Is the jewelry you find on beaches yours to keep

[NectarDetector]

I'm not a holy roller, but here comes a sermon.

Don't mind saying that most of the responses to this thread, if seriously meant as stated, are troubling. We have each agreed to abide by the MDers code of conduct regarding adherence to local and federal regulations for found objects just like we have agreed to refill our dug holes, just like we have agreed to not search in cemeteries. There's no difference in how we should obey one regulation versus another. Either you observe all the rules or please get out of the hobby and stop ruining it for the people that are willing to follow *all* the rules. The rules are not multiple choice where you pick 3 out of 4 or 9 out of 10, and only observe those.

Have personally found a few items of jewelry (man's gold wedding ring, a sterling friendship ring, sterling charm bracelet) that valued IMO over $100, so turned them in to the local police for the 90 day holding period. The cop that helped me made out a police report, give me his card, and wrote the case number on the card, all without my asking. After the 90 hold, I got the items back from the evidence room clerk without any issue.

Some of you may want to make fun of this response and you can have at it. But remember that the attitudes reflected in this forum are also read by people who simply want to find out what MDers really think and therefor how they will act in the field. Your choice - as always.

End of sermon.

Bet you always come to a complete stop at a stop sign, never spit on the sidewalk, always use your turn signal when changing lanes, always drive to the end of the white line when merging onto the hiway, always do the speed limit, not one mile over, always tell the truth, abide by all laws, ordinances and statutes etc.

Man, you're a model citizen who's always done the right thing.

Listen, i didn't buy a detector to recover others lost property.

I bought a detector to find things people lost, to keep, to do with as I please and when they pay for my detecting gear, gas, and time, then we'll talk about hiring me as a recovery service, until then I am a pirate and your lost booty is mine unless I decide otherwise...

Nowhere in the code of ethics you mention does it say I have to return my finds to the cops to distribute as they see fit. Can you direct me to that part of the ethics you claim we're missing?

 

[PI JOE]

Must be very exciting to find gold rings. Still waiting to find my very first.

 

[jcham]

I am thinking the Owners/Admins/Moderators here could use this statue here on the Forum!

There you go already, starting trouble......I like the person that said we are all going to jail and the follow up at least we will be in there together... that would be a said sight they dont have metal objects in jail do they?

 

[PI JOE]

There you go already, starting trouble......I like the person that said we are all going to jail and the follow up at least we will be in there together... that would be a said sight they dont have metal objects in jail do they?

How are you Jamie where the hell you been....

 

[MD-Mainiac]

Bet you always come to a complete stop at a stop sign, never spit on the sidewalk, always use your turn signal when changing lanes, always drive to the end of the white line when merging onto the hiway, always do the speed limit, not one mile over, always tell the truth, abide by all laws, ordinances and statutes etc.

Man, you're a model citizen who's always done the right thing.

Listen, i didn't buy a detector to recover others lost property.

I bought a detector to find things people lost, to keep, to do with as I please and when they pay for my detecting gear, gas, and time, then we'll talk about hiring me as a recovery service, until then I am a pirate and your lost booty is mine unless I decide otherwise...

Nowhere in the code of ethics you mention does it say I have to return my finds to the cops to distribute as they see fit. Can you direct me to that part of the ethics you claim we're missing?

Nectar.. I think you are being to hard on him..He posted his feelings about the COE, that doesn't make him a saint or someone who always stops at a stop sign, etc... give him a break. You can disagree without insulting him.

 

[jcham]

ok, here goes.....

i have never yet whilst detecting found anything such as valuable jewelry that's been "lost" because we ALL know no one out there is dumb enough to wear a 5 or 10 thousand dollar ring to an area such as a beach!

so the question comes to mind about how did such and such an object get to be where it is?
easy: it was deliberately thrown there!! and since that's the case without a doubt, then it belongs to whoever has the good luck of finding said object.... ring, watch, pulltab, you name it. the person didn't want it anymore, so in our own pocket it goes, or in the case of the many items of trash we often find, we properly dispose of it and not just throw it in the sand.
as for the topic of WHY someone would throw away a perfectly good ring, watch, pulltab, there are many possible reasons: lovers spat, nasty divorce, their garbage bag was already too full, etc, etc.
if someone asks me to come to their yard and search for a specific and genuine lost item, sure no problem and if found it gets returned to them. otherwise, it's mine.

I'm going to have to go with this post, considering the divorce rate

 

[jcham]

How are you Jamie where the hell you been....

Hey Joe!!!! The truth I had 7 surgerys, ((back)) two major and a divorce. This one was really until death do us part, frigg...

I really cant hunt any more joe, I'm trying just got a new DFX and I'm going to give the beach a whirl this weekend.... The only positive out of the whole thing, I get great pain meds......

