What would you do?

[nocaljim]

Sometime back, I got permision to hunt a site that may have a , picknic grove? I have found around 24 coins, mostly v nickles and barber dimes! yesterday , I found a 1886 liberty five dollar gold piece!! No BS! something you dream about but , you know, don't really expect !! I tried to post a picture of it , but with dial up , things may be to slow?? Anyway, do you offer the coin to person that gave you permission, offer the value of the coin, what is the right thing to do??

 

[BHNugget]

Thats a tough one nocaljim, if you offer up the coin,chances are you may never hunt there again.I think I'd get all the detecting done that I could or wanted to,and then offer to let the owner view the coin and get thier reaction.

 

[Elton]

n/t

 

[cx3]

If you have permission to hunt the property I would not say anything about it, you havent said anything about the other coins you found , have you? If you have a pre aranged agreement as far as dividing the value of the coins I probably would keep it to myself. If word gits out about the gold coin there will be more people wanting to hunt and the owner may then stop all hunting. I was hunting around an old home place a few years back that was still being lived in and found a $ 1.00 gold piece that was secured in a bezel for wearing on a chain, the coin was barely under the grass. I ask the owner about the coin and he said that he had lost the coin off his necklace about a month prior to me finding it. The loop on the bezel that the chain would have gone through was broken, of course I gave the coin back to the owner, but in your situation the owner of the gold coin is probably long gone. HH


Jerry Murphy

 

[cometguy]

Whoa, guys. when we ask permission we hope to find things. We shouldn't feel guilty when we find things. No agreement in place, I say the right thing is being
appreciative. Most people aren't looking to grab your finds. I would thank them, tell them you have found some old coins, give them some of the dates and maybe
show them some of the nickles and pennies if pressed. These folks would probably appreciate a gift certificate to a nice restaurant, a gift card to a local store etc. Unfortunately, humankind's greedy side kicks in if given half of a chance. Don't make your appreciation gift, crazy extravagant. Do something nice for those
who have done something nice for you. I have heard of hunters putting together a small collecting of relics or a few coins in a picture frame sized matte to
express their thanks. I suppose you could get really busy and find a second gold piece and then you could both have one. Be thankful you stumbled into
a great site and hunt it carefully. These are just my thoughts and I think you are a good person to be so concerned.

HH, Don

 

[dave5710]

Submit your story to White's and the Best Finds of 2009.

Be honest and tell them you found a few old coins and ask them if they have any interest in them. If they say no, offer your services to them anytime for lost jewelry or property stakes.

If they say yes then tell them you would like to keep the coins and offer to give them half the value. Don't risk getting permission revoked. If they aren't good natured people I wouldn't say a word until I was all done. You don't want to take a chance on losing that spot.

You have to decide if the coin is worth $5.00 or $200.00+ .

We can all learn a lesson from this. If a property owner expects everything turned over to them, why bother to hunt there.

Glad it's not me, Take care, Dave

 

[DrJoeprime]

Great Find! ----- Tough Call!

One thing to remember is that the gold coin would still be lost were it not for you and your detector.

Not an easy decision. ..but if you did not have a specific agreement with the owner ...hmmm.

HH Joe

 

[NiagracountyNY]

Ive often thought of offering items i find on private property to the owner..After much thought i wouldnt do this unless i made a nice little display case for them with a few finds..Now if i founda GOLD coin i personally would not give that up.Id give them a few of the other coins they would never have seen if i didnt dig them up..But not that gold coin!If i get a feeling from a land owner that he may be the type to suddenly want my finds after i bring them to the light of day..I dont tell them the good stuff i find.Its awful nice of them to give us permmision,but unless they state right from the getgo that they want some of the stuff i find(which i wont bother detecting more than likely) they arent getting it.I spent alot of cash and time on my gear and research..I love the hobby but I like my Treasure too Congrats on such a rare find!HH

 

[jbow]

If permission was given with no expectation of you giving the finds to the property owner you should keep it to yourself, gold makes people change. I guess it is according to what your conscience tells you to do but I see no obligation if there were no expectations that you would show or give the property owner the finds.

Gold does funny things to people, or not so funny things. I wouldn't say anything about a gold coin. If the owner told me that such and such might be buried on the property and I found it then I might feel an obligation to split it, but i'd split it my way. If possible, i'd remove it, value it, and split it by value, probably 60/40... then negotiate to 50/50 if they complained, or I might keep it... according to the situation and according to what was said.

