Spliting finds & or Telling what you found ?

[red]

Spliting finds & or Telling what you found ?

Ok. I know we have all heard this before, but I missed it.

I differ with another person on the forum about what to do and would like to know what you would do.

When asking to hunt a new place, do you start off by telling the owner you will split your finds with them 50-50 if allowed to hunt their place?

I don't, and I avoid the subject as much as possible.

But if the owner seriously asks for a split, I am fine with it and will do so when, and if, I ever find enough at one time enough worth splitting.

I have shown property owners that asked for a split what I have found and they have said, "You keep it all."

I have had them take tokens and once a gold ring with a ruby in it

That one hurt. It was the real thing but they wanted it because they thought it could have been their mother's, and the woman wanting it was like 80yr old. I was more than happy to give it up.

Do you tell everything when asked what you found?

I have when asked, but don't go to them with my finds if tey don't ask.

And if you find a few silvers and one real nice GOLD coin, say 1860'S , WOULD you be willing to show it to them?

Remember even though they did not ask for a split, they still have the legal right to take it from you and I bet you might hear, "I didn't know that was there and I'll have to take the gold coin, but you can keep the change."

Please understand I'm not putting down what anyone would do or how they go about it.

We all swing our detectors differently. The only wrong way is not wanting to learn something more.

HH, have a great hunt.

Red

 

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[EDDE]

Re: Spliting finds & or Telling what you found ?

the way i look at it is
before you detect it you and the property owner dont know whats there
after you have detected it
you know whats there ,they still dont until you tell or show them
a big peace dollar in your pocket(before you detect) from a coin shop for say 10 bucks works well as "grease"
AFTER youre done

 

[Sandman]

Re: Spliting finds & or Telling what you found ?

I haven't offered to split my finds with the land owner when asking to hunt his property. I would if they asked cause it is their property after all. When I am done for the day, I will show them what luck I've had and if they want something, I give it to them. I like to think I would show them the gold bar I dug up, but I might forget I found it. Shame on me........ By treating people fairly you are often asked to come back an you know you never covered all the land they owned.

When I hunted a farmers fields with a shotgun for Pheasants, if I got a couple, I always offered to share and they have mostly refused. It helps to show up with a pie or something just to be nice. Put yourself in their shoes.

 

[red]

Re: Spliting finds & or Telling what you found ?

I know what you mean by the gold bar, It would be hard to take the chance of having to hand it over if they wanted it.
Most of the places I hunt the owners don't even live at and I might not see them for a week or more after hunting, So that leaves me not showing them what I found but when I do see them I will let them know about the hors shoes, nails and the coins I found.

But then one day there is going to come that gold bar.
I think thats a bridge we'll all have to cross when we find it.
HH y'all it's nice out today and I'm going hunting.
red

 

[Night Stalker]

Re: Spliting finds & or Telling what you found ?

Just show them the other half - good finds would always leave with me. As DeKalb mentioned - a bit of grease never hurts either.

If a landowner starts following me around and asks for 50/50 split, I just make up a reason to leave - but if he offers to pay me for half of my equipment, gas money and time, I'll be glad to split 50/50.

There's too many places to detect for free for me to put up with a greedy landowner.

 

[bk]

Re: Spliting finds & or Telling what you found ?

When seeking permission to detect a private yard I usually first tell the property my intentions, that is to see what might be in the yard. I also tell them that I would be happy to "show" them what I find when I am finished.
Occasionally I may offer them one of my finds as a gratuity for letting me detect there.
In my opinion, offering to split with them before you start the search tends to make the property owner suspicious that there might be something valuable there that they don't know about.

 

[Natman]

Re: Spliting finds & or Telling what you found ?

I never "start out" by telling them I'll split a valuable find 50-50, but I have said this on occasion. I sometimes say this when a landowner appears hesitant in granting me permission to hunt. Once said, they have always given me the go ahead.

99 per cent of the time though, when I ask someone if I could search their property, they say fine, I say thank you, and that's where it ends.

