Gold 64 Class Ring, White Gold Initial Ring, 1949 Franklyn, 1943 Quarter, etc.

[Ant]

I conducted two 3 hour hunts yesterday, one in the morning and one after lunch. I arrived on location to find that the developer had scraped off about 6” of the top soil strata.

That was good, as I was able to hunt the areas I had already found keepers at. And what do you know. I find a Gold 1964 class ring and a 1943 quarter within a 10 square foot area. On previous hunts I found a silver pilot badge, a junk ring, buffalo nickel, and other silver coins not far away. After I hunted out this area out, I headed to where I had previously found a buffalo nickel, 2 war nickels, 4 Rossies and wheats. And bingo, from the same hole I net a 1949 Ben Franklyn Half Dollar and 2 Roose’s.

Now I’m pumped, but pooped, so I head out for lunch. When I return, I start off where I left off. And as luck and skill would have it, I net what I believe is a white gold ring, with an initial on it (W or M). I don’t see a mark, but it’s not corroded and it doesn’t look like the silver that comes from this area. What do you think? Remember, before the scrape, these rings where down about 10” to 11”.

I’ve yet to clean the class ring, or anything for that matter. Besides the date, I can tell what High School it’s from and it’s Mascot. But as soon as I do clean them, I’ll post better pictures. But if I was to post an unedited picture of the ring, that would surely give my area away.

HH
I’ve already posted too much.

 

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[Skrimpy]

You’re insinuating that I’m a scumbag or whatever. I think I’m going to just keep it. It’s more important to me than someone who lost it over 40 years ago and who has long forgot about it.

The 10k (42% gold) class ring weights in at 2.6 dwt, not even worth $100.00 in scrap. I don’t even have to advertise it and I’ll still be within the Law. I think it looks much better in my Gold poke, don’t you?

HH

Wow! I want to hunt with you! You got a nice rake there! I never insinuated you were a scumbag. It weren't me. Like I said. I would return it but that is me. It's your find. Do with it what you will. I will think no less of you.

 

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[Patrol]

Some of us are in it for the 'hunt', others for the gold. Finding a class ring that is identifiable, for those of us in the 'hunt', makes it doubly exciting. We hunt for the ring, then, we get to hunt for the owner. Great fun.

You may rationalize the loss to the owner as being insignificant because it was forty years ago but to many of us a class ring was a rite of passage and usually given to us by parents or loved ones and bears a lot of sentimental value. My Mother worked in a "sweat shop" and she saved up her small salary to buy my class ring and I keep in near to my heart. I reminds me of how selfless she was. I am not saying that the owner of the ring you have would be appreciative of your find. I am saying that it's long absence may not have diminished it's importance to the owner.

For those of us who are in it for the hunt often think less of a person that doesn't give it a good effort to return the ring. That's where "Karma" comes in.

I apologize for the lecture but wanted you to know how many of us may feel about your decision.

T

 

[Montana Jim]

I appreciate everyone's OWN decision... but I don't believe in "karma".

I do have my own beliefs though... and so do all of you. I am extremaly inerested in what I find... I always want to know every detail! I obsess over "who drove that nail". That's not to say I'm returning everything either. I am a medal detectorist, and a hobbiest, and many other things to include a treasure hunter! SO when I find treasure... I do my thing as long as it is legal.

I would prolly never advertise here that I found a valuable ring (or anything) and kept it either... my treasure - my thing.

IMHO

 

[WEIM]

AOSDC,

That's wrong....

 

[AOSDC]

I'm wrong? I don't think so. I have values, unlike some people in here who don't care and keep things for their own personal greed.

Most rings don't have any letters or the High school and date of graduation and can't be tracked, but we are talking about a class ring with initials/high school/date of graduation in them.

People who keep an identifiable object that can be tracked to its owner is definately a SCUMBAG!!!!! Unless they already tried to no avail...

Nice of you to be a model for the Metal Detectorist code of ethics

 

[relikhunter]

Nice finds and story.....Glad you could get out and hunt!!!!rh

 

[Montana Jim]

I'm wrong?   I don't think so.  I have values, unlike some people in here who don't care and keep things for their own personal greed.

