High school class rings, keep or return?

[jeweler21]

High school class rings, keep or return? This is just my personal views and a choice each individual has to make for themselves. I started detecting in 1968 at that time there were very few detectorist, good detectors were expensive and for a person to be in the field as either a hobbiest or professional, you needed to retrieve your investment. I was one of the first persons to search several of the older high schools in my area and as a result, I found 38 class rings in the first two or three years. I talked to school officials and they were not very interested in helping locate the original owners. At that time most 10K class rings were less than a hundred dollars. I was the owner of a local jewelry store and put the rings in a case in my store window and ran an ad in the paper offering to return any ring that a person could identify. I ran the ad for about a year at my personal cost. A good many people came in to look, but not one owner was found for a single ring. However, three rings were stolen from the case. Remember this was before the internet and information was not nearly as readily available.
How were these rings lost to begin with? The biggest portion of these rings were lost by girlfriends, either from a chain around their neck or by having enough tape on the shank to wear a ring that was three or more sizes too large. Nearly all of the students dating or “going steady”, the girls call to her boyfriend was “ring me”.
When gold reached a new record of near a thousand dollars an ounce in the early 1980's, I sold all the rings for melt value.
As the price of precious metals escalated, I became a buyer of scrap precious metals and the first thing that people got rid of was high school class rings because they had very little meaning to them.
College or university rings with degrees on them or a different story and I would do my best to return one these should I find it. And in a few cases in my jewelry stores, I repaired or re-shanked high school rings that the person had worn slick. If I was to find one of these rings that I could tell that the person had used it and it meant something to them, I would do my best to return the ring but If I find a ring with an older date on it and very little wear, I would consider this ring to be fair game because the original owner did not seem to care for the ring to begin with. I would no more look for the owner than I would look for the owner of a gold coin that I found.
Call it greed or whatever you like but these are my personal views.

 

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[dholland02]

I keep them all, I ddnt buy my detector to start a returm service. Not my problem they lost it. Finder keepers losers weepers.

 

[christo000]

I Guess its all in how u feel im apart of ringfinders so u get that ur doin a good deed when u find someones lost airloom plus it gives us metal detectorists a better look sometimes there is just noway to return an ítem so like I said depends on location What u know how u feel about it

 

[vpnavy]

IMHO - returning something that was lost (could be a ring, small metal toy, WWII award, etc.) makes me (the finder) feel good inside. Yea, it is a finders keeper rule in MD'ng but seeing the expression of gratitude is worth a lot in my book not to mention the fun of trying to locate the original (and find) the owner. But hey, that is just my opinion and we all know what that is worth!

 

[garren]

Personally, I try and return everything where an owner can be identified. I enjoy the secondary challenge of tracking down an owner. The thrill of the hunt drives this hobby, so a secondary hunt for an owner is two for the price of one. I've never been concerned with having to give up a big gold class ring or a diamond wedding band. There will be plenty of unidentifiable jewelry that I will be able to keep. I have read a few stories on here where an owner was not grateful or even suspicious when an item was returned. Those incidents seem to be the exception, as every lost item I have returned has been received by a very gracious owner. It's the heartfelt thank you's and the letters like the one I'll post below that make it all worthwhile. In the end, I may not have that shiny piece of jewelry in my display case, but these letters make a good "stand-in".

 

[dholland02]

Its all about personal preferences. If someone stops me I'll give them a hand, but any other time its mine in my scrap box. Its how I pay for this hobby.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Jeweler, thanx for the story. What kind/model/brand detector did you start with in 1968? How deep could it get a coin-sized target ? How much silver coins in a day could a person get at those school yards when you started in 1968?

as far as your question of returning class rings, I'll post a true story in the next reply.

 

[Mackaydon]

Personally, I wouldn't hunt with another TH who had the Finder's Keepers' attitude-for condern that same attitude would not allow him to share his beers with me when I'm out.
Don....

 

[squiggy]

I would always try to find the owner!!!

