Question New Mexico

mullnax · Feb 14, 2014

So here is my question. If someone was to find a gold bar around and I say around meaning within a few miles of victorio peak which is on government land how could they sell it. Should you melt it down. Claim a dead relative had it in their effects, break off pieces and take it to the we buy gold places, take it to a bank, have it surveyed. Really need to know the answer to this.

cudamark · Feb 14, 2014

The way things are today, I think I would keep quiet about it and stash it away for my retirement fund! If you need to sell it, I'd say it was something that my grandfather used as a door stop and that I don't know where HE got it. Or maybe say you bought it years ago at a yard sale and initially thought it was fake. If there are identifying marks on it that will tie it to a particular cache, you'll have to decide if the historical value exceeds the conscience value of defacing it.

mullnax · Feb 14, 2014

yeah that is what i was thinking grandfather passed away and i found this in the attic with a bunch of other stuff like old war bonds etc....

Tom_in_CA · Feb 15, 2014

oh no

mullnax said:
yeah that is what i was thinking grandfather passed away and i found this in the attic with a bunch of other stuff like old war bonds etc....

Oh heavens no. Here's what you do: You go into various govt. officials offices (whatever entity administers/owns the particular stretch of land you found it on). You show the gold bar to various bureaucrat's and govt. lawyers there. You tell them: "Hi, I found this on your land, and it's worth $1 million dollars. Is it ok if I keep it for my own fun and enjoyment to sell off? Or does it belong in govt. coffers, since it was found on Govt. land ?" And then see what they say. Be sure to use words like "take" and "harvest" and "collect" and "arpa", and "cultural heritage", lest they not understand the full ramifications.

Then when they tell you "no, you can't keep it", you will have the relief of knowing you've done the right and ethical thing of asking.

ok, now hurry: go ask! :hello:

Or another method: send me the gold bar, and I'll take care of all that for you. I will absolve your conscience of all guilt. Consider it the act of a true friend, who is only trying to help you out of this sticky dilema.

Sandman · Feb 15, 2014

Tom, your a Hoot. If you find a gold bar, silver bar or anything of value, keep your mouth shut. Everyone wants to jump up and down for everyone else to see how lucky or skillful you were at finding it, but this is the worst thing you can do except maybe telling your wife you won a million dollars.

As for turning the bar into something you can spend, even melting parts of it off will raise suspicions unless you make a ring out of it.

Jim in Idaho · Feb 15, 2014

Sandman said:
Tom, your a Hoot. If you find a gold bar, silver bar or anything of value, keep your mouth shut. Everyone wants to jump up and down for everyone else to see how lucky or skillful you were at finding it, but this is the worst thing you can do except maybe telling your wife you won a million dollars.

As for turning the bar into something you can spend, even melting parts of it off will raise suspicions unless you make a ring out of it.

YUP...paraphrasing Robert Ringer..."your ego is the biggest overhead item you'll ever have"
Jim

Jonsered · Feb 25, 2014

I sell a decent amount of gold in New Mexico. 1st) Does the historical value of the object mean anything to you? If so, you may have a problem. If not............2) Chop it up into smaller pieces, smelt it into small buttons, and sell away. As long as I keep my gold sales under $250, I have NEVER been asked for an ID. There are scores of fly by night "We Buy Gold" outfits in this country. Its a tad bit time consuming, but you make 3 or 4 stops in a day selling gold, and you go to bed with $800 to $1000. Furthermore, if you live anywhere near the Mexican border, put $1,000 worth in your pocket, walk into Mexico and sell it. They don't give a damn about stupid US laws, just make sure you come back through US checkpoints with less than $1500 in cash. All this is with the understanding that if you recovered this from government land, you committed a crime by doing so. No recovering antiquities on Fed land. If you destroy the item, you may then be in violation of the Antiquities Act, which is another crime. Me personally, "if" I were to ever find gold or antiquities on Fed land, I wouldn't even tell my Priest.