Should I come up with a few old coins, I look them up to see if there is any real value or rarity. If not, I either leave a note or tell the owner I didn't find anything valuable and thank them for allowing me to search.

On the other hand, if I should ever find something of great value, I would feel obligated to let the owner know about it. In such a case, I would in fact be taking something from his or her property, and legally it wouldn't belong to me unless I had been told I could keep what I found beforehand.

Nat

 

[TreasureTales]

Re: Spliting finds & or Telling what you found ?

I've never offered to split my finds with a property owner. And not one of them has ever asked me to do that. I will almost always show them what I've found on their land because maybe something I've found will have sentimental value for them. I'm not going to lie to a property owner, it just isn't worth it to me. If they ask to keep something that I've shown them, I tell them I'd like to photograph it first for future bragging rights. But it's extremely rare to have someone take something, even when I've shown them something interesting and/or valuable.

I like to keep things simple and direct. They are allowing me on their land, so I have the moral obligation (and the personal desire) to be upfront and honest about what I recover from their property. And I have never had any problems doing things this way. In fact, I can't recall ever having a landowner take anything that really upset me to the point that I reconsidered my personal policy. There is more at stake than treasure...there is my integrity and reputation.

Occasionally the landowner isn't around when I finish my hunt. At those times I leave my card and tell them they may call me if they'd like to know what I've found. Not once did any of those people call me to inquire about the finds, although a couple of them have called to find out if I found anything interesting. They were just curious, which I can certainly understand.

When I talk with a landowner prior to hunting his/her land, I usually get a pretty good idea if they are reasonable, rational people. One time I met a guy who seemed to be a bit unstable so I made an excuse and told him I wasn't able to hunt his land afterall (because of my allergies, that was the excuse). Personal safety and the lack of potential complications are priorities for me.

 

[red]

Re: Spliting finds & or Telling what you found ?

It is good to see y'all thoughts on this and darn if I don't see anyones way wrong.
Night Stalker said show them the good stuff but not the best stuff and that makes good sense if you run into a shady land owner that you dint trust on his word of letting you keep what you fine.Or don't tell the one TreasureTales met that was a little unstable.
But know mater how much we might not want to show or split with a land owner there is that 1 we all hope to leave out of the loop. ...Uncle Sam. :P
But at least being from the South we can still blame that fellow on you Norther detector guys needing all them darn tax's
Oh lets just all get along I'm just funnin you fellas up yonder we all use the same diggig tools in the same old hard dirt hunting the same thing $$$$$$$$$$$$
HH and I Pray we all find what were after.
red

 

[Mainedigger]

Re: Spliting finds & or Telling what you found ?

Red...I usually tell the owner up front that I intend to keep all coins I find and ask them if there is anything they may have lost in the yard. I never say anything about splitting anything with them, however if I find a ring or some other jewelry I do show it the the owner and ask if they lost it or know of anyone that did and if so I would be happy to give it to them, otherwise I would like to keep it. Most are delighted to see me find anything and just want to see what I found out of curiosity. I;ve only had one occassion that the owner took a ring that he knew wasn;t his and was not sure if anyone else lost it that he knew,( he did say he would return it if no one claimed it was theirs) but they did see all I found there and were thrilled at the coins I found...large cents, half cents, two centers and ALOT of silver and were happy to let me keep them. What I would do if I found a gold bar..I don;t honestly know...legally and morally it is the property owners and their choice as to what if anything from it they give you. I think if that happened to me I would have an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other..which one I would listen to I honestly don;t know... I do know this...I;ve returned WWII medals, rings and other jewelry and it is a pleasure to do so and see the happiness it brings the owners.

 

[khouse]

Re: Spliting finds & or Telling what you found ?

