a few towns away? Was I morally obligated to make this my problem?

3. At another park, I pulled a ring worth some money. There were no identifying marks. I kept it, and it's currently in my ring display box. Is this wrong? If not, would it be wrong if there were identifying characteristics? If there were identifying characteristics and I wanted to track the owner down, what would constitute due diligence, morally if not legally? To date, I have not sold a ring and I'm not sure that I ever would. By recovering a potentially valuable ring that can't be easily attributed to an owner and keeping it instead of selling it, am I profiting by it?

There are lots of gray areas here. Identifying characteristics make the choice easier for me, but sometimes I think that it's not quite that simple.
 

Tom_in_CA

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..... I pulled a ring worth some money. There were no identifying marks. I kept it, and it's currently in my ring display box. Is this wrong? If not, would it be wrong if there were identifying characteristics? .......

Depends on what you mean by "wrong" ? Do you mean "to be in keeping with the law" ? Then yes: you are wrong.

And the law doesn't stipulate any difference as to whether you you think there's any "identifying characteristics" or not.

what are your state's lost & found laws ? :)
 

frankie

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It depends!! When people are pushy and rude to me for no good reason. I charge a finder fee. I do what's in my heart. Most are so happy to get something back that they thought was gone forever. {If this was you???} I had my house robbed. They took all my gold and detecting finds. Their was rings from gone relatives,etc ,plus my detecting finds which are important to only me. So think about if you lost things that you couldn't replace. Ya Even diamonds!! How would you feel to get your lost memory back? What goes around ,comes around. I could write a book about the stories behind lost rings that I have returned. One guy had custom wedding rings for 37 years. It went thru the war with him and he lost it at the beach. He called me from a tel. number that I left at the beach office. When he called me. I already had his ring. He was so HAPPY!!!! He sent me $100. When hearing the stories behind these lost rings. It makes me feel REALLY good inside to add another memory to their recovery. I was in the paper for returning a ring that was lost for 25 years. This person remembers the day he lost it playing football with his kids. Do what's in your heart. You can't go wrong if you do that.
 

Fletch88

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Not unless someone specifically ask me to go look for one. Keep it
 

TheRingFinder

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My personal code of conduct = I return everything I possibly can. I gain much more then money!

Plus - Most people would offer you a reward anyway.
 

Keppy

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And my code of conduct is if i find it it is mine ... But then i do not try to make myself look like i am a wonderful person for i did not get in this to find & return .... My code find & keep .. I am not a bleeding heart type ..
 

G.I.B.

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What kind of a person you are is defined by your actions.

You are the only one who has to live with you and whatever conscious you may or may not possess.

Everyone must choose a path.

If my wife lost her most treasured ring, and someone saw her name in it, Googled it and returned it... I would be most grateful and thankful. I pass that forward as best I can by returning marked items.

I can't return a simple unmarked gold wedding band- if you advertise you found a plain gold ring, some of the people on this forum will claim it because of nothing more than personal greed.

So- no known rightful owner, can't return it.
 

Tom_in_CA

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...If my wife lost her most treasured ring, and someone saw her name in it, Googled it and returned it... I would be most grateful and thankful....

Ok, let's carry that a step further then: If your wife lost her most treasured ring, and it had NO name it, wouldn't you be "most grateful and thankful" if he turned it in to the police department ?

Because it's plausible you might check with the police lost & found dept. And WOW, THERE IT IS ! Then you'd be "grateful and thankful", right ?

.... I can't return a simple unmarked gold wedding band- if you advertise you found a plain gold ring, some of the people on this forum will claim it because of nothing more than personal greed. ...

In my research on this question, I asked a lawyer and a cop that very question: "What's to stop someone from walking into various police departments, in each city he comes to saying: I lost a plain wedding band, has anyone turned one in ?" [because admittedly, let's face it, a lot men's wedding bands are very similar in appearance, doh!]. They answered by saying that the person would need to a) accurately describe the ring, b) describe where they lost it (that can be matched, afterall, with the location found), c) when they lost it (so if they lost it "last week", yet the ring was turned in 10+ days ago, well ... no match), d) the ring is going to need to fit (although I suppose the crook could lie and say he wears it on a chain around his neck).

Anyhow, the police and lawyer I spoke to didn't seem to think that such a scheme would be possible, given the layers of precaution the police take. And besides, even if that *were* a possibility, it still doesn't change the fact that in order to be in compliance with lost & found laws, you must turn in such items to the police :)
 

Tom_in_CA

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One should not profit from the misfortune of others

Which is why us md'rs should not "profit" from the misfortune of others who have lost valuable jewelry. No matter how long ago they lost it. And turn it in to the police for proper re-patriation procedures :)
 

G.I.B.

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Anyhow, the police and lawyer I spoke to didn't seem to think that such a scheme would be possible

I've found identifiable rings and I've advertised on the internet and CL for the owner. If they don't claim it, I've just saved the police time and effort and I didn't have to get lied to or stolen from by another creepy lawyer. (I try not to deal with lawyers, used car salesman, evangelist preachers or politicians)

I'll make reasonable efforts to return a ring. I've had the con job calls too- but they have no idea where I found it. A couple of the rings are in my display box and if they ever get properly claimed- I'll send them to the owner.
 

