Some of your replies concern me fellas.
If the landowner wants the finds, then you should respectively, and ethically turn them over. This is how the doors stay open for the hobby. Modern Miner (Doug) is an perfect example and role model to this. It is a given to him. I had a land owner tell me he once, that wanted to test the character of a neighbor he granted permission to detect on his families farm where there was a documented Civil War skirmish. The landowner (in his 70's then) had nothing better to do than watch him from his upstairs window while he drank his morning coffee. The old man watched the neighbor guy dig several holes throughout the morning, and put some things in one pocket, and some things in the other. When the neighbor came up to the house after his dig, he told the landowner excited, "I'd like to show you what I found!" The neighbor reached in one pocket and pulled out the clad and modern trash showing the old man, and telling him, "Thank You for letting me detect here" The old man smiled, and said, "That is great son, but may I see the other pocket?" The old man said he could see the neighbor kid turn white, and start to shake just a little, saying, "what do you mean? The old man a little upset, said, I have been watching you today son, and I saw you slipping things,pointing to the other pocket, in there. If you wouldn't mind please, I'd like to see them. The neighbor grew upset and said those things in that pocket, were from somewhere else.
After a while, the assorted confederate buttons and other respectable relics dug that day were handed over to the old man. The old man smiled at the neighbor, held his hand out, to give the buttons and relics back to the neighbor, and said, "here you go son, now I would appreciate it if you never came back to my property, my sisters down the street property, and any of my other family members property. After speaking with the very spunky old guy, he gave me permission to hunt on his property, because he heard we had offered his sister the week before, some very sentimental and valuable finds we dug on her property. After I hunted that day, I had one of the best CW digs of my life, uncovering a pistol and my Louisiana button, which I offered to him. He smiles and said, "son those are yours, Thank you for showing them to me. By the way, my son owns 300 acres down the road your welcome to hunt too." That is a true story. Doug (Modern Miner) takes relics dug from owners properties, and makes the coolest looking shadow boxes for the owners to display in their homes or Museums. I invited Doug to one of my sites last year, where he gave the landowner CW relics displayed in a shadow box. Doug has many doors open because of this. Whenever I go back to their farm to hunt, the owner always asks how Doug is doing. So ethically folks, it is important to show the landowners your finds. 90 percent of the time they insist you keep it anyway.
I know thats probably not what i would do, but i would have that in the back of mind!