Most rings don't have any letters or the High school and date of graduation and can't be tracked, but we are talking about a class ring with initials/high school/date of graduation in them.

People who keep an identifiable object that can be tracked to its owner is definately a SCUMBAG!!!!!  Unless they already tried to no avail...

Nice of you to be a model for the Metal Detectorist code of ethics

WOW!!!!  LMAO I've never been called a name for having an opinion!

Will it make you even more angry if I say: "Maybe they should not have lost that oh-so-freaking-important-valuable ring in the first place.  Life happens.  I dont walk around all day enjoying my hobby to spend the next day giving stuff back.  I found it... I keep it... probebly, because maybe I will return it, maybe I won't!!"

Will you also return every Spanish coin you found to the Spanish government? You should... they own it.

Will you return a five dollar bill to the treasury?  You should, it's marked... they own it.  

Do you send old railroad locks back to the railroad?  It has the RR name on it... they own it.

Sorry this turned into the post where I got someone elses values crammed down my throat.  I'm also sorry if someone shattered your illusions that everyone with a metal detector is the liberator and return police of all things lost!  

 

[Old Tom]

Re: Gold 64 Class Ring, White Gold Initial Ring, 1949 Franklyn, 1943 Quarter, et

Ant/HH - Nice picture of your hand full of treasure. That ring does make a nice addition to your collection. ( I hope you don’t mind me showing you a picture too,the picture is not as good of quality as yours, what camera do you use)


AOSDC – You posted “I'm wrong? I don't think so. I have values, unlike some people in here who don't care and keep things for their own personal greed.

You say you have good values but you call people scumbags, just because they don’t feel the same as you over what is right or wrong. I won’t call you names, but I don’t think you should either. Are you really saying all people that don’t have the exact same value system as you are scumbags?

Daydream - You posted – “I apologize for the lecture but wanted you to know how many of us may feel about your decision”.

I am not sure whom you are referring to; when you say “many of us” I have been in the hobby for over 20 years and know there are both types of people. Those who like to find the owners and those who like to keep the items for their own collection. Why not except both.

Yes there are times it looks good for the hobby if a ring gets returned to the owner. But realistically most, if not all, times the person who lost the ring; never knows it has been found. Which means it does not reflect badly on the hobby either.

I believe most people get into this hobby to find treasure, things of value. In most cases the laws allow us to keep those items. Why would it bother anyone if another person chooses to keep or return the items?

 

[Ant]

Thanks again everyone.

Hi Old Tom.

All of those rings are great finds to say the least. I’m still waiting for a male class ring to add to my collection. Thanks for posting them and for giving your valued opinion.


Hi Daydream.
I believe you’re right when saying that for some hunter finding the owner of a lost item is just another aspect of the hobby. But as of now I don’t subscribe to it. If this makes some think less of me, so be it. I’ll still keep posting my finds as long as the powers that be don’t ban me.

And as for the Karma question. I’m going to post my finds from yesterday and they should clear the Karma thing up (1936 buffalo nickel, 41 war nickel, 47 nickel, oldest wheat was 1920 and a junk Avon ring). End.

The spot I’m hunting is getting harder to hunt, because everything has been skimmed off the top already, but I’m still finding treasure. I’m using the trends that I have noticed. Most of the signals are iffy.

I’m like a Leprechaun, now where’s me gold.

HH

 

[Skrimpy]

We hunt for the ring, then, we get to hunt for the owner. Great fun.
For those of us who are in it for the hunt often think less of a person that doesn't give it a good effort to return the ring. That's where "Karma" comes in.

I've tracked down several very distant relatives for genealogical purposes, and yes it is great fun. It's even more fun when they don't believe you know more about their family than they do (when you actually do) and ask, "How did you find me?". That's quite fun...but gold is more fun and I would rather find the unmarked gold rings because I will feel guilty. If you don't feel guilty...keep it. If I didn't I wouldn't return it either.

 

[cheese]

Nice finds!

I haven't found a class ring yet. I'm not sure if I want to, ha! If I did, and it had useable info on it, I'd probably make some effort to return it...but that's me. I also can see the merit behind the "we are treasure hunters, not treasure returners" philosophy. If it doesn't feel right to keep it, then it's a moral issue to you. If it does feel right to keep it, then I don't think it's a moral issue, just another nice find. In any case, it's none of our jobs to judge.