One gold coin... nah. I'd keep it, why cause trouble and possible hard feelings over one coin. Besides, you spent good money on a detector, took the time to learn it, put in lots of hours, asked permission, got permission, and found something good... it is the fruit of your labor... You had permission to hunt, if they thought that you were looking for nails and pulltabs then I don't know what to say. They, on some level, had to know that you might find something of value, yet they gave you permission to hunt. It is yours. Honestly, if they don't care that you dig and keep a nickel they shouldn't care that you dig and keep a gold coin... yet the heart of man is.. well, you know how it is, it is deceitful. Don't stir it up.

So... don't make trouble where there is none... unless you really believe that you have a moral oblgation to tell them, then you take your chances, but you should give it some thought until you are sure of your reasonings.

Julien

 

[redbird]

If you have guilt dont go mding anymore stay away !! Now if you find something with a name look for that individual and give it up , the first thing you say to the owner is if they have anything that they lost you will look for it, but if this was an old picnic area and you have permission, and your finding goodies at the end of the day offer them the horse shoe you found and go home and count your coins look at them with amazement and awe nd say to your self there no place like home theres no place like home sweet home oregon that is

 

[lala09]

I agree with what jbow said gold makes people change so this is what I would do I'd md the land and when I'm pretty much done detecting it I'd then tell the land owner that I found some things an I'd like to offer you so money for the things I found offer him like 10% to 20% of the value of the coin. The owner of the land could have said no you can't md on my land so I say all good karma should be rewarded with good karma he may tell you that he don't want the money or he could take the money but I'm not sure I'd tell him I found a GOLD COIN. (This is the sole opinion of Lala09)

 

[Jason in TN]

I am 100% sure this is not a coin the owner lost. May offer a gift card to a restarant or make a display with a few other coins but do not show them the gold folks get funny when they see somthing of real value and tend to get greedy. Could lose permission and also they could think if he is giving me this he must have found a lot of these. Next thing you know you are a crook and found a bunch of gold coins and you are in court being sued or something crazy. Just be nice to the owner do something for and keep quite and hope every one stays happy. Awsome find hope you get another one out there.

Jason

 

[perchdoctor]

Keep the coin metal detecting is what we do just like deer hunting -you keep what you find (or kill) permission was given enough said, a gift certificate to a local restaurant would be a nice gesture , great find be proud of it

 

[CROCK of COINS]

A framed photo of the GOOD - BAD - UGLY might be a fun gift. Just to show what was found ;-)

ADJUST photo as needed

Jerry

 

[silvernail]

What would *I* do? I would remind myself that is almost NEVER a good idea to stir up a person's sense of envy, greed, avarice or competition if that person has any real or potential power to make you regret it. Like kicking you off the property in order to hunt it himself, or imagining you have taken unfair advantage of him and harming your reputation, etc. Unless it is a relative or someone I know Very well, I would Shut The Eff Up and enjoy my probable Once In A Lifetime Find quietly !

 

[Larry (IL)]

That is one of the most eloquently worded bits of life advise I have read............. That sounds like something my martial arts instructor said many years ago, but I like your version better.

Thanks Silvernail

 

[jbow]

That is what I was trying to say, only I didn't know quite how to say it... you said well!

Good job!! As O'Reilly say's "keep it pithy".



Julien

 

[nocaljim]

Thanks for all the responses,you guys are great! I've known this landowner for sometime and really didn't think there would be a problem, and there was is not. I called and told him what I had found and he sounded ALMOST as happy about the find as I was! I still feel the excitement of finding that coin , I didn't have my glasses with me , and my first thought was it had to be a trade token or something like that, it just couldn't be real. heading back to the truck I was shaking it around in my hand and from the weight you could just tell it had to be real, and of course it was!! I hope everyone on this forumgets to experience the thrill of finding at least one neet thing, I know it will be my coin of a lifetime! this is getting long------------------found everything with a v3---D2 coil ----C&J more or less default---- took all coins to local whites dealer----he took picturesand will send to whites,maybe they will use them? anyway thanks & good luck in your searches JIM

 

[Low-Boy/LCPM]

If they gave you permission and didn't say they wanted any coins you found and the find is not worth a lot of money then keep it so you can remember the find and the history.

 

[jbow]

You did what your heart told you and it worked out... I spoke about the possibility of awakening greed in the landowners heart but you killed any chance of it taking root in your own heart. You are a good influence, thanks.

Plus you didnt mention that you have known the owner for a long time, still... you make me re-think my thoughts and intents...


J