Opening A Sensitive Issue, Would Like Your Thoughts

[Les West Central Fl]

In the past I or some members of our club have been stopped at the beach or been called at home about a lost item. These people have told us where, when and how they lost the jewelry and if we could help them find it. I and most of my fellow hunters have gone out , found and returned the lost item. There are several people we do not share this information with because in the past they went and recovered the item then sold it for scrap , knowing who it belonged to.
My question is this: Do you consider this action, recover the item and selling it, proper or is it Finders Keepers?
I feel if this information is given to you it should be returned, it is not like finding jewelry and doing research to return it.

 

[jeff of pa]

If you find a lost object that you did not steal, it is a found object for you and yours to keep. Finders Keepers is not a legal term.

I'm not certain I understand your second thought, Chug and Red. If you find a lost coin do you make a concerted effort to return it to its rightful owner? Mostly we find things we weren't told about.

Then there's the factor of age and research. If you find a name inside a ring, and a date that indicates the object is over 80 years old, are you going to track down the descendants?

A lot of my research comes from old newspapers, specifically lost and found ads. They used to be free, but most newspapers can no longer afford to run them. As the newspaper lost ads sometimes have old phone #'s to contact, how is today's finder supposed to track down who lost them? If no address is given in the original ad, or name, or current phone #, I think the object is found in the law, and becomes yours to do with as you wish.

Similarly, if you find a ring or other valuable object which you can place with a specific person, it remains theirs. But most rings I find are over 30 years old, and do not have names engraved on them.

A found object is not yours to keep, you better check the law in your state.
Already did.
> Every state is different but they all say you must turn in a found item. They have a minimum value on the object, say $50 for example, so people dont turn in a quarter. If the object isnt claimed in a certain amount of time, it is given to the finder.
In Oregon, the object must be worth more than $100. Until recently, that didn't include common gold objects such as small rings. But now it applies to almost any object with any gold in it.
> They dont enforce this law, but it is a law. I wouldnt go around saying a found object is yours to keep. Sory sumwuns spelin upsetts you sow muchh.

Poor spelling is a sign of poor spelling, nothing more.

It bothers me, perhaps more than others, because I used to earn a living as a proof-reader.

Butt if ur hapy wit it, god fer U.

Why do Doctors Scribble ?

to hide their Spelling Mistakes.

[mod]Spelling has Nothing to do with Education.

Or this thread.

Please stay on topic[/mod]

 

[JP]

For my 2 cents to the subject at hand, if someone asks you to help find something for them and they're being nice then the correct thing to do is help them. Those that like to detect during the day within the crowds of people, help (most willingly I assume) find recently lost items. Of course those that detect at night or during the morning hours avoid that....

A person has to follow their conscience on this subject.

 

[Produce Guy]

I was with a friend down at the Texas coast this summer and a lady asks us if we could find her necklace that fell off in the surf,so we go where she thinks she lost it and search for about an hour,Well no luck .We can see that she's losing hope,so my buddy says what hotel are you staying at and if we find it we will bring it to you.She says they all ready checked out and were fixing to leave,so I pull out a Sharpe marker at write my phone number on here arm,and we all kind of laugh at it and she goes on her maryway.A little later we go from the water back to her hotel and sure enough it's about 6 ft. from where the grass stops at the beach,from her hotel.We go inside the hotel and ask around they said that they can't give us that info. on their guests
So later on that day we take it to a jewelry store in Courpus Christie,TX. just to see the value of this necklace,the 1st. place tells us about $500 and the 2nd. place puts the value at about$850.
Later on that night she finally calls and asks us if we had any luck?,when we told her yes she let out a shreek so loud that my ears are still ringing ,the really funny thing is that she lives to the town just north of where I live.

 

[TORRERO]

I Certainly Believe in the right to Finders Keepers,
if that is your attitude on your finds.

However in the case of Being asked to find someting,

finding it & Not returning it is Clearly Theft.
And I'm sure there are other laws If you misrepresent
yourself as someone who only wants to help.

I was under the impression that the "loser" of the item asked this guy to find it, and he was talking to
someone else in general conversation and happened to say where this item was lost and the other
fellow went there and dug it up and sold it for scrap, so the person who was asked to find it could not, but later he discovered that the person in on the "General conversation" had in fact found it and sold it for scrap....
It would be a pretty low thing to do... and I would no longer be friends with someone who did that to me...

On the other hand in the 30 + - years I've been detecting things have happened that border on this very thing.... such as me and another fellow find a "Hot" spot and are digging great things and the other fellow brings a friend (with or without my permission) and the other guy starts bringing all his friends, and soon your "hot spot" is full of people you never heard of before....

Or your on the beach and someone comes to you saying they lost a valuable item and you say you will look, but then you "don't find it" .... and later return when that person is gone just so you can get it when they are no longer available to retrieve it from you ?
Or worse, your thankful for them telling you where their $1000 item was lost, because now you can get it and they not.... (after they tell you, you really have no intention of returning it)

Once years ago, me and a friend were given permission to hunt a ladies back yard on Folly Island
a small back yard that produced many Civil War items and coins and buttons...
maybe you could not have gotten 3 cars in her back yard it was so small....
I made the mistake of telling another friend where this was .... and six months later when we went back the lady was hugely pissed because someone had come when she was not there and dug holes in her back yard with a shovel....
We never went back....

So I only tell trusted friends of sites I have, and only disclose on a "need to know" basis for things like this....