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[Tom_in_CA]

I personally try to return class rings, by researching through the year-books, match the initials, and so forth. Gets hard after several decades, because obviously people move away from their home towns, women marry and change their names, etc.. But I have been successful on occasions. And as vp-navy & christo000 says, you get a good feeling and a "who-dunnit mystery" solved-type of feeling

HOWEVER, I can understand those persons like dholland says "finders keepers". Here's why. This is a true story:

A buddy of mine was detecting the elementary school yard that was at the end of the block where he lived. He got a signal, and went to dig it. But when he got to his knees to get ready to poke, he parted the grass, and could see the item right there: A women's high school class ring. Apparently barely just lost, as it hadn't even had time to get buried yet. Just obscured by the grass, and seen as soon as he parted the grass.

He took it home, and showed his daughter, who was ... at that time ... a senior in High school She could see, on the inscription, that it was their local high school, the one that she was currently attending. And then she could see from the year printed on the inscription, that it was the current year's class, HER graduating class So she pulls out her year-book, and turned right to the pix of the class-mate. Bingo. Mystery solved So she tells her dad: I know that girl! She lives just down the street from us!

So the dad walked over, and knocked on the door. No answer. So he took the ring back home. The daughter says: I know their phone #. So the dad makes a call, and gets a voice-mail. So he leaves a message to the effect of: "Hi, this is so & so down the street. I've got your class ring. Give me a call, so we can arrange to get it back to you". He made no mention of detectors, or details, and figured he could give more detail when they called.

That night, the family sat down for dinner. There was a knock at the door. Guess who it was?? THE POLICE! They asked if my friend could step outside, while they had a word with him. They said they'd been forwarded a message from the family down the street, about a ring that he had. The cops told him the house had been burglarized about 2 weeks earlier, and the ring was one of the items which had been stolen. So when the people got the voicemail, they figured it was some sort of extortion attempt? At this point, my friend tried to tell the cops that he had "found it with a metal detector", and that ... no, he was not fishing for extortion or anything, and that ... no ... it was not him who burglarized the house. The cops had the look of "sure buddy" (like I guess any thief could merely say "I found it", to avoid supposed fingering?). The cops asked to see the ring. So my friend went back inside to get it. He gave it to them. They said "ok, we'll get ahold of you if there's any more questions. We need to tell them your story, and see what they want to do"

The cops left, and my friend sat back down to dinner. But now, no one had much of an appetite, as .... my friend had the sinking feeling, that he was now suspect in some sort of crime. He debated on picking up the phone and calling those people, but .... decided against it. Figured the cops (?) would pass on his "metal detector" story, and they'd call him eventually? So he waited. Days passed and no one ever called. My friend was never quite sure if .... one day .... a cop would re-appear with charges to press. Apparently when the thieves had left that neighbor's house, they'd taken a short-cut across the school yard, and dropped the ring.

Nothing was ever said. No thankyou's. No sorry's. No nothing. That was about 1980 or '81 (when gold was at record highs then), when the value of a 10k class ring would have fetched a pretty penny for my friend. So .... you can bet .... he was not to happy about the outcome of this mess. He vowed never again to research and re-unite anything.

 

[jeff of pa]

as Dholland says Its all about personal preferences.

I used to run regular ads in the local lost & Found listing rings
and their type, Initials, Engravings & names when known,
along with a note on where, & When found
and asking for proof they were the person who they belongd to.
in most cases I still took peoples word & only once got a double claim on one ring.

I believe in returning any ring I can, But I do not believe in giving a class ring or any ring
to a relative or Supposed relative. I was cured of that

I did it once with a class ring through a
intermediary, it went to an address I was given. I even talked to the woman on the phone.
I never got so much as a Thank you When I asked if they got it.
just a Yes it's at the post office, I still need to go pick it up.
this was after waiting a week or more for her to sign for it.

a short while later I got a call from another supposed relative claiming it,
so i just gave her the info on the other one & left it at that.