Dave Rishar

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Depends on what you mean by "wrong" ? Do you mean "to be in keeping with the law" ? Then yes: you are wrong.

And the law doesn't stipulate any difference as to whether you you think there's any "identifying characteristics" or not.

I concur, although you skipped over a number of issues in order to come to this one. (I did throw the "morally" qualifier in there.) To be honest, I was not familiar with my state's laws on the matter until you prompted me to look them up. I appreciate it. (Those laws, by the way, are somewhat onerous here. The good news is that if it's currency that's found, the finder is not required to pay to have its value assessed. Good news for us coinshooters!)

And my code of conduct is if i find it it is mine ... But then i do not try to make myself look like i am a wonderful person for i did not get in this to find & return .... My code find & keep .. I am not a bleeding heart type ..

I wouldn't consider myself to be a "bleeding heart" (whatever that really means) type either, but I very much consider myself to be the kind of person that wouldn't ask or expect someone to do something that I wouldn't do myself. I hope that if I lose something that obviously belongs to me, the finder returns it. I do the same. That debit/credit card that I found wasn't mine because I found it. It had a name and a number on it. Bad luck that they lost it, but I'm glad that I was able to assist. If I find a car with the keys in it, that doesn't mean that it's mine simply because it's unsecured. It obviously belongs to someone and it's not difficult to find out who.

What kind of a person you are is defined by your actions.

Which is why I threw those scenarios out. Some will view me as a lawbreaker, others as a big softie. I appreciate the views of others. There are currently no moral dilemmas for me in this. I think that I'm right (morally, if not legally), but if someone is going to poke a hole in my philosophy, it's probably not going to be me. That's why I shop it around.

But yeah...I'm not sure that one could realistically coinshoot legally in this state. I understand the intent of the law but in practice, it's unworkable. I'm tempted to begin following it aggressively in order to get it changed but our police have far better things to do with their time. In the meantime, I'll give back what I can.

I notice that there's little discussion of returning found coins or artifacts, even though most of us could agree with returning a car or a ring with a name on it. As I said, it's a gray area - maybe not so in the eyes of the law, but certainly in the eyes of the individual. It's certainly fodder for discussion.
 

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kingvegan

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here is a video I stumbled on by chance on youtube last night " Minelab CTX 3030 Recovers $60,000 platinum and sapphire ring" . The guy gets a frantic phone call, the 12 ct blue sapphire ring was lost about 30 feet offshore. He finds it and gives it to the guy and the guy is all happy and ends up giving him $300 for his trouble. The mansaid it was insured for 61k.
What if he could not have found it, and you found it 6 years from now? Do you really give it back?

I personally would assume the ring had been insured, and I would have been correct. So I am going to give it to an insurance company or to the guy who has already been paid off?I don't think so.

I think it is wonderful that some of you guys say that you would. What I find troubling is the fact that it seems you also feel that you are on the moral high ground.

I found 2 hundred dollar bills in a Mississippi honky tonk/pool hall a few years ago and gave it to the owner of the pool hall. a couple of hours latter he got a frantic call from some young lady that had lost it.
Last year I stopped my car at a crosswalk and saw a large wallet looking thingy in the street. It had a drivers I.D. and a food stamp card and a Medicaid card and a hundred dollar bill hidden in a fold. I drove that area and finally saw the young lady and a friend and gave it back to her. But that is not the same as treasure hunting in my mind.
 

Keppy

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I wouldn't consider myself to be a "bleeding heart" (whatever that really means) type either, but I very much consider myself to be the kind of person that wouldn't ask or expect someone to do something that I wouldn't do myself. I hope that if I lose something that obviously belongs to me, the finder returns it. I do the same. That debit/credit card that I found wasn't mine because I found it. It had a name and a number on it. Bad luck that they lost it, but I'm glad that I was able to assist. If I find a car with the keys in it, that doesn't mean that it's mine simply because it's unsecured. It obviously belongs to someone and it's not difficult to find out who.



Which is why I threw those scenarios out. Some will view me as a lawbreaker, others as a big softie. I appreciate the views of others. There are currently no moral dilemmas for me in this. I think that I'm right (morally, if not legally), but if someone is going to poke a hole in my philosophy, it's probably not going to be me. That's why I shop it around.

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No. 1 , You find a credit card you had better turn it in it is for sure you will get caught if you try to use it . I have found credit cards a have returned them to the owner nothing big about that .. But Coins & Jewelry there mine .. And no moral dilemma for me either .. You lost it i found it ..IT'S MINE..
 

Dave Rishar

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No. 1 , You find a credit card you had better turn it in it is for sure you will get caught if you try to use it . I have found credit cards a have returned them to the owner nothing big about that .. But Coins & Jewelry there mine .. And no moral dilemma for me either .. You lost it i found it ..IT'S MINE..

So by that way of reasoning, if I had a way to use it without getting caught, I would then be justified in keeping it? Just to be clear, that's not why I returned it.
 

unfound

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My precious....mine !!!

Clearly marked and if I could find the owner easily I would (and have) return. Just a personal choice for me though.

but, oh my precious....
 

Escape

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I don't know what it is that has me answering in this way. I suspect it may be the clown costume
 

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