Quick Question

[AES]

When out and about, lets say you stumble upon a very valuable find.

Say it is several hundred or so pounds of gold in bullion form.


Now what?

 

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[BFranklin]

I'm sorry, I don't understand.
Could you please be a little more vague?

 

[bergie]

I've only found small cubes of beef and chicken bullion around the house. Makes a nice soup though.

 

[Lowbatts]

Take a class in jewelry or coin making....

 

[Moonshadow]

Get a bandaid for big toe?

 

[nedigger]

Were you drinking and wake up in the vault in Fort Knox again? They're not going to let you just carry it out of there you know. Seriously, most of us have spent good money on detecting equipment and we get thrilled when we find a silver dime while you're out stumbling upon hundreds of pounds of gold bullion? Wow! Some guys have all the luck. I think if I were you I would keep it low key and sell it off in small quantities. But that's just me. I would be a little nervous as to who it belonged to though. If it appears to be an old cache then there should be nothing to worry about but if it looks like it was recently hidden then you may be inviting more trouble than you care to deal with. Either way what a find! I don't suppose you have a pic you could post, huh? Best of luck (like you need it with a find like that).

 

[oknorom]

here's what you do. you take down my address and drive all that bullion over to my house. i'll take it off your hands. stupid, lousy, worthless gold bullion. a thank you would be nice.

HH, MIke

 

[lab rat]

I think it was a rhetorical question...

I would just photograph it, move it to a new location a few feet away and re-bury it, draw up a nice map and sew it in my boxers. And use the photo as a screen saver, but not before posting it on this forum!

 

[Moonshadow]

LOL Labrat!!!!

Moon

 

[AES]

Thanks for all of the insightful replies!


I am asking a serious question. I apologize if I was being vague.


I will try to ask again.


If you are out and about and you stumble upon something sizable...

What is your next step? What do you do now?

It isn't like one can just go out and sell off a couple bars of gold.

Also,

Any IRS concerns?

Any concerns about the previous owner of the bullion (or who they might have stolen it from years ago)?

Any concerns about making the find on BLM land?



What advice do you guys have for someone who makes a very sizable find.

And please, leave the "sell them to the black market and buy an island" remarks out of it.


Thanks.

 

[lab rat]

Seriously now... Are you asking as a general scenario, or is there a specific case you are involved with? If you want help unloading a 'sizeable fortune', what's in it for me? Not that I'm greedy-- but professional assistance comes with a price-- partly because of the legal and liability issues that can potentially affect those involved.

The very first step is to document a history of the actual finding of the site and the fortune, and the nature of the fortune. Is it all in bars? How much does each one weigh? How pure are they? How easy to transport the whole amount, or can it only be transported a little at a time? How secure is the secrecy of the location, and what is the likelyhood that someone else will 'stumble' on it? Can you document that you found it legitimately on land you have legal access to? Is this located in the United States or its protectorates, or is it in a foreign country? Under what country was the metal originally mined, if different? Did you really recover it or do you just hope to locate something in an area where you're 'just sure it's here SOMEwhere'?

The second step would be preservation. If the bars are of a historical nature, the value is more from the form than the bullion. Ie: if the bars can be traced to a certain assayer in California who produced them in, say, 1852 and went out of business 3 years later, a 20-oz bar with a bullion value of $8000 might in fact be worth $25000 as a specimen. In that case you would want to take every precaution to prevent any defacement damage which would decrease its value dramatically.

The third step should be thorough documentation. Photographs, maps, and any papers that prove you found it legally, or with permission.

Beyond that, you can start to research the laws, consult with lawyers regarding potential applicable taxes (local and national), and so on. (Yes, the IRS will want a cut.) You would want to find how the 'fortune' came to be where it is, in case there might be legal claimants. You want to know everyone who might hold a legal right to the treasure, including insurance companies that might have insured it before it was lost or stolen (if that was the case). If you try to hide it from legal claimants you could set yourself up for a lot of trouble-- including prison time.

