FLORIDA LAW regarding found jewelry

[Tom_in_CA]

crazy story ! Thanx for sharing .

 

[tarajudy]

me toooooo

 

[doc holiday232]

Pssssst----Loose lips sink ships. aND iDIOTS.

 

[GeorgeinSC]

I never find anything but clad and junk jewelry. That is my standard answer to anyone who asks. I never show anyone something that I have found while I am in the process of detecting. If I don't talk how would the police know that I had found something.

 

[tarajudy]

Had a couple come up to me about 2 years ago after they saw the ring I just dug up was theirs and would call the police if I did not give it back to them I said go ahead I'll wait right here.
police came ask to see the ring I said look inside and tell me the name you see on this wedding band. It was my name ,it was my test ring I use to set up m detector on the beach.
Officer ask to leave the beach with him. out come????????

 

[JamesBondaka]

I agree. But take it a step further: Wasn't it your obligation to have turned them in to the police, after first having found them?

If the father in that story had filed a "lost" report with the police, and you were later found with their possession, you can be charged with theft. Even if you'd never had the meeting with the janitor to have known the story.

Yes an individual has to make a decision whether or not those coins are part of a lost collection but there's no way to know for sure .

I disagree . There is no way you would be charged for theft . You "might" be charged for possession of stolen merchandise but again I doubt that . There is no way that they can prosecute you for theft or possession of stolen property if the coins can't be positively identified as the coins taken.

There would also be a legal argument about these coins as not who found them but who was the little culprit that took them in the first place .

 

[John(Tx)]

If I had to turn in every single gold/plat/silver piece of jewelry I have found I would not be on these forums right now, what is the point? People lose jewelry and want it back, then go buy a machine and go look for it......Not going to happen so if I find it, it's mine with the exception of the class ring with ID inside.....HH

 

[John(Tx)]

The officer should of arrested him for perjury even if he hadn't been sworn in, I hate those type of scumbag people.....

 

[tarajudy]

PROVE I FOUND IT.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

PROVE I FOUND IT.

Well gee, haven't you looked at md'ing web-forum show & tell sections lately ?? The pages are FILLED with md'rs proudly showing off their latest boasting rights trophies. That's part of the fun of md'ing after all, to pace and compare, right ?? And let's be dreadfully honest: How many of them do you think were "running to the police station" to turn those rings in for proper L&F procedures ?

So if anyone LEO people *really* cared one iota, then what's to stop them from merely plying the pages of any md'ing website, seeing who posts a show & tell ring, and then chasing them down ? Surely it wouldn't be hard to identify someone here, if an LEO served search warrants on the forum administrations. Right ?

So we are watching your forum show & tell posts from now on tarajudy. If you post a nice item ....... be expecting a knock on the door. MUHAHAHA ! However, for a mere $100 extortion payment, I can be persuaded to keep quiet (I accept paypal).

 

[doc holiday232]

AXE me no questions and I will tell you no lies.

 

[Johnho]

So if I find a Spanish coin from the 1715 fleet near Sebastian Inlet I have to give it to the cops, give them money to store and advertise, and then they give it back to Spain when Spain claims it? yeah right. Welcome to Florida. The only state I know that has around 150 vanity licence plates so everyone feels good.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

So if I find a Spanish coin from the 1715 fleet near Sebastian Inlet I have to give it to the cops, give them money to store and advertise, and then they give it back to Spain when Spain claims it? yeah right. .....

Correct. Cultural heritage has to be respected after all. Now hurry .... go do the "right thing" like all the other FL hunters are doing.

And while you're at it: Look up FL "lost & found" laws. I'm sure that there's a stipulation in there (just like all 50 states) where an item over a given-value (typically $100 to $250) has to be turned in to the police for proper lost & found procedure. Laws that are born out of wandering cattle type situations. Hence all the FL hunters are promptly trotting down to the police station for any gold ring they find as well. Hence we expect you to do the same ! Make us all proud

 

[doc holiday232]

LEO"s need to spend ALL their time stopping real Terrorist---not some Loyal American pursuing a hobby that harms NO ONE.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

.... a hobby that harms NO ONE.

How do you figure it "harms no one" ? When you "rip" that historical archaeologically sensitive artifact out of the ground from its context, you deprive future generations from learning about their past . Tsk tsk.

I know you are crying alligators tears in self-loathing and disgust of your dastardly deeds. But not to worry: Just box up all your stuff. Send it to me. I will absolve your conscience of all guilt. It's the least I can do for a fellow friend and hobbyist such as yourself .

 

[ajf3]

I pretty much hate that law like the rest of you.. but where is the line? ie, why respect trespassing laws if not respecting lost/found laws?

That's kind of where I am too... would likely ignore the lost/found law unless engraved/important momento/etc, but I do respect private/restricted property. Maybe I should try to talk myself out of that and go detect some battlefields lol

 

[ewtaylor]

There are people posting their finds, from Florida beaches, on you tube and facebook ALL the time. Hell, one guy is famous. Put your finds in your pockets and remember that sometimes silence is golden. Turning anything into the police is the same as throwing it away.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

I pretty much hate that law like the rest of you.. but where is the line? ie, why respect trespassing laws if not respecting lost/found laws?

That's kind of where I am too... would likely ignore the lost/found law unless engraved/important momento/etc, but I do respect private/restricted property. Maybe I should try to talk myself out of that and go detect some battlefields lol

You are hitting the nail on the head. Such is the dilemma of "just how crazy accurate" a person cares to be. I realize that "breaking one law does not make it right to break a 2nd law". But on the other hand, I bet there's not an md'r anywhere, that hasn't broken SOME type of law d/t the inherent nature of the hobby we are in.

Eg.: did they pay taxes on that clad ? Did they "take/remove/harvest" from public land ? Did they "deface & alter" during the evil task of digging the target ? If valuable, did they dutifully report to lost & found ? If old, did they violate some sort of cultural heritage laws ? THE LIST IS ENDLESS.

This was a bone of contention in our city's club: Someone would come in with a nice coin they found at a sidewalk demo. tearout (or some such old-town urban demolition). Sure as heck, someone else would raise their hand and ask: How did you get in there? Because, you see, the other hunter had seen some orange cones and yellow tape, so ........ bless their little hearts ...... they called the city or asked the contractor for "permission". And got told "no". Hence they object to hunter #2 as being somehow lawless ?

It's noble to try to be law-abiding, but in this hobby, it can be a slippery slope where you will one day wake up and realize that you are NEVER going to get every last person on the planet to roll out red carpets for you. Even if you found someone in a city office to tell you "yes", I guarantee you that I could walk into that very same office the next day, ask a different person and .... .depending on how I word the question, and their mental imaging, could get a "no". All very subjective and arbitrary sometimes.

Hence I have grown calloused in my 42 yrs. of this, and now use the "does anyone really care" test of things. And ... yes ... sometimes that means to use a little common sense in your timing, so as not to swat hornet's nests.

 

[pasttom]

I was just noticing I was automatically answering only about a dollar in change and loads of trash when asked about finds and thought about this old thread.
Rereading it, I'd be tempted to take 100% of my finds to the LEOs since I am unqualified to price/value same if there was an issue made.

 

[Johnho]

Great, when I find a cow on the beach I'll turn it in. Hmmm, how do I get that thing in my car, hamburger anyone?