For your sake, PLEASE DO NOT TALK TO THE POLICE

[Rawhide]

I misunderstood the post, thought it was about getting permission. The police, park rangers, care takers have always been straight up with me about getting permission to detect.

As for being falsely accused, it happens. The video is correct. The police are very skilled in their job and if your a bad guy, they gonna get you eventually. Since I am the last boyscout I dont worry about such things. If you get out of bed every day doing bad things, you can practice your fifth amendment rights. I dont have that problem. lol.

 

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[ssdevilfish]

If any of us find something that may be of value to another and it possible that with a little effort we could reunite someone with their objects, why wouldn't we attempt it? It's why I bought my first detector. I met a lady on beach as a kid who was crying looking for her wedding ring I looked all day and night. Few days later I sold my bike and bought a cheap machine from radio shack. I didn't find her ring but she saw me detecting and asked what I was doing and when I told her I was looking for her ring it brought a smile to an otherwise very sad lady and forever changed the way she looked at her hand. After that she never mentioned that ring again when she saw me. She would just smile and give me a pat on the head. And show me the new ring she had made. And that every time she looked at it it reminded her of that little curly headed kid looking and searching all day with his new metal detector. To some of you this will just be some sappy story.not to me or her, it changed my life and that nice ladies as well.

 

[xrunndonex]

Lost and found in local news. Do something. And it is ok to be goody goody. Hell you just might make someone else happy besides yourself.

I mean I'd return something upon request I'd throw a ad on cl saying will find lost stuff in ground. However if I put in the work to find something that may take hours to find I'm keeping it. If the person that lost it couldn't take 4 minutes out of their day to make a ad or read a ad about their lost valuables. Finders keepers losers wheepers. Besides if its super expensive they will most likely have it insured.

 

[xrunndonex]

If any of us find something that may be of value to another and it possible that with a little effort we could reunite someone with their objects, why wouldn't we attempt it? It's why I bought my first detector. I met a lady on beach as a kid who was crying looking for her wedding ring I looked all day and night. Few days later I sold my bike and bought a cheap machine from radio shack. I didn't find her ring but she saw me detecting and asked what I was doing and when I told her I was looking for her ring it brought a smile to an otherwise very sad lady and forever changed the way she looked at her hand. After that she never mentioned that ring again when she saw me. She would just smile and give me a pat on the head. And show me the new ring she had made. And that every time she looked at it it reminded her of that little curly headed kid looking and searching all day with his new metal detector. To some of you this will just be some sappy story.not to me or her, it changed my life and that nice ladies as well.

See if that happened and I found it I'd give it back. If there was no one on the beach it'd be mine.

 

[ssdevilfish]

It's a touchy topic. What defines true treasure? A coin from 1850 or a diamond ring from Jared's with happy anniversary my doll written inside? I believe it's a moral decision each of us should think about. When I find rings I do put ads on cl or newspaper. Never have had one person claim anything. Lol. So I've kept it. Then what about finding a hoard of Aztec gold and artifacts. Do we grab as much gold as possible knowing were on public land out of fear someone will find you or see you eventually? Then force you to give it to public museum and scholars. Tough questions. With no easy answers. But for some to say stuff like swing bleep dig grab run. Is a bad example. Or to say nothing at all. I thought detecting was suppose to be a family thing with hopes on finding cool treasures. But it seems as soon as any of us find a gold necklace or ring we don't even look first to see of ads in lost found columns in local area. Nor do we place them all the time. We should start a trend and every find should be posted and given time to be claimed. I'm dreaming of so much honesty. Lol. Could be rough to convince people. Lol. But I'm doing it.

 

[gusser]

The owner of the 1902 dime I found is long dead. It's mine. On rings with inscriptions, I agree with you. On all other stuff, MINE.

