Just something that is on my mind -- Returning found treasures

CCDAMEEK

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Having just read something a forum member posted that really bothered me, I just am compelled to post my opinion in hopes to maybe alter some peoples views on the returning (or not returning) found items.

Although the sting of returning something valuable that you have found is inevitable, remember that you will forever change the life of at least one person, and possibly everyone's around that person. With one simple honest moral moment, that honestly this world we live in can use more of. When I find something valuable, the first thought in my mind after the excitement of finding it, is DAMN, who ever lost this must be heart broken.

As I have said this statement in another return post:

"There are those who only see dollar signs when they find someone's lost treasures. Even in those instances where there are easy ways, or not so easy ways, to track down the person who lost the item. If those detectorists could understand that the heartfelt smile, excitement, and gratitude from a person who lost something dear to them, easily trumps the almighty dollar sign (no political pun intended), they would see a little bit nicer world around them." And, possibly, just maybe, would change the way they would handle a similar thing.

Everyone who detects has invested good money to play in this hobby, dependent on their own financial positions. This is certain. So finding items and coins to pay for the equipment, and make some money, is what we all truly strive for.

I own three detectors and all the necessary accompanying tools. Without ever cashing in even one coin to date, this hobby has paid for itself with sales of jewelry items recovered that had no engraving identification, could not be located in public lost & found notices, or by checking in as many ways possible to find the person who lost it.
If the item has even some notable mark or characteristics, I will even place an add in lost & found public notices. I would rather change someones life and their beliefs in humanity, than make a few dollars profit at their emotional expense. The "feel good" for a good deed never goes away. But the almighty dollar just slips through your fingers.

Just my opinion. And if anyone ever finds my lost high school class ring on that upstate New York ski slope a 'then' girlfriend lost it on, I would be forever grateful and rewarding for tracking me down and returning it. And my belief in humanity would be up several notches as well. And I can use that more than anything.
 

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ecmo

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Well stated and I totally agree.
 

GopherDaGold

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Very good post! Although I sometimes see dollar signs when digging those high tones, it's more about the fantasy of the value and historical value that drives me. I've had arguments with non-detecting friends over my refusal to sell my dug silver coins just because he is a stacker and I'm not.
Sorry, 'friend', I'm not about to give up my pristine seated dime, my banged up half dime nor my barely readable trime for any amount of money. Every time I pick up those coins I'm transported back to the days I dug them up and those memories are priceless.
Other than an eyeball find of a gold chain and pendant in Vegas recently, I've never found jewelry while detecting. If the item had identifying marks such as a class ring or engraved wedding ring I would make every effort to have it returned to the owner.
I have recently returned two dog tags and the owners were grateful to get them back. We attempted to return a third tag my wife dug last weekend but the owner politely declined because the tag was replaced so now it becomes a guilt-free keep on her first dog tag.
 

digger27

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I found a huge 18 gram gold class ring and it took me 20 minutes online to track the guy down.
It wasn't that old, just a couple of years, but I thought the kid would probably want it back or at least his parents who bought him that ring would appreciate it.
At the time gold was high at over $1800 and this ring was worth about $500 at melt price if I was to send it in to a refinery.
He seemed greatful on the phone so I was hopeful this first experience would be a good one.
It wasn't.
He took weeks to get back with me and when he finally did come by he barely said thank you when I gave it back to him.
Never offered any reward either for returning such an expensive ring, not that I would have taken it but it would have been nice if he offered.
From his attitude I got the feeling he thought I was the biggest idiot in the world for finding and then returning that ring to him.

I found two more newer class rings after that, both from the same high school but different years.
On both I tracked down the owners and called them for weeks and left messages but I was ignored.
That was it for me, I became a true pirate and decided I wasn't going to make any more effort returning lost jewelry so those two plus two more I found after that all went to the refinery where I took the money I got and bought myself a new detector and my wife a gold college ring because she couldn't afford one when she graduated.
I knew she would appreciate the effort and she did.