I was wondering were you and a few others were holding out, how are you I'm gald you posted now I can look up all your gold over the last two years!!!

 

[Tom_in_CA]

I was metal detecting a promenade near the beach and a lady came up to me asked if I was looking for "the ring". I asked if their had been a ring lost, she replied yes, she had seen the lost report at the police station she worked at. She was in plains clothes, it looked as if she was trying to find the ring for herself.
We talked a bit more and it turns out her police station WAS 20 MILES AWAY, since then I don't take anything to the police lost and found. There was just something not right when I was talking to her.

Gerry, I know EXACTLY how you felt !! One time I found a freshly-lost pair of prescription glasses on the beach. As I got ready to unload my trash at the parking lot trash can, I got ready to pitch them too. But I stopped, and looked at them further. Realized they appeared freshly lost, and could see see they were bi-focal prescription, with high-end expensive frames. Decided that perhaps I'd run a "found" ad on Craigslist.

The ad said "found with metal detector on such & such beach. Email to describe".

The next day, I had an answer in my email. I opened it up, and it was from that small town's police dept! A lady cop asking if the ones I'd found matched a certain description. They did not. I emailed back saying "sorry, not a match.". Her reply back rankled me, and made me think twice about ever posting found ads again (or .... at least not mentioning "metal detecting"). She said:

"Thanks for that info. You must find lots of interesting stuff on our beach here. In the future please bring all items of value you find to the police station counter. If the office is closed, there is a night deposit slot on the door. So as to be in compliance with the law...."

At first I was confused as to what she meant about "turning things in" and ".... to be in compliance with the law". So I sleuthed around at our state's lost & found laws, and came into a rude awakening. Doh! Gave me an eery feeling that ... yes, this cop probably .... from then on out, would cast a curious eye towards any md'r she saw from then on out (or dream up a law to suggest to city council outlawing md'ing, etc....)

 

[NectarDetector]

Nectar.. I think you are being to hard on him..He posted his feelings about the COE, that doesn't make him a saint or someone who always stops at a stop sign, etc... give him a break. You can disagree without insulting him.

Him saying this is full of assumptions:

" Either you observe all the rules or please get out of the hobby and stop ruining it for the people that are willing to follow *all* the rules."

That statement *all* the rules... insinuates that HE follows ALL rules, yet we don't, making him better than someone...

Where did I insult him? He was holding a sermon, why can't I hold a sermon too? Last thing he said "End of sermon."

He was acting holier than thou, and I brought that to his attention.

 

[ohiochris]

Dosent matter what I find , if there is a name on it I will try to return it , but if there is no name on it then its mine. Nobody needs to know , and I wont feel the slightest bit bad about it. Just as I have lost many things in my lifetime and never expected them to be returned to me , I know nobody else really expects them to be either. Especially at the expense of second or third parties looking the find over for themselves and possibly deciding to keep it. I congratulate everyone who turns every find over to the police , thats mighty swell of you , but it does set you up to be potentially taken advantage of without recourse , and in the long run its no less ethical to just keep it.

 

[Steve841]

Lost versus Tossed

As someone brought up in an earlier post, I know of two instances where an unhappy relationship resulted in one of the parties throwing jewelry into the water. In one case the misses was upset and threw her diamond ring into the bay while out on a boat. In the other case, one of the parties flung all their gold jewelry out into the bay. I think this happens more than we hear about and may account for some of the easy finds at certain locations (near bars and docks etc.). These items are in their place because they were thrown there on purpose. In those cases, I see this as cast-away and abandoned property, just like garbage out for pick-up by the curb.

Some jewelry is lost because the owner made a poor decision. However, nothing is stopping the loser of the jewelry from hiring a detectorist to locate the item (ring-finders or the fellows who advertise on Craigslist-a simple Google search away). If they decide it is not worth the effort/cost to attempt to retrieve their piece of jewelry, the jewelry stays lost unless some detectorist is lucky enough to stumble upon it.

In six years, I have been approached by only four people on the beach who asked for help in recovering a recently lost piece of jewelry (3 gold, 1 silver ring). Those were quick and easy finds with many thanks, and without charge. Sometimes after detecting for hours in the shallow waters I ultimately find an item. During that entire time no one has approached me except to make small talk. That leads me to believe that either the object was lost at an earlier time or the owner doesn’t really care about what they lost. Oftentimes, the ring is down deep and lost at least a day or week before, if not the year before. You have to think, what positive action has the owner taken to recover the item? Probably none. I don’t detect in the ocean waters and where I go any able-bodied detectorist could recover the lost item. That is, if the owner made the initial effort to send someone there to recover the item in the first place.

