Ethics question regarding finds

[Libralabsoldier]

If on private property, I would at least offer. If someone shows greed, no more hunting there. Pure and simple. A little generosity goes a long way.

 

[One mans trash...]

Gary's was the only response that can be called a universally truthful answer. Everyone knows what they believe they should do. That doesn't mean they will do it, but they have their own sense of what's right. They only differ from others who believe as they do in their determination to do it. You can't argue it out logically. Every point has a counter-point. I suspect the vast majority considers that valuable jewelry was likely lost by the owners and will ask them if it's theirs, even knowing that some people will lie and that they have no way of knowing if it's a lie. I think most would, if it occurred to them, be willing to tell owners up front that part of the hobby is showing off what they find, and that it's usually coins and odd junk that go into their Found box. None of it would be likely to be found unless you hunted.

It's the same with lying. I don't. My choice is strictly for me, not for the people I could lie to. If I have to lie to do something that doesn't involve preventing great harm, I figure it's not worth doing. Others may choose to lie on the grounds that there's no harm that hasn't already been done. If I know that, I personally don't have any more to do with them than I can help, but I wouldn't presume to argue it with them by any logic. I just can't see paying someone who did you a favor with a lie.

 

[WheatbackDigger]

That is a great question. Most people are into metal detecting for the monetary gain period. I like the "hunt" but don't really care about how many coins I collect. I take photos of them, post them on my website or here. Most folks don't want anything I find though I offer them my finds. I am really torn about the question of public property and the taking of artifacts from these lands. Last summer some guys (from the west coast) came into our 200 year old village green pulled several dozen coins out of there in a day. I was talking to them and they found some coins dating back to 1810. They didn't have permission, and one part of me was pissed because I wouldn't have the b*lls to hunt a public park without permission. Then I was thinking that the residents of the village were having some of their heritage taken by people out of the area. Would it be ok for someone to go to the old graveyard (right near the park) and take an ornate headstone that was toppled over - probably not. I like detecting, however there is a really creepy crowd who are all consumed by the monetary issue. Anyways- good topic and makes one think.

You really lost me with this post and I disagee with your thought process completey. Most hobbyist are into MD'ing for the thrill of the hunt, including me. I know it isn't a "get rich" scheme. Anything found with a monetary value is just an added bonus. I won't be retiring anytime soon. I travel to other towns, cities and states to detect. If out-of- towners want to detect my small town, Good Luck to them and I will more than be happy to join them. Public parks around here are just that...opened to the public. I don't need permission to go eat my lunch at a picnic table, just like I don't need permission to detect. If I find something that I can identify the owner (ie class rings, engraved jewelry) I make every effort to find the rightful owner. Coins lost over 100 years ago, I am sure the person is long gone and won't miss that seated dime. "Creepy crowd who are consumed by monetary issue" I really never met anyone like this. Like I stated, most people are in it for the hunt and bringing history to the surface. Robbing a graveyard? Now that is creepy. You are comparing apples to oranges

Now to the original poster, if there is an agreement before hand, than that agreement needs to be honored. If a piece of jewelry or similar item that is known to be lost, and is recovered, I would return that to the property owner under any agreement even if the property owner specified I could keep everything. If the property owner gave me permission to keep 100% of my finds and I found a 120 year old cache full of silver and gold coins......who knows what I would do then, I may just turn into one of the "creepy crowd people" consumed by the monetary issue.

 

[Mainedigger]

I don;t sell any of my finds, but I do collect em. I am up front with the property owners...I tell them I want to keep any and all coins and or relics I find and if I find anything I think belongs to the family such as jewelry or other keepsakes then I am more than happy to return them. I have returned many rings and military medals etc to the family and where I lvie in a small community most here know I will return things thus I;ve never had a problem with getting permission or with what is to be done with what I find.

 

[TerryC]

I always offer the land owner to at least look at what I find, most of the time they're not interested.
and the ones that do want to see, thinks it's nice to find something but not interested in keeping anything

I agree with Tom. Lost coins are "abandonned property". Headstones are not. All the county and city parks in Milwaukee are free to hunt. It is implied, and expected that the hunter will keep his rewards. Personal, returnable, items excepted, I will keep all finds without guilt.Hey Tom.... Did you know it is against the law to pick the CA poppy.... no matter where it is growing TTC

If you dig on public land then you will probably be violating some code in many towns, cities, states. In New York it illeagal to take anything off state land that is older than 50 years. The idea that one can take anything from public land is not valid in many area of the country. My point about the gravestones is that they are on public land and (in this particular case have been abandoned) so with your logic it would be ok to remove those too. Like I said there are some creepy people out there.