That's about as specific as I can get with the information you've supplied. I hope it helps. (If you seriously need some professional assistance, you can send me a private message-- if you proceed anything you do will be confidential.)

The trouble with a large fortune is that even if you did everything legally, it will (by its very nature) incur lots of problems. Better to start off looking for a small one!

Sleep well!

 

[diggummup]

Shhhhhh,be very,very quiet.We're huntin wabbits! gotta go!

 

[northoceanbeach]

i would take and sell it off slowly to different gold buyers.

 

[True_Metal]

I would get a sawz-all and cut small pieces off the bars then melt the edges using torch to make the pieces rounded. I would then sell them to different buyers a little at a time. Forget the historical value crap as when you start getting into that you will alert people to what you found, setting yourself up for some group or official/governmental agency maggots to come in and screw you out of all of it! You worked for it, so you should reap ALL the rewards!

 

[True_Metal]

My first post was going off the assumption that the find was already removed and secured. If not, i would try to get the stuff in one haul! Get it either night or day whichever is best for discretion from witnessess. If you cant handle it yourself enlist a TRUSTED buddiy to help in removal. Once secured, keep your mouth/s shut about it! After what i previously posted pertaining to selling it off, i would not bank the money. Use it as petty cash and for petty expenses and bank your taxed income. I would not be a dumbass and go on frivolous spending sprees, ie new cars, new house, expensive toys, you get the picture. The thing is to be sensible in spending and to incorporate the money gradually into your funds so as not to draw attention to yourself. An audit would not be fun!

 

[lab rat]

Lots of people think the way you do, True Metal. Including the IRS. They look for people who bank more of their taxed income than will account for their possessions. The only obvious way around it is to party it away, leaving nothing of hard assets in your possession.

I really think it is a better way to treat it as winning the lottery-- do your legal homework, pay your taxes, and invest the remainder.

There is still another way as well, though... (but of course there is a fee involved if you want to know what it is!)

 

[BFranklin]

DUDE
You should do what I did. Four years ago I found 13 ounces of gold and and and 13 ounces of platinum and 7 ounces of silver. I live in taxachussetes so I called the IRS imediatley they laughed at me and said false reports are illegal. (entrapment is also)
No one believed me that I actually found 33 ounces of precious metal buried in a ammo box at the local park. I called the local police the officer who answered the phone said "I'll come by and get it but I don't get off duty till 5pm".
any way I reburied it.

 

[True_Metal]

Yeah i follow you LabRat. I was just trying to quickly describe what i would do. The details and aspects of someting like this you could dicuss for hours but i was trying to keep it brief. I should have elaborated that i meant when banking your taxed income that you should continue paying your bills, car payments, and stuff like that thru your accounts and not stockpile it as that would draw attention to where you were getting additional funds from. Use the treasure booty money to get things that are not as easily traceable, and use it as padding for your legit income.. If sensibly done this can be accomplished with no one any the wiser. But enough now, i have to go as there is a strange black van sitting in front of my house that i'm highly suspicious of!

 

[coinshooter]

Sounds like I have found all those rats in the woodwork that would give me crap over cashing in a ring with a name in it. I told you there was a percentage of people on here that would NOT do the right thing! For those that are still lurkers on here, even though this is hypothetical, it's funny. When the stakes go up from a ring to a pile of bullion, people who would normally return a ring would be just as "dishonest or greedy" as the next guy.
If your putting your neck out on this forum, even if hypothetical, watch your back, as these guys are treasure hunters and they can dig out a clue just as easy as they can find out where you live!!
If you are wondering what I am talking about read the string under "Metal Detecting" called "Code of Ethics". Certainly there are a few that would turn it in, but I have been chastized on here for wanting to keep a ring with a name in it. Now, go take a good long hard look in the mirror!!

 

[lab rat]

So, coinshooter, are you suggesting that greed is unethical I was discussing a business proposition!