Found jewelry - return or keep - what do you do?

[TommyB]

OK. Here's another scenario. A fellow MD'er from Galvaston, Tx had a son that was recently vacationing in Newport Beach Ca with his family.
His little kids were pulling stuff out of his backpack at the beach in front of the Hotel. He had put his wedding ring w/ diamonds in the backpack for safekeeping.
It appears the kids knocked it out of the bag into the sand. Someone from ringfinders looked the next day. I looked the following day. No ring. That beach is detected by a bunch of guys probably daily.
If you knew about a fellow MD'er losing the ring, would everyone still feel it's 'finders keepers'?
If you found it and wanted to return it, there's a posting on craigslist Orange county ( Ca) in lost and found.
I personally drove 45 minutes and searched 2 hours to help this person out and would have returned it in a heartbeat

 

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[gleaner1]

Nobody knows what you find except you, the finder. You gotta live with your conscience, so for me off the the refiner it goes if it's gold. If its a class ring with Frank G. Schmuck plastered all over it, from a local school, from a year that I think he's still alive, I'll attempt to return it. And I have returned two class rings in twenty years, I am glad I found the owners. I am glad I made it happen. I found a gold class ring from 1953 from Arkansas, with no initials, that one is long ago melted.

 

[ivan salis]

remember this --"marked " items can be reported as "stolen' instead of lost to insurance companies --so when you waltz up with that "found" but marked class ring or wedding band to the pawn shop / gold buyer for a quick buck --know you might get arrested for "theft / stolen goods". --- so if its "marked " or a highly unique one of a kind type piece be very very careful.

 

[dholland02]

Don't really care..ur lose my gain. I'm keeping everything I find and making no effort top find the owner. I got better things to do with my time.

 

[deldave]

I was lucky enough to have found a few pieces of value 2 weeks ago. I have not had them appraised yet because I am going to wait a month and check the "lost" column in our local paper. If someone thinks enough of the item to post it , I will return it. This way , since I don't know how much it is worth, I think I have might feel better. On my beach you have to hunt forever to find something nice and I have no problem keeping what I find. If I find over $100 over time , what part am I supposed to give to the "AUTHORITIES"?

 

[Tom_in_CA]

..... If I find over $100 over time , what part am I supposed to give to the "AUTHORITIES"?

Well, just to keep things simple: Send me all your finds over $100.00 value. I will make sure they get to the proper authories. That way, you'll be in proper compliance with the laws. I will absolve your conscience of all guilt. No ..... don't thank me .... it's the least I can do for the furtherance of our fine hobby!

 

[Pointman]

I've not found any trackable jewelry. I did find a wedding band in front of a very old house next to the sidewalk. A few months later I asked to hunt the yard, but the lady refused. I did have the ring in the back of my mind and I asked her if she had lost any jewelry and she told me no. If she had lost the ring, I was going to use that as ammunition to get to hunt her yard. I thought about the fact that she could have lost the ring and then when I gave it to her, that she would have still refused me looking further. I would attempt to find the owner of some jewelery, if it was lost recently and had their information on it, but I wouldn't go to the ends of the earth to figure it out either.

Back in 2003 at my first house, my wife took off her wedding set and it was lost. I pulled out a detector that I had bought in the 90s, but I was unable to find it. She died 5 years later, so it would mean the world to me if it were found. I would trade her better, more expensive set that I bought later for it even. In hindsight, I was probably not even detecting correctly and was digging all the high tones.

 

[coinman123]

I have had a person ask me to find the original owners of my 1906 dog licence, I almost laughed.

 

[dahut]

Jason and everyone else here: I see the common mantra is: "Finders-keepers. Unless traceable or a commissioned hunt" type answers.

That's fine, but just be aware that if you look up your state's lost & found laws, the laws make NO distinction on what you consider to be traceability (identifying marks on the inside, whether or not someone posted a lost -poster, etc....). It simply says to turn in items to the police. THEY in turn will hold it, for-in-case anyone comes into the department with the proper description of said-item. If no one claims it after 30 days, THEN you get to keep it. And you may have to pay the cost of running any ad they put in a published newspaper, for instance.

And the law gives no distinction for how long YOU think an item has been lost for, nor does it give distinction on how an item is to be valued. Eg.: "intrinsic" (melt) value, versus actual value, or market value, etc.... I asked a lawyer once what to do in cases of examples of how a ring, or I-pod might have a low "melt" value (heck, even a brand new I-phone has less than $1 in "intinsic" recyclable parts in it, right?). The lawyer said that the finder would turn it in to the police, and THEY would decide how to value it , haha

It strikes me as odd that "knowing and following all laws" can be a hot topic when it comes to "where md'rs can metal detect". I mean, there's hunters who believe it is our duty to "ask permission" for whether we can detect at school yards, parks, beaches, etc...... Why? Because we must "follow all laws". Yet when it comes to this lost-property lost-&-found stuff, those same md'rs don't seem to think this is just as equally a law.

Just trying to make trouble here

It is the solemn, sworn duty of all treasure hunters to circumvent any laws that hinder their pursuit of wealth.
Turn my finds over to the police?? Ain't happening.
I have to live with 'em - I don't have to invite them into my affairs.

So, we're back to ME, the individual, making a decision on the matter. Imagine that... personal action WITHOUT bowing to the Controllistas. What a concept.
If I find the owner, by any number of ways, they get it back.
If not, it remains in my possession.