Haedstones abbandon? no. NEGLECTED? some, but not abbandoned....TTC

 

[thrillathahunt]

"The idea that one can take anything off of public land is not valid in most areas of the country"

Yeah, all the stuff in the ground belongs to the "people" right?

We don't live in the Peoples Republc of America.....yet.

 

[Noodle]

I don't recall seeing this question discussed, but here it is. When old, possibly valuble coins are discovered, should the property owner be notified? I ask this as I'm fairly new to MDing and have had a couple guilty pangs when the owner comes up and asks, "find anything?'
I kept the silver halves in my pocket, and showed off the wheats!

Any input appreciated.

You probably haven't seen this question discussed because most MDers on here are honest and know internally how to respond to that situation, so don't address it on the open market. The rest don't discuss it; they just do what they feel is best for them. Without offense meant, you sound like you're in the second category: do what's best for you.

Don't forget, you said it: "Any input appreciated."

Quite honestly, you're a shame to the MDing community.

If you do not own the property you are hunting, and you go out and get permission to hunt that property, and the owner then asks you what you found, and you LIE to him/her about what you found, under the delusion you may not be able to keep what you found or not be able to hunt it again, you're a deceitful fool. You know why? One reason is because if you opened up entirely and told that land owner what you found, chances are he/she would say, "Hey, that's great! Show me! Here, let me show you where there's more possibilities!"
You don't even get to that point. You steal before you're even given the opportunity to ENJOY! You've just stolen from others ... and ultimately, from yourself, because the door is now closed to that property. What a shame!

The other reason is, you care nothing about the land or the owners or the history; you just want what you can find on their land. And never given any thought that what you find is valuable to the history of the land they live on. Incidentals they would like to share. Find a half dollar? What year was it? "Oh, my great-great grandfather lived in that time. He was the original owner of this land and built this house. I wonder if he was the one who dropped it."

And you just crammed it in your pocket and showed them the newer pennies? Nice....

Ever given any thought to just being honest? What a concept!!! Try it. Twice. You'll be amazed!

I'll shut up now. Some folks absolutely ... ******* me. -Noodle

 

[Likely Guy]

Are you gonna listen to your conscience?

 

[ryaan21]

Dont listen to the people trying to make you feel bad. You dont owe anyone anything. Thats the diff between finding something nice and giving away something nice.

Ive been thinking about doing an experiment.

My buddy has some old gold coins that he got a long time ago. Ive been thinking about "leaking" a story to the press about me "finding" them. Not sure where I should say I found them but I would like to get a place with maximum exposure to draw out the greedy pricks. My friend who works for the paper said he would help me set it up and turn it into a piece on greed and peoples sense of entitlement.


If someone hasnt taken the time to hunt their own property and isnt smart enough to draw up a contract before you swing your machine.....you owe them nothing and as a bonus you dont even need to feel bad.

To many people here are getting the "so afraid" blues. I cant imagine how they live their lives while being so emotionally cripple.

To many busy bodies hang out on this board.

Example: A post in the not to distant past of a great video a member made on one of his hunts. He had permission to be on the property he was on and also had permission to dig holes. The holes he dug in the video were decent. One was a little large as the ground was full of gravel. The people who owned the land didnt mind anything he was doing. The hole looked good from what I remember.

Enter treasurenet busy body super hero #10023203932817277. Some random tool jumps this guys great post whining about the hole and the mess the guy was making. Crying like a baby over the guys technique. The person making the video made a great hole considering the conditions and the people even told him he may need a better/bigger shovel because of the gravel. So someone comming here with a great,legitly dug, find with a wonderful video is treated like a scum bag because of the "so afraid" syndrome.

The knuckle dragger who accosted him acted like he was doing the world a favor when its people like THAT who give this hobby a bad name. Busy bodies with no lives running their manpleasers about someone elses buisness. Another reason why this board and 90% of its people are failures.

 

[TerryC]

Dont listen to the people trying to make you feel bad. You dont owe anyone anything. Thats the diff between finding something nice and giving away something nice.

Ive been thinking about doing an experiment.

My buddy has some old gold coins that he got a long time ago. Ive been thinking about "leaking" a story to the press about me "finding" them. Not sure where I should say I found them but I would like to get a place with maximum exposure to draw out the greedy pricks. My friend who works for the paper said he would help me set it up and turn it into a piece on greed and peoples sense of entitlement.