I will always try to return personal items to family like old dog tags and other things and many times I have taken time and spent my own gas money to go look for rings and jewelry that local people lost and never accepted any reward even when it was offered because it was good for the hobby and those made me feel good also to be appreciated.
However, if I come across jewelry in the wild I just consider it mine, now, and I sleep very well at night.
 

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Toecutter

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I found a huge 18 gram gold class ring and it took me 20 minutes online to track the guy down.
It wasn't that old, just a couple of years, but I thought the kid would probably want it back or at least his parents who bought him that ring would appreciate it.
At the time gold was high at over $1800 and this ring was worth about $500 at melt price if I was to send it in to a refinery.
He seemed greatful on the phone so I was hopeful this first experience would be a good one.
It wasn't.
He took weeks to get back with me and when he finally did come by he barely said thank you when I gave it back to him.
Never offered any reward either for returning such an expensive ring, not that I would have taken it but it would have been nice if he offered.
From his attitude I got the feeling he thought I was the biggest idiot in the world for finding and then returning that ring to him.

I found two more newer class rings after that, both from the same high school but different years.
On both I tracked down the owners and called them for weeks and left messages but I was ignored.
That was it for me, I became a true pirate and decided I wasn't going to make any more effort returning lost jewelry so those two plus two more I found after that all went to the refinery where I took the money I got and bought myself a new detector and my wife a gold college ring because she couldn't afford one when she graduated.
I knew she would appreciate the effort and she did.

I will always try to return personal items to family like old dog tags and other things and many times I have taken time and spent my own gas money to go look for rings and jewelry that local people lost and never accepted any reward even when it was offered because it was good for the hobby and those made me feel good also to be appreciated.
However, if I come across jewelry in the wild I just consider it mine, now, and I sleep very well at night.

Well said sir!! and I agree 100%, I dont have a problem with people that return items but I dont feel it should be expected of me...:skullflag: Arrr I also sleeps very well....
 

smallfoot

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Returns are another form of treasure hunting. It's treasure to see the surprise on their faces! I've only had 2 returns in about 40 years, both rings. Had good clues on the lost spot and went right to the ring on each account. That was a great post Chip! Keep it up! Others feel the same...
 

digger27

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May 18, 2011
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Well said sir!! and I agree 100%, I dont have a problem with people that return items but I dont feel it should be expected of me...:skullflag: Arrr I also sleeps very well....

Thanks.
I also have no problem with people that go to small, or even great lengths, to return things...hats off to them if they think it is the right thing to to for themselves.
I was so upset and disillusioned after that first one I just don't need to to have that feeling in my life, again.
What I do have an issue with are the intense, holier than thou types that I have seen dwelling on these forums over the years that have chimed in on these kind of threads and have called everyone garbage and other worse names that choose not to make any effort to return found items.
There have been a few over the years.
Like who made them God where they feel the need to tell other people how to live their lives?

To each their own, I say.
 

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CCDAMEEK

CCDAMEEK

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Thanks.
I also have no problem with people that go to small, or even great lengths, to return things...hats off to them if they think it is the right thing to to for themselves.
I was so upset and disillusioned after that first one I just don't need to to have that feeling in my life, again.
What I do have an issue with are the intense, holier than thou types that I have seen dwelling on these forums over the years that have chimed in on these kind of threads and have called everyone garbage and other worse names that choose not to make any effort to return found items.
There have been a few over the years.
Like who made them God where they feel the need to tell other people how to live their lives?

