Getting permission scenario - What would you do?

[thebirdflu]

Hello all,

I'm still relatively new to MD and I would like some advice with a situation that began this morning. I have been interested in MD-ing an empty house near me for a while. The owner lives out of state and he has listed the house for sale. Built in 1899, it's one of the oldest houses in town. It belonged to the family of the some of the town's founders and has been in the current owner's family for four generations. No one lives there now.

My wife was childhood friends with the owner so I asked her to send a message to him to see if I could MD the property. His respone was, "I don't mind, but anything he may find I would like to know about before he took it. Anything of value he may find we could work out something and split it in some way. I bought a (cheap) metal detector before I moved away but didn't find anything." I told her to assure him that I will show and document everything I find and send him pics. His next response was, "I don't know him (me) all that well. He seems like a good guy so I trust that you trust him that he won't pocket something without telling me, no offense. I wouldn't let some stranger do what he's asking is all I'm saying..."

My first thought about the situation was - Great! I finally get a chance to MD somewhere and maybe I'll find some cool old stuff! I'll be an ambassador to the hobby, document and show all of my finds and maybe get to keep some of the cool stuff for myself! As I thought about it more I became a little perturbed... OK the owner lives out of state, the place is FOR SALE, and yet he wants to keep some (if not all!) of what I find? Why is he worried about the stuff in the ground if he's trying to get rid of the property? And I was also thinking, even if I find a $$$ coin or something and show him is he still going to worry that there was a better find in the yard that I didn't tell him about? Am I going to have to worry that he'll always think I withheld something from him?

So I ask those of you with more experience, what would you do? Would you go ahead and detect or walk away from this?

Thanks,
thebirdflu

 

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[Tom_in_CA]

I think you are WAY over-thinking this. Whenever I hunt someone's private property or yard like that, I always (even if they're not the ones to bring it up first), let them know they're welcome to anything I find. And while that may seem counter-productive to the VERY REASON you got the detector in the first place, yet here's the deal:

Rarely ever does any homeowner or property owner like that actually exercise the right to take everything. I have never seen a property owner yet who doesn't simply tell me to "keep it", when I show them the grubby coins, (even if a few are silver, etc....). Or I'll do something psychological like this: I'll have the common mercs, buffalos, wheaties, clad, pulltabs, etc.... all put out on display on their porch. And I'll already have one or two in my mind that I want for my own collection: Eg.; a merc or barber with a key date. Or a trade-token that I suspect has collectible value, etc.. And while pushing all the shiny stuff their direction, I'll say something like "this is a date or year or token I don't have yet in my own collection. Can I hold this one out for my effort?" And I have never had anyone say "no, I want 100% of it".

So to tell someone they get it all, or that you report 100% of what you find, is merely a polite formality. You'll most likely still get some goodies to keep, if not all of them. Consider it the cost of ability to get on the property in the first place.

 

[thebirdflu]

I think you are WAY over-thinking this.

LOL - My wife tell me this all of the time!

I'm not worried about him keeping most of the finds. They're in his yard. I would be proud to give him items that are tied to his family's past. It's the lack of trust that somewhat bothers me. Of course I can't expect him to trust me 100% from the beginning. We've spoken before and used to be coworkers but we were never close friends. But it's almost like he expects that I would withhold items.

I'm I man of my word and I would never keep finds without disclosing them first. My reputation, my wife's, and entire MD hobby's reputation would suffer if I did. This is a rural area and everyone knows everyone so the word would spread quickly. That's way more valuable to me than anything I would find in the ground.

I'll probably proceed with hunting the property. I just worry that he'll hang a cloud of doubt in my honesty over my head.

 

[BC1969]

Heck I gladly give property owners everything if they want it, its not a financial hobby for me, I'm in it for the thrill of discovery! That and I love to use my imagination when I find say a barber quarter at the base of a old tree, what was the person doing when they lost it, so forth and so on.
I donate finds all the time to local historical societies, or small local museums.
I feel you handled it well.

Mike

 

[DigIron2]

I would hunt it for sure.Just give him a little something to show you appreciate it,for example maybe some commonly found relics, like a typical button, one of his ancestors might have lost,or whatever you think.Never give away your good stuff man!You might find that nice stuff doesn't come along everyday in most cases.I would hurry up and hunt it as much as I could if I where you.The future owners might not be as nice. Good Luck!