I think I'd have moral issues with myself for calling people scumbags and greedy theives on a public forum just for not holding my beliefs though.

I don't believe in Karma either...I believe in Jesus. For those who don't know, Karma is part of Buddhist and Hindu philosophy and religion.

 

[Patrol]

Let me get this straight. It's up the the individual to decide what is right or wrong based on his moral perspective? There are no universal values, just what he makes of them at that point and time? And, if someone makes a value judgement about another person's moral behavior then he is the immoral one because he made a judgement that was negative? Interesting perspective. Note:

"In philosophy, moral relativism is the position that moral or ethical propositions do not reflect absolute and universal moral truths, but instead make claims relative to social, cultural, historical or personal circumstances. Moral relativists hold that no universal standard exists by which to assess an ethical proposition's truth. Relativistic positions often see moral values as applicable only within certain cultural boundaries or in the context of individual preferences. An extreme relativist position might suggest that judging the moral or ethical judgments or acts of another person or group has no meaning, though most relativists propound a more limited version of the theory."

This is a forum - an exchange of ideas between individuals. Though calling someone a "scumbag" is extreme, it is his opinion. I wouldn't advocate saying it. If you look past his harsh words you would see that he felt there were a set of universal moral values and that they were being broken.

As for "Karma", I believe it was being used in the vernacular, not in a religious sense. It is street slang for "The right and wrong you do comes back to you in rewards or punishment". You are safe from the Buddhists.

 

[Ridley]

Re: Gold 64 Class Ring, White Gold Initial Ring, 1949 Franklyn, 1943 Quarter, et

That's all well and good, but on the flip side, sometimes this happens.

My buddy found a class ring near a lake. He called the high school. Got the guys name. Looked up his number. Tracked him down. Called him and offered the ring back.

The next day two detectives knocked on the door with a warrant, threatening to seize my buddys entire collection of years worth of finds.

It turns out the ring had been stolen at one point and the guy just called the cops. After that experience my friend sends all class rings directly to the refinery.

Do you blame him?


Ridley

 

[Montana Jim]

I've been watching, and contributing to this post...

and while I do not agree with you all - I appreciate you all.

Thanks for standing and being heard.

 

[N.J.THer]

I'm new to the hobby and have not found a class ring yet....two nice gold rings (one with 19 diamonds) but no class rings.

When I do find one and come to that crossroads in my diggin career I will have two choices. Return the ring or keep it for myself. If I return it I will receive total consciousness on my death bed and if I keep it I need to buy a 'scumbag' to put it in. I may actually lose a full nights sleep over this one.

My opinion - do with as you see fit. If it was me I would try to return it but it is not me. I don't know if karma exists but if Fate exists then wear it on a necklace around your neck and if anyone every approaches you then states that they lost a ring just like it forty years ago in the area you found it then you take the ring off the necklace and hand it over. At the end of the day it does not effect the price of tea in china or maybe it does...hmmmm.

Happy hunting and I hope you all find class rings so you can decide for yourself what to do with them....

 

[cheese]

Daydream,

This isn't really the place to get into this discussion, but to clarify my thoughts...

I am not a moral relativist. There are guidelines set for us as to what is right and wrong. There are also commandments for us to abide by. Some matters fall into a grey area, where we must use our interpretation of these guidelines coupled with our conscience to develop our sense of right and wrong for the specific occasion. For example: The man who believes it is wrong to eat red meat is sinning if he eats red meat, but the man who doesn't think there is anything wrong with it may eat it without worry. (as long as he doesn't become a stumbling block by eating it in front of the man who believes it is wrong). This is biblical.

As for the value judgement, yes, I think name-calling is a poor way of communicating that we disagree. Disagreeing and criticism is one thing, but calling someone a scumbag is another. No good came from it and I personally would be ashamed to do it. Do you think it's good moral ethics to call people scumbags because they don't think the same way you do?