To each their own, I say.

digger27, So far, there has been none of "holier than thou" statements or name calling in this thread, and I sure hope that that type of post is kept away from this thread that I started. Also, I or no one else is trying to tell anyone how to live their lives.
I am also very sorry that your personal attempts at returning class rings, was met by individuals who clearly didn't care about them. But as you wrote, you have had the pleasure of finding jewelry for people who sought you out, which means the jewelry meant something to them. And their responses were obviously MUCH different. AND it felt good!
It's kind of like if you are entering a public building or store, and you see someone coming up behind you. So you politely stand there and hold the door open for them and they just walk right past you like you are a doorman. Happens to me all the time in today's society. But when you do the same for someone, and they say Thank You, or, as an elderly lady said to me just last week " Your Momma raised you right"! Well, I'll still keep holding doors for others, young and old, and hope to influence others and make strangers have just a little better of a day. Because I believe you sow what you reap. You get what you give.

Most jewelry that we all find is untraceable. Very seldom anymore are people paying to have initials or names engraved on it, so the vast majority of it is clearly "finders keepers". But as I said, if I find something that can be returned, it will be. For as long as I am able to swing a detector. Because if someone I know and care about ever loses something of emotional or monetary value to them, that has broken their heart to lose, well I hope someone that feels the same way as I do finds it.

Do unto others as you would have done unto you. Learned that way back in public school, first grade probably. Guess I did get something out of school.

I am not a practicing religious man either, that's just my opinion. I wish you, and all my fellow detectorists years of successful detecting!
 

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CCDAMEEK

CCDAMEEK

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Returns are another form of treasure hunting. It's treasure to see the surprise on their faces! I've only had 2 returns in about 40 years, both rings. Had good clues on the lost spot and went right to the ring on each account. That was a great post Chip! Keep it up! Others feel the same...

Thanks smallfoot. Wouldn't mind hearing from a few more of them 'others' here!
:occasion14:
 

digger27

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digger27, So far, there has been none of "holier than thou" statements or name calling in this thread, and I sure hope that that type of post is kept away from this thread that I started. Also, I or no one else is trying to tell anyone how to live their lives.
I am also very sorry that your personal attempts at returning class rings, was met by individuals who clearly didn't care about the them. But as you wrote, you have had the pleasure of finding jewelry for people who sought you out, which means the jewelry meant something to them. And their responses were obviously MUCH different. AND it felt good!
It's kind of like if you are entering a public building or store, and you see someone coming up behind you. So you politely stand there and hold the door open for them and they just walk right past you like you are a doorman. Happens to me all the time in today's society. But when you do the same for someone, and they say Thank You, or, as an elderly lady said to me just last week " Your Momma raised you right"! Well, I'll still keep holding doors for others, young and old, and hope to influence others and make strangers have just a little better of a day. Because I believe you sow what you reap. You get what you give.

Most jewelry that we all find is untraceable. Very seldom anymore are people paying to have initials or names engraved on it, so the vast majority of it is clearly "finders keepers". But as I said, if I find something that can be returned, it will be. For as long as I am able to swing a detector. Because if someone I know and care about ever loses something of emotional or monetary value to them, that has broken their heart to lose, well I hope someone that feels the same way as I do finds it.

Do unto others as you would have done unto you. Learned that way back in public school, first grade probably. Guess I did get something out of school.

I am not a practicing religious mane either, that's just my opinion. I wish you, and all my fellow detectorists years of successful detecting!

Great!
Do what ya wanna do that makes you happy!
In no way was I referring to you or your nicely written and thoughtful post, just wanted to respectfully give a different point of view since the way you posted seemed to be in the form of an op-ed so a different point of view might add to the discussion and hopefully a bit more dimension to the discourse.
I hope I accomplished that, again, respectfully.

What I was referring to were on other forums and I haven't seen militant behavior like that for awhile but have been on these forums for about 10 years now and have been witness to some pretty heated threads that definitely had some, let's just say, really bad and insulting behavior.
I doubt you will find them though because most were eventually heavily edited or totally deleted.

Mature discussion can be a helpful and enlightening thing, sometimes, and I enjoy that.
Plus, op-eds are supposed to inspire, teach, inform and sometimes even change people's minds and in this case I can assure you YOUR post has.
If I am ever in upstate NY and find that lost class ring of yours I am going to come close to killing myself getting it back to you.
Check that...I will die trying to get it back to you.
I now happen to know the sad history of that particular ring so no guy out there would, or could, expect anything less.

