NEED HELP, found $5500 diamond ring!!!!

[ericwt]

O congratulations on the super find, by the way!

Welcome to Treasurenet!

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

Ditto.

Pictures?

If not of the ring, of the two Explorer users battling to the death with drawn trowels.

 

[Sphinx]

Ditto.

Pictures?

If not of the ring, of the two Explorer users battling to the death with drawn trowels.

Pictures?!?! This will be on pay-per-veiw and on DVD for $24.99

 

[Sandman]

This has been a fun post to follow. Goes to show, "What they don't know can't hurt you."

By the way, charging the owner anything to get their property back is called EXTORSION. With these identifiable items, your better off just enjoying you found it and not try to sell it where it might come back an bite you. Years from now it will still look nice in your collection box. I can understand the urge to sell it for gas money, etc and have done the same. What I sold hasn't been tractable and no owners ever came forward.

I find things as a business and only charge 10% of the value or fifty dollars an hour with one hour paid in advance just to show up.

 

[jeff of pa]

This has been a fun post to follow. Goes to show, "What they don't know can't hurt you."

By the way, charging the owner anything to get their property back is called EXTORSION. With these identifiable items, your better off just enjoying you found it and not try to sell it where it might come back an bite you. Years from now it will still look nice in your collection box. I can understand the urge to sell it for gas money, etc and have done the same. What I sold hasn't been tractable and no owners ever came forward.

I find things as a business and only charge 10% of the value or fifty dollars an hour with one hour paid in advance just to show up.

on one side, I agree.
Insisting on Payment for the return of an item is extortion.

on the other,

I still believe in cases of items lost a long time ago,
that can't be traced belong to the finder, to do as they wish.
as are items traceable. (although the Law may Say Different)
However,
I personally Like Returning items for P.R. Reasons.

IF a person Asks IF I want something, I usually say
I don't accept Payment, But don't Refuse Donations
& sometimes just say NO If the Item is only of Personal
value to the Owner.
In some cases I will ask them to Let me know of Sites I can search.

when someone approaches me, to search.
I Don't charge. Not even Gas.
Thats P.R.

 

[DFX-SE Gregg]

This has been a fun post to follow. Goes to show, "What they don't know can't hurt you."

By the way, charging the owner anything to get their property back is called EXTORSION. With these identifiable items, your better off just enjoying you found it and not try to sell it where it might come back an bite you. Years from now it will still look nice in your collection box. I can understand the urge to sell it for gas money, etc and have done the same. What I sold hasn't been tractable and no owners ever came forward.

I find things as a business and only charge 10% of the value or fifty dollars an hour with one hour paid in advance just to show up.

Sandman for the first time I see something I disagree with you on...no insult intended...extorsion the way you spelled it...is not what you were looking for! <<<<that is the rotation of a limb!

extortion the term apparently is what you meant! But also in this case a small or nominal finders fee would not qualify if the owner thought it was reasonable as in a reward! to be extortion it would have to be considered excessive or exorbitant....if the original owner of the ring agreed the reward or finders fee was reasonable...sorry this would not qualify! It would have to be more like I found your ring and if you don't give me this set amount I will not return your ring!< that is what it would take!< I have done the reports so I may actually be an expert in this area! I am in law enforcement.I noticed your error immediately...its ok we all make mistakes my funniest being I thought mel fisher also made the metal detectors...it happens have a good night.

 

[Jeffro]

Sandman, you and I agree on alot of things, but we're gonna have to disagree on this one. I don't see requiring an owner to compensate a finder with reasonable costs as extortion at all. Demanding exhorbitant costs, yes. But politely requesting being reimbursed for your time and expense would not be extortion.

If I followed Oregon law to a tee, what could it cost? 40 or 50 bucks for the report? 10 bucks for an ad?

If I owned a 5000 dollar ring, you can be sure I'd be happy to get it back after I lost it for 50 or 60 bucks.

 

[jeff of pa]

If I may be so Bold as to take a Stab ar what Sandman is
suggesting,
Which is Why I agreed with him.

Say on this 5500 dollar Ring, he locates the Owner
& says, I found your ring & I want $2,000.00 or I'll
Keep it & sell it.

& the owner says, "I had a Hard time Lately"
even $20.00 would be a Strain on me"

in my Opinion, Whether he settled for the $20.00
or insisted on the $2000, I would consider it Extortion.

I know I personally would rather have somone
not tell me they found it & sell it, Then tell
me I "HAVE" to buy it back.

Requesting Compensation, No big Deal, If the Person
Wants to give it.