 

[K1DDO1979]

I would hunt it for sure.Just give him a little something to show you appreciate it,for example maybe some commonly found relics, like a typical button, one of his ancestors might have lost,or whatever you think.Never give away your good stuff man!You might find that nice stuff doesn't come along everyday in most cases.I would hurry up and hunt it as much as I could if I where you.The future owners might not be as nice. Good Luck!

I'm leaning towards what DigIron2 said on this one!

 

[Limitool]

What if you were by yourself and found 2 old leathered pouches with 100+ gold coins and all 100+ years old. Why would you tell or admit that to anybody? I've been asking almost the same question.

 

[K1DDO1979]

Hello all, I'm still relatively new to MD and I would like some advice with a situation that began this morning. I have been interested in MD-ing an empty house near me for a while. The owner lives out of state and he has listed the house for sale. Built in 1899, it's one of the oldest houses in town. It belonged to the family of the some of the town's founders and has been in the current owner's family for four generations. No one lives there now. My wife was childhood friends with the owner so I asked her to send a message to him to see if I could MD the property. His respone was, "I don't mind, but anything he may find I would like to know about before he took it. Anything of value he may find we could work out something and split it in some way. I bought a (cheap) metal detector before I moved away but didn't find anything." I told her to assure him that I will show and document everything I find and send him pics. His next response was, "I don't know him (me) all that well. He seems like a good guy so I trust that you trust him that he won't pocket something without telling me, no offense. I wouldn't let some stranger do what he's asking is all I'm saying..." My first thought about the situation was - Great! I finally get a chance to MD somewhere and maybe I'll find some cool old stuff! I'll be an ambassador to the hobby, document and show all of my finds and maybe get to keep some of the cool stuff for myself! As I thought about it more I became a little perturbed... OK the owner lives out of state, the place is FOR SALE, and yet he wants to keep some (if not all!) of what I find? Why is he worried about the stuff in the ground if he's trying to get rid of the property? And I was also thinking, even if I find a $$$ coin or something and show him is he still going to worry that there was a better find in the yard that I didn't tell him about? Am I going to have to worry that he'll always think I withheld something from him? So I ask those of you with more experience, what would you do? Would you go ahead and detect or walk away from this? Thanks, thebirdflu

The blessing for you is the guy lives far away so he won't be around to look over your shoulder hunting the spot. Offer him some mediocre finds to satisfy him which he'll probably say keep anyway. If you do find anything special that you like a lot don't tell your wife and keep it and on your next hunt in a different location say you just found it there. Sucks to keep quiet to your wife but since there childhood friends it's best not to say a word. Since he's selling the property is why I would do it and you may not even find anything worth the hassle anyway. But you never know unless you check it out!

 

[hotrod53]

Keep in mind that you are asking to take something from him that rightfully belongs to him. Even though he is willing to sell the place, I think he's throwing it out there that if you strike it rich that you don't forget him. Some people are weird and quirky, you have to roll with it sometimes.

Here is something that happened to my brother-in-law just about 2 weeks ago. He had permission from the owner to hunt a really old property, he finds a barber coin and the owner later asked him what he found. He showed him the coin and the owner said "ya know, I think i'll keep that one" and he took if from my brother-in-law!

I've hunted a few places where they said that I could keep my finds but if I found anything that was historically important to their family, they would like to have it, even if they had to pay me for it. Every situation is different, same with getting permission.

 

[bigscoop]

Go hunt it. See what happens. Could be you're working yourself up over a couple of old bottle caps, a few screws, and a wheat penny or two? On the other hand, if you do find some goodies and he ends up claiming it all you learned from the experience. Bottom line, he owns the property so you're going to be hunting it under his terms.

 

[thebirdflu]

Thank you everyone for your replies. I agree with things said by all of you. I will hunt it and show him everything. It could be full of junk or full of goodies but I'll never know until I go. It's a rare opportunity for me to hunt some near-virgin ground. And it was said in a previous post this window of opportunity can close with new owners.

As a compromise to myself I will keep everything from the sidewalk easement and not show the finds. After all it's public property... :-)

 

[K1DDO1979]

Thank you everyone for your replies. I agree with things said by all of you. I will hunt it and show him everything. It could be full of junk or full of goodies but I'll never know until I go. It's a rare opportunity for me to hunt some near-virgin ground. And it was said in a previous post this window of opportunity can close with new owners. As a compromise to myself I will keep everything from the sidewalk easement and not show the finds. After all it's public property... :-)

Don't forget to update on the outcome and to post the finds from the property. Good or not. You got me curious how the spot will turn out!