I usually stay in my warm market. ie friends of friends, wife's friends and so on. Either they know me or have heard my name. Remember your warm market expands. Let's say you detect your spouses friends house. Before you start ask if they know of any one of their friends that might let me detect.
I will ask like this "do you mind if I scan your yard with my metal detector?" . Most say no problem right away. If they hesitate I say " don't worry I surgically remove any finds" don't mention money here! Most will say OK. If still hesitant say " If I find a million bucks - I'll split it with you" that will usually gets an OK. You have just worked yourself past three NO opportunities by them. If you get an absolute "NO" just say "well if you ever loose anything just call me and I'll find it for you" then exit stage left.........
PS. About 3 weeks ago my wife was talking to one of her friends that lives in a 100+ year old house. I bugged her like a little kid while she was talking. I said " ask her, ask her, ask her" the girl said to my wife "what's your husband saying to you" she said - he wants to metal detect your yard. Her friend said to come on over. That works too!

 

[red]

Re: Spliting finds & or Telling what you found ?

Mainedigger no you have some great advice on what to tell and how to ask thank you for that input.

khouse now what you say sounds so familiar as to how I ask people but by golly I am going to have to remember to through in that surgically removing part and nagging the wife while she is on the phone been there done that and will prob do it again.

I learn something from every post I read and hopefully some of the new guys with detectors can see from this one that every situation is different and property owners even more so not just 1 way is right and until you get a feel of how the owner will react to being asked about detecting
All you can really do is start off with. Hello how are you today. and ask or you will never get to hunt.
Y'all have a great hunt and post some gold finds.
red

 

[Ben_banned]

Re: Spliting finds & or Telling what you found ?

If I ever Found something I really wanted I wouldnt show em.
Put it in that little pocket on right side (what else is it for?) And show em the clad a a wheat or two.

 

[nc-joe]

Re: Spliting finds & or Telling what you found ?

Well I kinda mix and match all of the above. First, I do tell the owner my interest is in coins. I do tell them I up front I would like to keep any coins I find, everything else I leave to them if they want it or want me to take it. (they usually have no interest in what I find)

I will say this. When I asked a construction foreman for permission to hunt a tract of land where they bulldozed a house, but did not yet turn up all the soil to start the new subdivision, he said "Sure, but I want half of what you find" I said okay, but you have to take half the trash I dig. I then offered to give him 99% of everythink I find (all the trash) He laughed and I went on detecting. (No good finds there though). And he didn't want his half when I was done.

 

[Eddy1H]

Re: Spliting finds & or Telling what you found ?

I am almost positive that one of us detecting someones place is not going to gain financial freedome from a single or multiple finds, the odds just ain't with us, by being honest you will leave with something money can't buy, Integrity. Be honest sleep better and enjoy detecting as the great hobby it is, Happy Hunting
Eddy

 

[Mainedigger]

Re: Spliting finds & or Telling what you found ?

I am almost positive that one of us detecting someones place is not going to gain financial freedome from a single or multiple finds, the odds just ain't with us, by being honest you will leave with something money can't buy, Integrity. Be honest sleep better and enjoy detecting as the great hobby it is, Happy Hunting
Eddy

well said...

 

[Gribnitz]

Re: Spliting finds & or Telling what you found ?

I don't offer unless it appears it would help get on the spot. My problem is feeling guilty when I REALLY don't find anything, but how does the owner know that ? Sometimes what I will do when searching an old residential lot is bring a merc dime along with me and give that to the person when I am done looking.

 

[red]

Re: Spliting finds & or Telling what you found ?

I was told by another MD friend just the other day that he would take old coins with him when hunting and give one to the property owner.
After thinking about it that sounds like good advice.
It lets the owner know that you appreciate them letting you hunt.
And to buy a role of Buffalo nickels or Merc dimes is not that much and could lead to other hunts.
I'll give it a try also, Thanks for the advice.
Red

 

[COII Roadrunner]

Re: Spliting finds & or Telling what you found ?

It seems to me if you find a gold bar or other extremly valued item spliting means spliting... If they want it and it is a large value then something is due you for finding it...That is just my thoughts. But if you offered to make any deals you are and should make good on them... That thing called carma...It all comes back on you

 

[U.K. Brian]

Re: Spliting finds & or Telling what you found ?

I would always split a hoard with the landowner. The publicity means you are set up for land for a year or two afterwards when the news goes round. Instead of begging for permission you get approached to come and search. The cache I found last year led directly to another invite that led to a bigger find.