 

[danger67]

Years ago when i lived and worked in the dallas area our truck was broken into and my brothers and my own tools were stolen we located some marked tools at a pawn shop and informed the police department they checked and the guy sold all of our tools to the shop.
When we asked if we could get them back we were told that we would have to pay the pawn shop the amount that they had paid for the tools i refused to pay for tools that i already owned didn't think it was right and still dont if i lost something i feel that its my own falt. But if i could find the owner i would feel better if i was able to get it back to them but thats just me






Dan

 

[DFX-SE Gregg]

Maybe you did not read what he said...first sentence charging the owner anything..... <<<ANYTHING $20 would not be considered an excessive amount, especially if you ran an ad, made phone calls, used your gas to drive to location to return ring....its ok to be wrong once in a while!

If I may be so Bold as to take a Stab ar what Sandman is
suggesting,



Which is Why I agreed with him.

Say on this 5500 dollar Ring, he locates the Owner
& says, I found your ring & I want $2,000.00 or I'll
Keep it & sell it.

& the owner says, "I had a Hard time Lately"
even $20.00 would be a Strain on me"

in my Opinion, Whether he settled for the $20.00
or insisted on the $2000, I would consider it Extortion.

I know I personally would rather have somone
not tell me they found it & sell it, Then tell
me I "HAVE" to buy it back.

Requesting Compensation, No big Deal, If the Person
Wants to give it.

 

[cryptodave]

Now as far as the Insurance company goes... Screw Em.. After Theve been screwing us for years....
Jacking the Rates,denying bennies etc

Sell sell sell

Nice...

 

[DFX-SE Gregg]

You hit the nail on the head brother! 100% right!

Sandman, you and I agree on alot of things, but we're gonna have to disagree on this one. I don't see requiring an owner to compensate a finder with reasonable costs as extortion at all. Demanding exhorbitant costs, yes. But politely requesting being reimbursed for your time and expense would not be extortion.

If I followed Oregon law to a tee, what could it cost? 40 or 50 bucks for the report? 10 bucks for an ad?

If I owned a 5000 dollar ring, you can be sure I'd be happy to get it back after I lost it for 50 or 60 bucks.

 

[Sphinx]

Well the ring was stolen from me now, the old bag (wife) has it. I was told not to touch it anymore, she said my job was to find stuff so she can wear it..... wtf

 

[LadyDigger]

Only you can decide what is the right thing to do...sell or find the owner....no one can make that decision for you.

As for the person losing that ring....why should someone NOT wear their jewelry? It was bought for them or by them to wear. Me, personally, I could care less about wearing it. All my good stuff is at home and I don't wear, mainly for fear of losing it....I will pass down to each of my first grandchildren from each of my kids, then they can loose it and ya'll's grandkids will find them...never ending circle! LOL

I don't detect to get rich, to put food on the table, to buy my kids clothes...I do it, cause I enjoy the heck out of it, and it's great exercise (better than going to the gym and doing crunches or weights!!), it gets me outdoors more often and enjoying the sunshine! And it's another way for the family to do outdoor things together and making new friends!

I have only found one item, which I felt in my heart to return...a high school ring and the young lady who lost it, was still in high school at the time (infact, she just graduated this month!). I wasn't offered a reward, nor did I ask for money for finding it. I just happened to be at the right place at the right time and found it for her.

I guess it's just the way my Daddy raised me, the path he helped lay out for me to travel, to become the person I am today and the same way I have raised my children.

Even with hunting at Pipsico, yes, I'll admit, I would have loved to have kept some finds from that hunt and any future hunts that go on there, but at the same time, I was so excited to find my FIRST COLONIAL BUTTON with writing on it!!! That's not as exciting to you, the $5500 ring finder...but it's exciting to me. Just being a part of finding history...that is what is exciting to me!!!!!

Just like when I was a kid, my grandfather took me to Central Park (we loved going to the zoo). I was about 7/8 yrs old and I found a man's wallet on the pathway. Grandpa and I went to the police station and turned it in. I guess Grandpa left his name and such, as some days later, just before my parents and I were heading back to North Carolina, where we lived at the time, a man came to Grandpa's door. Grandpa and him were talking for a bit and then Grandpa called me over. The man thank'd me for being an honest young lady and gave me $20 for finding his wallet. My father would not let me take the money, but Grandpa talked to my father about it and the man insisted. So, I got to keep it. I took my parents, my grandparents, and my 4 siblings and we went to the ice cream parlor where they made HOMEMADE ice cream and we had a feast!!! I couldn't tell you how much money was in that wallet, but it was full! These impressions are lasting in my mind and I understand NOW where my father was coming from by him not wanting me to keep the money...but that ice cream sure was good!!!!!!!!

To say people are stupid for wearing jewelry to the beach...well, I wouldn't call them stupid....but maybe, irresponsible for their cherished items or just not thinking clearly. What if you found that ring at a local park, let's say, where a wedding or family reunion took place...would you consider them "stupid" for wearing their ring there?