Bros gotta stick together.

Also, despite the fact that I obviously have a lot more pirate blood in me than you do and prefer to keep most of my ill gotten booty I also still open doors for people.
I am a pirate, not an animal.
 

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CASPER-2

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https://www.flickr.com/photos/casper-2/

you'll find a couple of stories i wrote on returns here

https://www.flickr.com/photos/casper-2/

Ive made many over the yrs - most positive but have had a few not so much
I have had awesome karma from returns - either same day or next hunt i have been rewarded with a gold or 2
at least 9 out of 10 times and Ihave made at least 30 jewelry returns over the yrs as well as other items
I have never taken a reward - but to each their own - i have friends that are retired and make an extra living
doing lost & founds for a fee :icon_thumleft:
 

zombie

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I have had no luck with a find that I had this summer (not that it was an expensive ring) but I did contact the locals to see if there were anyone looking for it based on description.
I have always wondered about insurance though. I remember many moons ago a friend getting his rather expensive bicycle stolen and his parents claiming on their insurance and getting almost the full value back. Fast forward a few months and the bike gets found, still in like new condition and returned. He had yet to replace it and he kept the almost $ 3000 from the insurance company.
Imagine losing your $10,000 wedding ring, claiming on your insurance then a while later a nice pirate shows up at your door with it..... Thank you very much, here is a nice bottle of wine for you returning it.
I wonder how often that happens?
 

digger27

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I have had no luck with a find that I had this summer (not that it was an expensive ring) but I did contact the locals to see if there were anyone looking for it based on description.
I have always wondered about insurance though. I remember many moons ago a friend getting his rather expensive bicycle stolen and his parents claiming on their insurance and getting almost the full value back. Fast forward a few months and the bike gets found, still in like new condition and returned. He had yet to replace it and he kept the almost $ 3000 from the insurance company.
Imagine losing your $10,000 wedding ring, claiming on your insurance then a while later a nice pirate shows up at your door with it..... Thank you very much, here is a nice bottle of wine for you returning it.
I wonder how often that happens?

Jostens, one of the largest ring suppliers, automatically gives you a 4 year lost warranty and for $30 will bump that up to 10 years.
They will offer you a one time deal to get the same ring at a heavily reduced cost if you lose it during that time period.
I bet a whole lot of clumsy or forgetful people have taken advantage of this deal over the decades.

I believe a whole lot of thoughtful and kind hunters have returned class rings to owners that already had their ring replaced but never mentioned that fact.
Just the way some people are.
 

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az46

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I have a class ring that I found and can't seem to find the guy.I even called the cops in hopes of some help(first time in my life) no help.Very frustrated!It even has his full name engraved on the inside.Anyone no what I'm doing wrong?

Thanks!
 

Bodkin

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I have a class ring that I found and can't seem to find the guy.I even called the cops in hopes of some help(first time in my life) no help.Very frustrated!It even has his full name engraved on the inside.Anyone no what I'm doing wrong?

Thanks!
Class rings usually have the school name on them. Contact the school, give them the name on the ring and your #. They usually can track the student down. If not, they usually have the names and #s of the former students who coordinate the class reunions too. God knows, they've been tracking me down for years. Way better than the IRS.
 

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CCDAMEEK

CCDAMEEK

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I have a class ring that I found and can't seem to find the guy.I even called the cops in hopes of some help(first time in my life) no help.Very frustrated!It even has his full name engraved on the inside.Anyone no what I'm doing wrong?

Thanks!
I'll bet if you post good photos of the ring here and list the inscribed name, you would have a whole bunch of forum members rushing to be the first one to find something for you! I'd be one of them....... There are a lot of class rings that only have initials for the school name, but this forum reaches many places!
 