 

[kyrock]

I would go ahead and detect. I also would have written permission with me stating you have the right to do so. You may end up sharing somethings, but you never know what you might find. Just to add this info, I have NEVER had a home owner ask for me to share ANYTHING I have found on their property. They may ask what I have found and I never lied to hide anything. Mostly small change and a few odds and ends.

 

[topdogintampa]

Thank you everyone for your replies. I agree with things said by all of you. I will hunt it and show him everything. It could be full of junk or full of goodies but I'll never know until I go. It's a rare opportunity for me to hunt some near-virgin ground. And it was said in a previous post this window of opportunity can close with new owners.

As a compromise to myself I will keep everything from the sidewalk easement and not show the finds. After all it's public property... :-)

If you find something that can be traced back to a previous owner of the property is he going to want that too? It would rightfully belong to someone else. It's a double edged sword...That's why it's best to make sure everyone is on the same page BEFORE one hunts in certain situations imo. Get it in writing if and whenever possible if need be.

Good luck with your hunt!

 

[thebirdflu]

I would be happy to freely give him anything that traced back to previous owners. After all it has been in his family for over 100 years. I'm definitely getting visual proof of permission because I can guarantee someone will check on me. It's a small town and everyone knows who owns that house. They also know he's out of town so they'll be more assertive in checking on strangers.

I'll post updates and pics once I start. This should be exciting!

 

[thebirdflu]

Ok now I need some advice before I start. I want to find some relics if present along with the coins. I normally set the AT Pro to pro mode iron disc 35 iron audio off. Will I miss anything good with iron disc that high? Do I need turn off disc and dig every target?

 

[DigIron2]

Personally,when I hunt house sites,I try to discriminate all the iron i can.But the machine i use, allot of larger iron will sound good, which of course I am gonna dig it.But In my opinion, I think you will save allot of time and energy if you only dig them copper,brass,silver type sounds. House sites can be pretty frustrating with sound at times.enough to drive me kind of crazy.Just try to concentrate on one sound at a time.Hope that helps some and good luck with your hunt.

 

[thebirdflu]

Well, time for an update. I spent about five hours there and found $1.89 in clad and a bunch of modern trash. The oldest coin is a 1964 penny and all of the others are 1990s and up. I didn't find anything deeper than 4". I went very slowly and dug repeatable signals. There are a ton of jumpy bad iron type signals that I didn't dig. I suspect that someone detected the property already 20-25 years ago. I reported that back to the owner and assured me no one has been there before to his knowledge.

I need some advice please. Am I giving up too soon? My thoughts are that there just isn't anything good there but that doesn't seem right considering it has 100 years of continuous use. Should I go back and dig every signal I get??

Thanks again.

 

[piegrande]

I don't MD much, looking for Moctezuma's treasure which I suspect is within 100 yards of where I am sitting right now.

But, I'd say two considerations. 1. How much damage are you going to do to the lawn if you dig a lot? He is trying to sell the house, so don't dig more unless you are sure you can leave it in good condition. That is my opinon.

2. Do you have time and would it be enjoyable to dig out all the nails and screws?

 

[Tom_in_CA]

... I need some advice please. Am I giving up too soon? My thoughts are that there just isn't anything good there but that doesn't seem right considering it has 100 years of continuous use. Should I go back and dig every signal I get?? ......

Whenever a question like this comes up on the forum, it's going to be impossible for anyone here to concisely answer. Eg.: the question will go something like this: "I hunted at such & such [fill-in-the-blank park, school, house, lot, etc...] and didn't find anything. What am I doing wrong ?". But unless someone else was there seeing how you did it, and sampling the spot, there is nothing that an outsider can answer truly accurately.

So question for you: are you already versed at finding silver and old coins from other spots ? If so, then I wouldn't chalk it up to anything you're doing, or doing wrong. In that case, it could just be a lame site. And JUST because a site has "never been hit before", doesn't mean it's therefore got to be necessarily good. Some old sites are just hit and miss (too junky, etc...).

But if you're not versed in oldies under your belt from deep-turf type situations, then yes: it may well be that .... you're simply not accustomed to what to listen for, what to chase, what to pass, etc...

Start off in easier to work yards that only date to the 1940s or '50s. They're old enough to have silver, yet not as likely to be junk ridden. Because the temptation for most newbies to do, is to rush right out to the oldest home/yard in town, right ? (can you blame them?), only to be over-whelmed with all the signals. So start with something easier, and THEN progress to the older relicky type sites. JMHO