Brand new drops are another matter and it is in the right spirit to give the benefit to the loser if the item is identifiable with an inscription or name. Wedding rings and all that sort. Gold chains or bling…never.

 

[Cfmct]

Him saying this is full of assumptions:

" Either you observe all the rules or please get out of the hobby and stop ruining it for the people that are willing to follow *all* the rules."

That statement *all* the rules... insinuates that HE follows ALL rules, yet we don't, making him better than someone...

Where did I insult him? He was holding a sermon, why can't I hold a sermon too? Last thing he said "End of sermon."

He was acting holier than thou, and I brought that to his attention.

ND... he can have his opinion.. I have no issue with it... I'm going to keep what I find and it makes me a bad person so be it... I don't care what others think of me... I didn't get into the hobby to find nickels and dimes and besides most of what I find the owners are most likely 6 feet under...

 

[MD-Mainiac]

Him saying this is full of assumptions:

" Either you observe all the rules or please get out of the hobby and stop ruining it for the people that are willing to follow *all* the rules."

That statement *all* the rules... insinuates that HE follows ALL rules, yet we don't, making him better than someone...

Where did I insult him? He was holding a sermon, why can't I hold a sermon too? Last thing he said "End of sermon."

He was acting holier than thou, and I brought that to his attention.

fair enough.

 

[NectarDetector]

nd... He can have his opinion.. I have no issue with it... I'm going to keep what i find and it makes me a bad person so be it... I don't care what others think of me... I didn't get into the hobby to find nickels and dimes and besides most of what i find the owners are most likely 6 feet under...

10-4

 

[Surf Master]

Chip K

Laws here are what we obay, here see what the boy's tell you here http://www.findmall.com/ PS I do turn in all my trash, to the trash can, see if you can get the states to pay us for cleaning up all the hazards & trash on land & beaches , payment taken off all the taxes we pay every year , refund, along with a bonus for free metal detecting Equipment that we use to do the JOB,- for our dedicated public service howboutit.

 

[MD-Mainiac]

Laws here are what we obay, here see what the boy's tell you here http://www.findmall.com/ PS I do turn in all my trash, to the trash can, see if you can get the states to pay us for cleaning up all the hazards & trash on land & beaches , payment taken off all the taxes we pay every year , refund, along with a bonus for free metal detecting Equipment that we use to do the JOB,- for our dedicated public service howboutit.

I'll start turning in all the trash I find at the beach to the park rangers, for their 'lost and found'

 

[NectarDetector]

I'll start turning in all the trash I find at the beach to the park rangers, for their 'lost and found'

Here ya go sir, 48 pounds of can slaw, bobby pins, pull tabs, beaver tails, tent stakes, fishing weights, lures, aluminum slag, cans, twist caps, beer caps and some wire. Please return these to their "rightful" owners.

 

[Grumpa]

I'm not a holy roller, but here comes a sermon.

Don't mind saying that most of the responses to this thread, if seriously meant as stated, are troubling. We have each agreed to abide by the MDers code of conduct regarding adherence to local and federal regulations for found objects just like we have agreed to refill our dug holes, just like we have agreed to not search in cemeteries. There's no difference in how we should obey one regulation versus another. Either you observe all the rules or please get out of the hobby and stop ruining it for the people that are willing to follow *all* the rules. The rules are not multiple choice where you pick 3 out of 4 or 9 out of 10, and only observe those.

Have personally found a few items of jewelry (man's gold wedding ring, a sterling friendship ring, sterling charm bracelet) that valued IMO over $100, so turned them in to the local police for the 90 day holding period. The cop that helped me made out a police report, give me his card, and wrote the case number on the card, all without my asking. After the 90 hold, I got the items back from the evidence room clerk without any issue.

Some of you may want to make fun of this response and you can have at it. But remember that the attitudes reflected in this forum are also read by people who simply want to find out what MDers really think and therefor how they will act in the field. Your choice - as always.

End of sermon.

I commend you on your ethics. Standing up for what you believe to be the right thing is not easy these days so I congratulate you.

However, in order to purchase my metal detector I did not have to sign any paper agreeing to return everything possible to the person who lost it. Nor did I have to raise my right hand and swear it. Therefore I will pick and choose which of the code of ethics I choose to follow. They are not rules to be obeyed or else we will be expelled from the noble hobby. They are suggestions of best practices which, generally speaking, make good sense. If my conscience allows me to keep the things I may (or may not) find, so be it. If in your eyes that makes me somehow less moral then I'll feel just terrible, all the way to the bank.

 

[Ice Scratcher]

Does anyone feel different, dry sand VS chin deep?

<*)))>{

 

[Grumpa]

Does anyone feel different, dry sand VS chin deep?

<*)))>{

Dry sand, chin deep, or whale poop deep, what's the difference?