 

[cudamark]

In this country we have a constitution and we vote for our leaders and vote for new laws etc. I am alarmed and concerned by the comments about not talking to cops or notifying the proper authorities when treasure hunting on public or private property. I don't agree with all the laws in this great country and mostly those are the ones it didn't vote for. But the majority did. Ordinances and local laws are put in place to protect and serve the majority who use said services from their towns or states. If one of you goes into a city park with your detector and finds 3 old coins. Good for you. Then when your approached by law enforcement you are asked what you are doing and you say oh just looking for trinkets. Law asks what have you found? You somehow justify not telling the truth and lie and say oh just a couple of quarters so far. Law asks you to move on so you do. You just lied to a cop for no reason. Wow that's a great example. Or you find a box in a city park and dig it up. Inside is a copy of the original constitution which has been lost since 1778. Your amazed by your find. And sell it at auction for millions saying you found it at a garage sale or something. Now to the rest of us whom paid our taxes to build that park and our fathers sons daughters neighbors whom fought for that very constitution are never to enjoy what is rightfully all of ours. Found on public space sold illegally obtained fraudulently and now you feel it's ok to sit in your new million dollar home and tell stories of what a great detector of treasure you are. My example shows what can happen and may have. We all deserve to know who is on parks and using them illegally. We all deserve the right to share in any finds of significance and to claim any objects we have lost in such parks. How would you like to lose your wedding ring that has been passed down for hundreds of years only to find out later some guy detecting on the public park found it and sold it for thousands without ever thinking of the emotional and sentimental value and major impact of sadness this object has had to this family. You could have changed lives for the better but you choose to not even check if someone is hurting over their own lost treasure. I follow the law and if I get permission to detect a park (and I always ask) and I find say ten pounds of gold bars from the goldrush days or a wedding ring or anything of value I will go to local authorities I will tell newspapers and I will turn it over for investigation and wait the alotted time for anyone with a legal claim to come forward. Or whatever the LAW advises me to do. If it's in my back yard and I dig it up I will immediately put it lost and found in local paper and wait. Then put it up for auction and call it a great day detecting. I hope the newbies and youngsters who have read your words decide to read the laws first. How dare any of you pretend ignorance of the law just to hide a possible profit. My god has greed corrupted all of us. From now on I will approach all detectors I see on public property and ask who they talked to to get permission to detect here. I also will ask to see any treasures they may have found and if they will be listing these objects in the lost and found of local paper and that should be after they bring it to police to be properly handled as found valuables on public property. I am ashamed some of you here being current or retired officers have chosen to believe it's ok to just say nothing. And to the guy who compared treasure hunting to g Gordon liddy lying under oath is reprehensible. Follow the law or the law will keep on seizing equipment and passing out fines. We wonder why it's so hard to prospect mine or detect anymore. It's comments like these that law makers read and use for logical decision making. It will be our own fault if more laws are passed to restrict prospecting mining and detecting on public owned lands. Think how many minds could be changed by a bunch of metal detectors out in our parks finding lost treasures and reuniting them with some of their original owners. It's the best option to opening more grounds to prospect for treasures. It would change minds and bring a needed boost to the respect of all detectors prospectors and miners. Let's all take a second to reflect on why we even prospect to begin with. Think about a better way and more compassionate way to start reuniting some of these lost treasures and restore faith to those people. Billions of dollars will never guarantee happiness. But I would bet a billion that a lost heirloom returned to some family hit with sadness over it's loss would bring a type of happiness rarely felt more than once in a lifetime.

I agree that something which can be definitely identified, should be returned to whoever lost it, but asking permission to hunt a public park is not in anyone's best interest. Most people you ask don't know the law and just respond with whatever serves THEIR best interests. Look up the law yourself if you want to know if it's permissible or not. Turning over finds to the authorities? Please! What do you think they'll do with it? Put it in a drawer with all the other stuff they get, that's what. They don't actively try to find the owner. They just wait until someone comes in and asks for it. When they don't, they auction it off at their next property sale, assuming it doesn't get "lost" somewhere along the way. As for telling a cop, ranger, wherever, what you've found, that's ridiculous. It's none of their business if what you're doing is legal. You think what you find in a public park is theirs? In your example of finding something of great value in a park, if it wasn't for you digging it up, it likely would have rotted away and NOBODY would have been able to enjoy it. Why should the government have a say in it? they didn't bury it, they didn't spend money on your detector to find it, they didn't put in the effort to find it and dig it up. That being said, if you can determine that the item was stolen and the rightful owner can be found, I would return it, but I would avoid government involvement if possible. With our goofy ARPA laws, you're just going to bring yourself and your intentions/motives into question and scrutiny. If it's treasure trove with an uncertain previous owner, it should be yours.....period. If the government was all that hot to own it, they should have been the one to research, search, and recover it. In most case, they didn't even know it existed until you found it.

 

[yodi]

That was a great video.