Im a Newbie with Beginners Luck!

xtsea99 · Jun 25, 2007

I'm a Newbie with Beginners Luck!

Okay, so I'm new and I'm lucky (2 GREAT qualities for being a detectorist!). A couple months ago I read an article about "unfound" pirate booty off the SW Gulf Coast of Florida (where I live), and thought I'd get a detector and FIND IT! Well, after a bit of research, I found out that the real booty is well off-shore in deep water. Most likely any booty brought ashore has been found long ago, and whoever has it isn't talking!

So, I've got my new (slightly used) Garrett 150 and I head to the beach. Here's my story:

Day One: found a man's gold chain with a gold nugget. 23 pennyweight. see photo.

Day Two: found a spot where drinks are served on the beach, and the waitresses seem to ALWAYS drop quarters in the sand. Average $3.00 since I found this spot!

Days 3-8: found assorted change and lots of bottle caps, pop tabs and hair clips. (learning my machine and discrimination in the process, but digging up just about everything until I'm comfortable doing otherwise!)

Day 9: 5/27/07 found the motherlode. A gold/diamond ring with 1 very large stone and 11 smaller stones. Took it to an appraiser and found it's worth $5,800. Put an ad in the paper's LOST column, 'cause I figure someone is heartsick over losing it, but no responses to the ad and now it's for sale! see photos!!!!

Also, I'm wondering if anyone has experience in the Bahamas? I'm going to the Atlantis Hotel on Paradise Island in 2 weeks and plan to bring my MD with me. I've read where the department of ministry says it's okay, but have read owther stories where people were told they couldn't. Others where they had to pay a deposit. Can anyone relate what they know

? Thanks in advance!

xtsea in SW Florida

Stormtrooper154 · Jun 25, 2007

Re: I'm a Newbie with Beginners Luck!

WOW, Thats some "Finds of a Lifetime" in such a short time. Oh yeah, Welcome to T-Net

BobPA · Jun 25, 2007

Re: I'm a Newbie with Beginners Luck!

Welcom to Tnet xtsea99. Nice finds. Keep up the good work and keep us posted.
Bob

BioProfessor · Jun 25, 2007

Re: I'm a Newbie with Beginners Luck!

Welcome to TN. Great luck on the beach.

Did you have the large diamond examined for a GIA registration number? Also, before you sell it, you might want to find out if there is police report for the ring. Lost or not, I think some insurance companies require a police report to cover a loss. They can also inform you of the time you have to let it be "open to claim" before a sale takes place. Just play it safe with a ring of that value.

Enjoy the sea, sand, and surf.

Daryl

xtsea99 · Jun 25, 2007

Re: I'm a Newbie with Beginners Luck!

Yes.... I called the local police and they "recommended" I place an ad in the paper (which is FREE, and also posts online classifieds), and that if I got no response it was mine. I did take it to an independent GIA appraiser before I called the police (didn't know if it was even real, or the value) and it has no IDs on the stone. The design is very unique (probably custom), so my ads just said "gold/diamond ring found, call to identify" and listed the location and date. I got NOT ONE SINGLE CALL!

I've read lots about the guilt thing, which I have to-a-point. Yes, I FOUND it.... wasn't looking for IT, but was looking for lost items in general, pennies, quarters, and jewelry at the beach. I thought that someone must be heartsick over losing it.... or some chick got mad at her sugar-daddy and pitched it off the pier. I'll never know. And like many others, I wonder why anyone would wear a ring like this to the beach. (?)

I might mention that there are dozens of detectorists on our stretch of the beach, and I've never been there where I haven't seen at least 4 others.... either sunrise or sunset. The police seemed to be very open when I told them I was on the beach with my MD. I got the feeling that were I just a "citizen" and found they ring, they might have treated the situation differently!

spez401 · Jun 25, 2007

Re: I'm a Newbie with Beginners Luck!

xtsea...
I'd reccommend pulling the photo of the ring from this site... just for now. You might have someone unscrupulous gather enough information about the ring from the photo and make a claim for the ring. You don't need the police knocking on your door because someone called the police station because of your post, and the photo.

Pull the photo for a bit, make sure you're ok, then repost it when you're in the clear

Posting in the local paper is USUALLY (not always) enough to protect yourself, and shows enough of an effort made to locate the owner. Keeping someone else's property (regardless of value) is called "conversion" and can be proscecuted both civilly and criminally. (Unless theft is involved, it is usually civil, because the requisite intent is not present). Check your local laws, ask a local attorney to look it up for you if you're that concerned.

steve
<<<<attorney

jeff of pa · Jun 25, 2007

Re: I'm a Newbie with Beginners Luck!

nice find XT & welcome to TreasureNet.

Mirage · Jun 25, 2007

Re: I'm a Newbie with Beginners Luck!

Wow, sweet ring.

You were in the right place at the right time. I haven't found anything close to that nice of a ring. But of coarse I'm not in the right place......

TeddyB1967 · Jun 25, 2007

Re: I'm a Newbie with Beginners Luck!

spez401 said:
xtsea...
I'd reccommend pulling the photo of the ring from this site... just for now. You might have someone unscrupulous gather enough information about the ring from the photo and make a claim for the ring. You don't need the police knocking on your door because someone called the police station because of your post, and the photo.

Pull the photo for a bit, make sure you're ok, then repost it when you're in the clear

I totally agree with this, remove the pic ... at least for now. I know someone that had this very same thing happen to her. Her husband found a ring while working and they had taken it to a Jeweler to find out the value and all that. She posted on a forum to show us all and told us the value over 25K. She eventually had a number of calls and emails (too many to keep track of) from people "claiming" ownership. Someone even filed a police report against her and her husband. The only thing that saved her was one small detail that no one ever mentioned in their claims, the date. The date was numerical and the numbers were all together with no dashes or slash < / > marks. Everyone who "claimed" the ring said the date was written with the slash marks, even after being questioned on specifics. The police had a field day filing reports on false claims but it took a few months to settle it all. She still has the ring, and now has it insured but had a lot of headaches to go thru.

CRUSADER · Jun 25, 2007

Re: I'm a Newbie with Beginners Luck!

Welcome to tnet from across the pond.

Keep digging them

piggman1 · Jun 25, 2007

Re: I'm a Newbie with Beginners Luck!

AMAZING!!

Ramapirate · Jun 25, 2007

Re: I'm a Newbie with Beginners Luck!

SWEET! Way to go, great find!!!

Ramapirate

ps: Daryl, please stop sending me personal emails

Thanks

xtsea99 · Jun 25, 2007

Re: I'm a Newbie with Beginners Luck!

Thanks for the advise. I removed the pic of the ring, and if anyone noticed, I didn't mention the exact location of the find (just in case there was someone planning to "claim" it. I decided to leave the photo of my very 1st find, since I sold it 3 weeks ago, and the value wasn't all that high (but I was!!!!!!).

Thanks to all for the warm welcome.