As detectorists, we are always finding something that once belonged to someone else. I imagine that many things we find can be traced to the original owner if we exerted enough effort in research. If I find a silver spoon with a monogrammed W on the handle in a vacant lot...should I research what homes might have been built on the lot, who owned the homes through the years, who might have ahad the name to correspond with the initial, and their heirs, and proceed to hunt down the people wherever they may be on this earth and contact them with my wishes to return their spoon? If I don't, am I a greedy thief and scumbag?


Ant, I hope you don't mind this tangent that the discussion has taken. The tangent was taken before I came in, but I am contributing. If you don't want any of this in your thread, let me know. I don't want to be part of hijacking your thread.

 

[packerbacker]

Great finds ant. You better do as Nash suggests and get 'er done. That spot won't be there long.

 

[Ant]

Thanks to all of those who respect my RIGHTS because I will always respect yours.

I think Daydream wrote one of the best statements so far:

Some of us are in it for the 'hunt', others for the gold.

I’m in for the gold, simple. And if it where you that expended your hard labor to find it, you might think different too. As most of us know, Gold makes some people do strange things. As for me, I keep all the gold I find no matter what.

Another thing, most of the gold finds I have must have had sentimental value to the ones who lost it. Because any gift of gold means something deeply to those who receive it.

So if you live in SoCal, and you loose gold, keep an eye on the lost and found section of your local news paper and contact your local Police Dept to see if it’s been reported. I post and report all of my finds valued at $100.00 or more. Isn’t that moral?

aka, Ant the Leprechaun, now where’s me Gold.

P.S.
AOSDC, I think you need to be Teabaged for calling me a scumbag. Ha Ha Ha........

 

[damz68]

Never found a class ring or anything that has a name on it, if I did, I WOULD return it. If I was down to my last dime I would return it. I dont believe in karma or even any sort of afterlife. To me it would be so satisfying to hand a lost item back to the owner. Do I think any less of someone who wants to keep everything they find, NO. We, humans are greedy by nature. The whole hobby is as greedy! The whole reason there are laws against metal detecting is greed. I guess that makes me greedy too, I am to an extent.

Even though I have nothing againt anyone, no matter what color, creed, religious preferance, political preferance, sexual preferance, greedy or not greedy. I find it a little funny that the atheist, myself, would return a lost item. However, I would be happy to hunt with any of you, any time.

 

[Old Tom]

Re: Gold 64 Class Ring, White Gold Initial Ring, 1949 Franklyn, 1943 Quarter, et

Ant - I am with you, I am in this hobby for the gold. It is not even the money, I am sure I would make more money by working the same hours as I put into metal detecting. I retired early so I can enjoy myself. I sold some of my gold once, but don't think I will sell any again. I plan on putting it all in a big treasure chest, then putting it back into the ground someplace, with a map for my grandkids.

So I am not sure if greed really comes into it. I like seeing the items I have found. Also I like seeing your hand full of treasure Ant, I hope it multiplies many times over the coming years.

I Don't think the members here saying it is NOT okay to find the owner of a lost class and return it, if that is what you choose to do. Just some member choose not to look for the owner, that is not why they are in this hobby. I myself, I am wanting to build the largest collection of rings that I can.

Maybe some of the members are not looking at what the treasure trove laws are saying. Treasure trove laws allow us to keep lost items. Each state is a little different, but basically if some one gives up the search for a lost item, then we can spend our time and money to recover it. Those people that lost their class rings also have the option to purchase a metal detector and find their own ring, I would if I had lost mine and knew where it was. Seems like most choose not to look for it. So these treasure trove laws allow us to search and recover lost treasure. Those laws don't say, " Oh if you can find the owner you should give it back."

As in the case of the USS Central American that went down in 1857. It was found off the coast of South Carolina in 1988, most of the owners and their insurance companies were known. Some of them (descendants and insurances companies) tried to make claim to what was recovered, they all lost, the courts said the treasure belongs to those that found it. And that was hundreds of millions in gold.

So if are laws say it is okay to keep those class rings, and the individual that found it do not feel it is wrong, then it is not wrong.

Again if some are calling others scumbags or thief's or that it is somehow wrong, maybe they need to look deep inside themselves and ask, why do I think others are wrong if they do not think exactly like me.