 

[abeach01]

I actually have competed with another fellow here in the local lakes for years. We called him dirty dave. He was notorious for going detecting on the buziest time of the day just to get the tip on a lost item. He never returned anything in fact he was used to find a substantial loss on a boat dock by the ranger at a lake only to pocket the item then post as a best find in a magazine. Talk about nerve.....
I went to the DR a couple years back and was told a guy there would pay the lifeguards to tell him when they saw a loss occur because of course they are trained to have an eye for panic as it is the first sign of a drowning. The lifguards give him the tip and tell the losers to not keep stirring up the area that he is sending someone with a detector that can find the ring. He then calls this guy and he charges the people $100 to look for the item ($50 for him & $50 for the lifegaurd then he pretends to look for the thing lost or just pockets it if the losers are not looking.
These practices make us all look bad and I could not do it as it is stealing.

 

[Buck Rabbit]

Same as stealing!!!!!

 

[detectahead]

If I am asked I return! Attitude makes a difference. My cards say "Let me help you find your lost valuables" Tools, mechanical parts, machinery parts, survey stakes are lost valuables also besides jewelry. The relief(of finding a lost item) and joy (of recovering it) in the individuals face is enough payment for me! Most will pay you a reward. Take it, don't feel bad. They are happy giving it because they never thought they would see the item again. I win all the way around, I'm hunting and if I find, its that much greater!

 

[tincansam]

I actually have competed with another fellow here in the local lakes for years. We called him dirty dave. He was notorious for going detecting on the buziest time of the day just to get the tip on a lost item. He never returned anything in fact he was used to find a substantial loss on a boat dock by the ranger at a lake only to pocket the item then post as a best find in a magazine. Talk about nerve.....
I went to the DR a couple years back and was told a guy there would pay the lifeguards to tell him when they saw a loss occur because of course they are trained to have an eye for panic as it is the first sign of a drowning. The lifguards give him the tip and tell the losers to not keep stirring up the area that he is sending someone with a detector that can find the ring. He then calls this guy and he charges the people $100 to look for the item ($50 for him & $50 for the lifegaurd then he pretends to look for the thing lost or just pockets it if the losers are not looking.
These practices make us all look bad and I could not do it as it is stealing.

thats low

 

[JD-GA]

Worse than a thief.

 

[NYwaterhunter]

Well, I can't hold back on this topic any longer. When it comes to giving back finds to the Legal Owner, by law the person who lost the target is the owner of it regardless if they tried to find it or not.
However, there are alot of Rude folks and there are situations that my partners and I believe you do not give back!
My family started detecting over 30 years ago and I have been tenured in at 14 years so I have experienced several situations with this.

Situation # 1:
A partner of mine had a college student walk up to him while he was wading in the St Lawrence. I lost my ring a few years ago. She gives him the details and initials on the ring. My partner
is 95 % sure he has her ring back home (150 miles away, found a year earlier), gets her number and calls her to meet w/him a few weeks later. He made a special trip for this. She looks at the ring and reply's ... Oh thats the wrong middle initial its my sisters ring. She threw it in her pocket and walked away. She said thanks softly as she was walking away. Didn't have any clue as to what went on to get her sisters ring back (If it was actually hers). Unfortunately that was my partners last give back.

Situation #2:
I droped my ear rings over the edge of the dock. I will pay you to have them back. They mean everything to me. Another partner of mine went and got his dive gear and found them laying on the bottom.
When he gave them to her, he could tell that she really apprieciated it.

Situation # 3:
This happened to me a few months ago. Detecting off a small island on the Seneca River in central NY. Get there early on a Saturday, Hot day 85 for a high, No boats when we get there. I find a girls class ring 20 minutes in the water. Very Nice Ring !
So after a few hrs the boats pack in and a lady in the water does what 80% of the people do when where detecting. " ever get anything" I give my standard reply, "once in a while , kids rings, an old coin, and alot of trash". She reply's well my daughter lost her Class ring a few years ago. OK - now I'm thinking no way do I have it. Thousands of boats go here every yr. So I push the subject farther drilling her with questions to see her side of this lost ring.
I asked, is it gold or Silver? - Gold 14 K . I bet it cost alot ? - paid $800. How can I identify if I find it? - It has her name on it Michelle _____. Now I can't believe I have her daughters ring in my nail apron as I'm talking with her. Then I push a little farther before I give it back. I asked more questions, Did she learn her lesson not to take jewelry in the water? - No I got her another one and she lost that one to.
Now I'm thinking it doesn't mean much to mom just buy another one.
The best part is that the little sister was there and says to me, Mom owes me a ring. I never got one like my sister did. You'll never find my sisters ring here, there is no way you will find it in this huge area. She said this like a spoiled little brat.
They managed to make me change my mind on giving it to them based on the questions I asked and the attitudes they had.
I looked right at the sister/brat and said "Your absolutely right! Theres no way I would find your sisters ring here with all the garbage in the water"
There was no way that I was giving that ring back to those spoiled brats.
I see them at this place every time I go there and think of the answers they gave me previously.

My whole point is that you need to be a detective and ask many questions. If the mom would have said, I made her pay for most of her replacement ring and if the sister didn't act like her mom has been mandated to give her a ring to, then I would of been very happy to give it back.
In this situation, it would not have been appreciated if I gave it back.

I also don't have alot of sympathy for mature folks (over 30) that wear jewelry in water, When your older you know better ! However, I give back when I get the right answers to my questions.
It's a great feeling giving back when its appreciated!

GG

 

[Sandman]

I think we have all had the good moments and the bad when we find something that someone has lost whether we return it or not.

We are in this hobby to find stuff, right.

If giving a lost item back to the person that lost it makes us feel good, why not. But to know we have the lost item they are missing and we keep it from them, that is plain stealing and we should rot in hell for it.

 

[birdman]

Stealing is stealing and when you die,you can't take a pile of gold with you. Seeing a smile on someones face and knowing that you may have restored someones hope in humanity by doing the right thing is priceless.
There is nothing worst then a liar or a thief.