You do what you feel in your heart is the right thing to do.....only you can make that decision, not anyone on this forum. And I try my very best to set the right examples for my children as my father did for me.

I hunt our local beaches, and haven't found anything of what you or others have found, but I am just as happy at finding more quarters and nickels than my hubby.........and mostly costume jewelry....oh, did find a man's watch...doesn't work....but still sits in the box with all my other finds....costume jewelry or not!

Now, hubby is out to find that treasure of gold and such....and making a buck (even if he tells you he's not..I live with him...I hear what he is saying LOL)....our views of metal detecting are way different on why we do it and what we expect to find, etc.

But what would I do in a situation like yours....hmmmm.....the same thing I did with the high school ring...try my best to find the owner...and if no owner, hold on to it and leave it to my kids when I die and they can sell it

But anyways, great find....I know you will do what YOU THINK is the right thing to do and not what others think you should do.....

HH,
Annmarie

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

I don't see requiring an owner to compensate a finder with reasonable costs as extortion at all. Demanding exhorbitant costs, yes. But politely requesting being reimbursed for your time and expense would not be extortion.

Oh. This is fun.

So, you're at the beach and find a ring.

Are you on vacation and would be there anyway? No value to your time there - Your employer is compensating you as vacation pay and you have no reimburselable expenses. Maybe battery depreciation, but if you weren't searching specifically for that item it would be hard to peove how much was consumed in the find itself.

Are you there on the weekend or after work? So maybe you get an hourly rate for the digging. Again - you are there of your own choice. You can't claim the travel as you went there not knowing what, if anything, you would find.

Are you expecting finds for rewards? If so, do you have a permit to operate a business on the beach? Did you claim the appraised value as income on your last tax return?

The reimburseable expense returns in the laws and such are there to cover salvage expenses of large and/or menacing items like abandoned ships or feeding a run-away horse. How much is the daily upkeep or transport fuel costs for a ring?

 

[jeff of pa]

Maybe you did not read what he said...first sentence charging the owner anything..... <<<ANYTHING $20 would not be considered an excessive amount, especially if you ran an ad, made phone calls, used your gas to drive to location to return ring....its ok to be wrong once in a while!

Yes I agree $20.00 is not an Excessive amount to ask for.

If Broke, they could Probably Borrow a 20 to get the ring back & sell it.

Wrong Choice of Amount, In my trying to Explain Something :P

 

[Ima Swinger]

Hey guys.
I'm not here to beat a dead horse, but it does seem to me that in returning the ring it's only fair that the owner pay for the expenses that it took to get the ring to them (gas & ad).

I have questions, and there's no right or wrong answer, only opinions.

Isn't everything we find, the property of someone else?
So if that is true, shouldn't we make an effort to find the owner of everything we find?
If so, then the cash value of the ring in question is irrelevant.
Going strictly on what has been said by many ("returning is the right thing to do"), then we should all be making the honest effort to return all of our finds regardless of cash value. There are people on this site that have 50 rings and no telling what else under their belt in their years of hunting, and that's awesome!!! Should these people now take out ads in the paper at $100 a pop to find these owners? Who can afford that?
I have yet to find anything with a name on it, or numbers to track someone down. If I do, I'm the type to hunt them down, but, they will pay the expense and no more, or they won't get it back.
I have found 1 ring in my short TH'ing career, and it is a junk ring.
I won't be taking an ad out to find the owner. I know you won't either, so don't go there.

I think each person draws his own line, so I'm not going to give cross words on wether or not to return the ring, as long as no laws are broken.

Just something to ponder.

Ima

 

[jeff of pa]

Apparently it musn't be this way Everywhere,
or there is a Misunderstanding when it comes to Found adds.

I have taken out many, & never paid a Cent.

 

[Ima Swinger]

The dollar amount was just a guess. I'm from a small town, everything costs here.
My point is, should we all be making an effort to return "every" find?

Ima

 

[DFX-SE Gregg]

Each person is different, obviously some have made the point that some jewelry can be traced back to an owner. Will everyone do this?>>>No......Also should we expect a reward....<<<maybe not...but should we have to find the item...return the item... and also have to pay costs for gas, time whatever and expect nothing in return? Or even lose money because of costs, shipping, driving whatever to return the item? I am more in the camp that our finds if returned...minimum we should have our costs covered! It is damn hot right now to be hunting...I am taking 4-5 days off due to the heat, sunburn and soreness........ So believe me my next thought is not let me see what I can find...return it... and take a loss! We should see our finds as rewards for our effort and if returnable and that is what person decides to do... I know if someone returned an item of value to me....I would insist on giving them something of value, money, a gift certificate something!<<<<<Just one opinion....

The dollar amount was just a guess. I'm from a small town, everything costs here.
My point is, should we all be making an effort to return "every" find?

Ima