If the Class ring is so old the owner is probably in their 80's or dead ,
I don't try either, The Elderly are suspicious or too hard to find

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Another true story: A guy in the SF bay area here in CA, found a class ring, that he successfully traced to someone in the central valley (several hours away). He finally gets a phone #, and calls the guy. Apparently the ring had been lost so many years earlier, that the person who lost it, simply thought this was some sort of prank call, or sales call, and hung up. But the md'r persisted, and finally made contact. The guy finally recalls "oh yea, I did loose my ring when I went to the coast to the beach about 10 yrs. ago". So he tells the md'r: "here's my address, send it to me". To which the md'r says "send me a self-addressed stamped envelope, and I'll send it to you". To which the man got angry and said "if you don't send me my ring, I'm going to call the cops". Not sure if the md'r did eventually send it at his own expense, or tell the man to f*ck himself. But it certainly left a bad taste in the md'rs mouth, that's for sure.

 

[Orvin]

I tend to disagree with that thought process kind of like this if you lost your metal detector would you hope the person that found it would return it? it don't make any difference how much the detector or ring cost someone had to pay for them correct? If I found a (Class Ring) I would do my best to find the real owner if no one claimed it say with in 90 days then I would consider keeping it after exhausting all efforts to find it's rightful owner.

 

[SusanMN]

When I can, I return.

 

[Frankn]

There are definitely two sides to this story. Let me state, I try to trace and return all school rings. Only failed once to find owner.

Now here's the other side. I was working the beach at OC, Md. and noticed this guy watching me. I came up with a heavy gold wedding band. This guy walkes over to me and says,"I see you found my wedding band". I held it up and closely inspected it then said," Maybe, just tell me the engraving on the inside and it is yours". He turned and walked away! I had called his bluff. PS, There was no engraving. Frank...

 

[LifeNRA]

I tend to disagree with that thought process kind of like this if you lost your metal detector would you hope the person that found it would return it? it don't make any difference how much the detector or ring cost someone had to pay for them correct? If I found a (Class Ring) I would do my best to find the real owner if no one claimed it say with in 90 days then I would consider keeping it after exhausting all efforts to find it's rightful owner.

Ditto!

 

[squiggy]

There are definitely two sides to this story. Let me state, I try to trace and return all school rings. Only failed once to find owner.

Now here's the other side. I was working the beach at OC, Md. and noticed this guy watching me. I came up with a heavy gold wedding band. This guy walkes over to me and says,"I see you found my wedding band". I held it up and closely inspected it then said," Maybe, just tell me the engraving on the inside and it is yours". He turned and walked away! I had called his bluff. PS, There was no engraving. Frank...

View attachment 816272

Good call on your part! Guy was a jerk!!

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[Chug And Red]

OMG, The day Finally Happened I Agree with something You Said, And Have done the Same Thing many times!!! HH Chug

On another Note: I Finally Broke My Propointer, But I Sent It In And Garrets Fixed it For Nothing It was Only 3 Years Old!!! Yes I'm Rubbing It In

There are definitely two sides to this story. Let me state, I try to trace and return all school rings. Only failed once to find owner.

Now here's the other side. I was working the beach at OC, Md. and noticed this guy watching me. I came up with a heavy gold wedding band. This guy walkes over to me and says,"I see you found my wedding band". I held it up and closely inspected it then said," Maybe, just tell me the engraving on the inside and it is yours". He turned and walked away! I had called his bluff. PS, There was no engraving. Frank...

View attachment 816272

 

[jeweler21]

Jeweler, thanx for the story. What kind/model/brand detector did you start with in 1968? How deep could it get a coin-sized target ? How much silver coins in a day could a person get at those school yards when you started in 1968?

as far as your question of returning class rings, I'll post a true story in the next reply.

I started with a non discrim White's BFO, which I didn't find much with it, it had pretty good depth but there was just too much to dig. Two or three years later, I got an A.H. Electronics Pro. A.H.'s depth was not great maybe up to 4" but their discrim is as good or better than anything that is made today. And in the first two hours that I used it, I more than paid for the detector. My next two detectors were A.H. Super Pro and A.H. Super Pro II. I found thousands of coins and probably a third of them were silver. The first six months that I had a good discrim detector, I kept a good record of my finds and I averaged making just over ten dollars an hour and in the early seventies that was good wages.

 

[cudamark]

When I can, I return.

Me too....it can be very rewarding in every sense of the word.