If someone hasnt taken the time to hunt their own property and isnt smart enough to draw up a contract before you swing your machine.....you owe them nothing and as a bonus you dont even need to feel bad.

To many people here are getting the "so afraid" blues. I cant imagine how they live their lives while being so emotionally cripple.

To many busy bodies hang out on this board.

Example: A post in the not to distant past of a great video a member made on one of his hunts. He had permission to be on the property he was on and also had permission to dig holes. The holes he dug in the video were decent. One was a little large as the ground was full of gravel. The people who owned the land didnt mind anything he was doing. The hole looked good from what I remember.

Enter treasurenet busy body super hero #10023203932817277. Some random tool jumps this guys great post whining about the hole and the mess the guy was making. Crying like a baby over the guys technique. The person making the video made a great hole considering the conditions and the people even told him he may need a better/bigger shovel because of the gravel. So someone comming here with a great,legitly dug, find with a wonderful video is treated like a scum bag because of the "so afraid" syndrome.

The knuckle dragger who accosted him acted like he was doing the world a favor when its people like THAT who give this hobby a bad name. Busy bodies with no lives running their manpleasers about someone elses buisness. Another reason why this board and 90% of its people are failures.

90 % failures? I think not. 10% failrues making 90% of the fuss might be closer to the truth.This is a great board with LOTS of great people. It has evolved in the last 10 years (my opinion) into the BEST Net board.... bar none. Now stop your crying! TTC

 

[stefen]

I don't recall seeing this question discussed, but here it is. When old, possibly valuble coins are discovered, should the property owner be notified? I ask this as I'm fairly new to MDing and have had a couple guilty pangs when the owner comes up and asks, "find anything?'
I kept the silver halves in my pocket, and showed off the wheats!

Any input appreciated.

You probably haven't seen this question discussed because most MDers on here are honest and know internally how to respond to that situation, so don't address it on the open market. The rest don't discuss it; they just do what they feel is best for them. Without offense meant, you sound like you're in the second category: do what's best for you.

Don't forget, you said it: "Any input appreciated."

Quite honestly, you're a shame to the MDing community.

If you do not own the property you are hunting, and you go out and get permission to hunt that property, and the owner then asks you what you found, and you LIE to him/her about what you found, under the delusion you may not be able to keep what you found or not be able to hunt it again, you're a deceitful fool. You know why? One reason is because if you opened up entirely and told that land owner what you found, chances are he/she would say, "Hey, that's great! Show me! Here, let me show you where there's more possibilities!"
You don't even get to that point. You steal before you're even given the opportunity to ENJOY! You've just stolen from others ... and ultimately, from yourself, because the door is now closed to that property. What a shame!

The other reason is, you care nothing about the land or the owners or the history; you just want what you can find on their land. And never given any thought that what you find is valuable to the history of the land they live on. Incidentals they would like to share. Find a half dollar? What year was it? "Oh, my great-great grandfather lived in that time. He was the original owner of this land and built this house. I wonder if he was the one who dropped it."

And you just crammed it in your pocket and showed them the newer pennies? Nice....

Ever given any thought to just being honest? What a concept!!! Try it. Twice. You'll be amazed!

I'll shut up now. Some folks absolutely ... ******* me. -Noodle

Well stated.

 

[thrillathahunt]

On private land, honesty is really the best policy. The owner of one of the properties that TC and I hunt has told us numerous times that we could hunt whenever we want, and keep whatever we find. We have attempted to show him what we have found there, but he does not even show the slightest interest. He has given us the combination to the gate and said we could come and go as we please, anytime.

Now, this is a historic property, going back to the Republic of Texas days. I believe one day that we will find something great there! If we do, we will again attempt to show it to him....even if it is a $4 Stella gold coin worth several thousands of dollars. It is exactly this mindset and honesty that has gained us permission to hunt almost anywhere in town.

On public land.......now that is a different story.

 

[ICE]

I usually am up front before the hunt about the finds and ask the owner if I can keep all the coins and jewerly I find. I do say if you lost something I will be glad to return it to you. Most owners accept that and I usually give them something that I find. Most of them are really instrested in the kids toys that I find and remember when their kids had this or that and I give them those things. I don't hide my finds from the property owner as I feel this would be dishonest. That said I have had property owners state that they want everything that I find. I suggest that they get a detector and find the items themselves as I don't do this for free I have and investment in my time and equipment. It seems there are people out there who think they deserve anything that you have found. Ice