Megalodon

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I respectfully disagree with the assumption that those of us who do not return class rings are motivated only by "the almighty dollar" to affect our decision to not return a long lost ring. I have class rings going back to the 1940's. I won't return them. I saw a friend arrested when he arranged to return a class ring he found at a fairgrounds. When he showed up at the woman's home at the arranged time, he was arrested and charged with theft. He was acquitted in court but had to spend more money than you spent on your metal detectors to defend himself from a false charge.

I have returned many pocketbooks, purses, wallets, and many other things when the owner could be identified, even tools lost on the highway and inscribed with the owner's name. But I resent the way you frame the argument in favor of returning rings as one of greed vs being a "good person". It is not that simple. I owe nobody an apology for protecting myself from false arrest by corrupt cops and insurance scams by property owners. And I sleep very fine at night, thank you.
 

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Keppy

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"There are those who only see dollar signs when they find someone's lost treasures. Even in those instances where there are easy ways, or not so easy ways, to track down the person who lost the item. If those detectorists could understand that the heartfelt smile, excitement, and gratitude from a person who lost something dear to them, easily trumps the almighty dollar sign (no political pun intended), they would see a little bit nicer world around them." And, possibly, just maybe, would change the way they would handle a similar thing.
.
Well about 90% of our finds is something someone lost. So for me to waste my time trying to find the owner of a lost item .. That is not my job it is there job not to be so careless ...So my self i do not have the time to go looking for people that lost a item.In my 40 + years of hunting i never looked for the owner of a item and never will.. I feel that if you want to hunt someone down i do not care so... I do not like being told i should hunt someone down and it is what it is..It is like if i like something you should like it also and if i do not like something you should not like it .. That is the way a lot of people think. Treasure hunters code " FINDERS KEEPERS LOSER WEEPERS"
 

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CCDAMEEK

CCDAMEEK

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I respectfully disagree with the assumption that those of us who do not return class rings are motivated only by "the almighty dollar" to affect our decision to not return a long lost ring. I have class rings going back to the 1940's. I won't return them. I saw a friend arrested when he arranged to return a class ring he found at a fairgrounds. When he showed up at the woman's home at the arranged time, he was arrested and charged with theft. He was acquitted in court but had to spend more money than you spent on your metal detectors to defend himself from a false charge.

I have returned many pocketbooks, purses, wallets, and many other things when the owner could be identified, even tools lost on the highway and inscribed with the owner's name. But I resent the way you frame the argument in favor of returning rings as one of greed vs being a "good person". It is not that simple. I owe nobody an apology for protecting myself from false arrest by corrupt cops and insurance scams by property owners. And I sleep very fine at night, thank you.

Point taken with possibly poor wording of 'almighty dollar'.
You make me curious though on why found purses, wallets, and other things, make you feel safe to return, but an engraved ring scares the B'Jesus out of you. But you are correct. There is nothing compelling anyone to return something found. Just the individuals personal beliefs.

Peace, and happy digging...
 

Megalodon

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Point taken with possibly poor wording of 'almighty dollar'.
You make me curious though on why found purses, wallets, and other things, make you feel safe to return, but an engraved ring scares the B'Jesus out of you. But you are correct. There is nothing compelling anyone to return something found. Just the individuals personal beliefs.

Peace, and happy digging...

That is a fair point. I'm sure seeing my friend arrested has a lot to do with my attitude. I have never looked at a found ring the same way and he hasn't either! In his case, he stopped hunting places where a modern ring was more likely to be found and concentrated on CW sites. He has 5 gallon buckets full of bullets. They can't be moved.

I'm not 100% comfortable returning wallets, pocketbooks etc - because there is always a chance the owner might make an accusation that cash was removed. Most are found at parking lots and i just return them to the store. If on the road, I'll call and ask the person to pick it up. I won't arrange a pick-up at their location that could wind up being a set-up.
 

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