Found a Barber dime and stuff... BUT...

[Rusted_Iron]

... I don't have a pic to post because I don't have the dime!

What happened is, I went with a friend of mine to his friend's house. This 'friend of a friend' gave me permission to detect.

I found:
a silver Washington quarter, 4" deep
a Barber dime, 7-8" deep
an Indian Head cent, 7" deep
a few wheat pennies
some neat relics
a bunch of modern change

But guess what, the guy kept all my finds. He even kept the modern change. That's right, he even kept the clad. It wasn't even a dollar's worth, but he kept it all.

I started out with the impression I was going to get to keep some stuff. He said we'd "work something out". In the beginning he said he might want to buy certain finds from me, well at the end he didn't even offer that. Even if it was only $10 worth of finds, it's just the idea.

So anyway, what "worked out" is, once he had everything in his possession, he wasn't too interested in further negotiation. (There are words for this but I won't say it on a family oriented forum.)

I know this has happened to other Tnetter's out there, I know I could have done the whole contract thingie, but I didn't want to make a scene or even a big production of it, because my buddy is friends w/ the guy. In fact I didn't even discuss this whole issue with my friend yet.

I did get to keep the Indian because it was pretty much a corroded slug that looked like it wouldn't clean up. So, he was like, "oh, you can keep that one".

The guy followed me everywhere, watched my every move. When he wasn't 2 feet away from me, his kid was shadowing me instead. Worse, now this guy is excited to get a metal detector, meaning I'll have yet another competitor in my area.

Sorry if I seem a little ticked off, I'll get over this and eventually just put it in the category of experience gained.

I put the Indian head cent into some olive oil, we'll see if it cleans up at all. If so I will have a pic for y'all.

About that Barber dime that I can't show you, I was pretty excited to find it, 4th one ever for me... so what I"m going to do is go and buy myself one just like it at a coin shop (it's a $3 coin in the condition I found mine, so no big deal) and put it in my 'finds' box.

 

[Rusted_Iron]

Thanks everyone for the replies. Like yall point out, at least it wasn't a gold piece or a rare date coin.

If it had been a Seated coin, even a low value one, a fistfight might have ensued. Because nobody's going to take away my first Seated find

lordmarcovan, thanks especially for your kind offer. Don't worry 'bout it though, it was a G-4 1910 Barber dime, I already ran out and got one to fill the perceived emptiness in my treasure box I look at this as a $3 lesson.

ppratt, your approach has crossed my mind too.... "There ya go, now you can have the joy of finding it yourself."

 

[birdman]

Wow that guy was a jerk! That happened to a friend of mine once. This guy gave him permission to hunt his yard and after hunting he went to offer the owner some of the loot .The owners eyes got real big and he grabbed all the old coins out of his hand and left the clad and junk. Some people are just that way I guess. Nice finds though ,I hope you don't have to go through that again. Keep digging!

 

[Blackjack77]

I always make sure the terms are spelled out in advance. Typically, on private property, the agreement is that I get to keep all coins. Any other artifacts, jewelry, etc goes to the owner. If the house or homestead is of historic significance the arrangemnt is similar, but the owner/municipality ONLY keeps artifacts of historic significance.

There is always one stipulation. It is understood that I have permission to catalog and photograph all finds prior to turning over possesion to the owner.

Oh and one other thing. When the owner asks what I found, I always reply the same: "Oh just some old coins, nothing of any real value, but thanks again for giving me permission to hunt here." Usually this is enough and no further questions are asked.

I think Neill has the right idea.
I have only hunted public and My own or Relatives property.
I'll try this idea on the next private owners place.
Do you think People actually understand that We find valuble items at times??
Or only after the fact?
Good luck next time & HH

 

[Blind.In.Texas]

Thanks everyone for the replies. Like yall point out, at least it wasn't a gold piece or a rare date coin.

If it had been a Seated coin, even a low value one, a fistfight might have ensued. Because nobody's going to take away my first Seated find

lordmarcovan, thanks especially for your kind offer. Don't worry 'bout it though, it was a G-4 1910 Barber dime, I already ran out and got one to fill the perceived emptiness in my treasure box I look at this as a $3 lesson.

ppratt, your approach has crossed my mind too.... "There ya go, now you can have the joy of finding it yourself."

doesn't matter if it was just $.04 worth of two year old clad... a douche bag is a douche bag is a doche.bag

 

[diggemall]

If this guy is serious and does buy a detector, I bet he will ask for some tips/hints/leads from you. If he asks, tell him to buzz off.

If he does, give him some good pointers - turn the sensitivity about 3/4 - 7/8 of the way up, that way you won't miss any of the weaker coin signals, Ground Balance it by turning it 1/4 of a turn past where it nulls out...............

Tell him it takes some practice to learn how to hear the differences in the signals.........

Help the guy have a great day digging lots of empty holes...............

Then you can buy his MD for a song a few weeks later on EBay.....

Oh yeah, and don't forget to invest in one of those 5000 count milk cartons of BB's - "seeding" the yard might make the hunt more intersting......

Diggem'

 

[Jeffro]

If this guy is serious and does buy a detector, I bet he will ask for some tips/hints/leads from you. If he asks, tell him to buzz off.

This is the type of guy you want to be exceptionally NICE to. Then when he wants info from you, just THINK of all the wild goose chases you can send him on....


"Oh, you're not finding much with all those EXCELLENT pointers I gave you? Hmmm..... well maybe this four thousand dollar LRL will do the trick.... Ya know, I knew a guy once had one of those things and couldn't help but pull up a gold coin every time he went out....."

 

[wisc pete]

sorry to hear your bad luck, i been through it also. i hunted a yard of a co-worker for about 8 hours in the heat a few summers ago with him on my heels. i found my first good for token. it was from a store in the next town and mostly written in german except the town name. everything i dug he had to examine, even the junk. i didnt have an agreement to keep all i find, but he didnt offer either. i also lost on a 1897 ih. wherever i hunt now if anyone shadows me, i just shut my detector off and pack up. im honest and i expect them to be as well. if i found something valuable i would tell them . one other thing i dont do is have a go between person. you should have asked this guy if you could keep all or part before detecting. a lesson well learned for you.dont get to down, theres more out there! and by the way,, im a machinist by trade, so if you need some aluminum shavings or cast iron chips let me know. lol

 

[big joe]

The guy even kept the clad ?!?!?!?!?!

 

[Jeffro]

Next time dig only iron and bottlescaps for the first half hour or so, til he gets bored and wanders off....

 

[JerV3]

That is pretty shady.

Must have been a greedy person. Atleast you got to see them come to light. Just replace it like you said.

Better luck will come your way.

HH Jer

 

[coolcash2004]

Im really sorry to hear about this. But look at it this way, first off i havent found an Indian in my life from MD. Not even a silver dime. COnsider yourself "lucky". 2nd, maybe he is just gonna show him to his friend, clean them off, and give them back. Maybe, he is going to look at them and pay you some $ tommarow or in a couple days. Maybe he used to have a lot when he was younger, they got stolen and he feels that thes "should be his". Maybe they remind him of someone or something and he had to keep them. These situations are probably false and have a very slim chance of happening but you never know. I say, let it be, go find more rare old coins, and forget about it. Comment to your friend though and let him know. Just my 2 cent piece. (sorry i couldnt find the 2 pennies so im giving you a 2 cent piece instead ).

-CC