Hypothectical/legal question on cache

Huck Mucus

Junior Member
Joined
Sep 22, 2008
Messages
81
Let's say you own a piece of property outright, including mineral rights. Let's say you find someone's buried, valuable cache, from long ago. You don't know if it was a prior owner or someone passing through, or someone who buried it before the land passed from the feds to private ownership via homesteaded in the 1880s. There have been several different owners over the years.

Has anyone ever heard of someone else making a valid claim to the contents of the cache?

Thanks in advance for any input.
 
If that happened to me on my the property I owned... I would say nothing to anyone and just sell the find a little at a time. Someone will claim it otherwise..
 
Craig is correct.... if it becomes public knowledge, there will be claims from all over - and it will not be settled in our lifetime. Found is found.... there is a story from a detector on another forum who found a large cache.. I will see if I can find it and post it here... RickO
 
Its the treasure trove law. If you found it and the original owner is beleived to be dead or unreachable its yours. Google treasure trove law.
 
Modern Treasure Trove in the United States is not federally applied but varies by state.

United States
The law of treasure trove in the United States varies from state to state, but certain general conclusions may be drawn. To be treasure trove, an object must be of gold or silver.[76] Paper money is also deemed to be treasure trove since it represents gold or silver.[77] On the same reasoning, it might be imagined that coins and tokens in metals other than gold or silver are also included, but this has yet to be clearly established.[78] The object must be concealed for long enough so it is unlikely that the true owner will reappear to claim it.[79] The consensus appears to be that the object must be at least a few decades old.[80][81]

A majority of state courts, including those of Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, New York, Ohio, Oregon and Wisconsin, have ruled that the finder of treasure trove is entitled to it. The theory is that the English monarch's claim to treasure trove was based on a statutory enactment which replaced the finder's original right. When this statute was not re-enacted in the United States after its independence, the right to treasure trove reverted to the finder.[82]

In Idaho[83] and Tennessee[84] courts have decided that treasure trove belongs to the owner of the place where it was found, the rationale being to avoid rewarding trespassers. In one Pennsylvania case,[85] a lower court ruled that the common law did not vest treasure trove in the finder but in the sovereign, and awarded a find of US$92,800 cash to the state. However, this judgment was reversed by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania on the basis that it had not yet been decided if the law of treasure trove was part of Pennsylvania law.[86] The Supreme Court deliberately refrained from deciding the issue.[87]

Finds of money and lost property are dealt with by other states through legislation. These statutes usually require finders to report their finds to the police and transfer to their custody the objects. The police then advertise the finds to try and locate their true owner. If the objects remain unclaimed for a specified period of time, title in them vests in the finders.[88] New Jersey vests buried or hidden property in the landowner,[89] Indiana in the county,[90] Vermont in the township,[91] and Maine in the township and the finder equally.[92][93] In Louisiana, French codes have been followed, so half of a found object goes to the finder and the other half to the landowner.[7] The position in Puerto Rico, the laws of which are based on civil law, is similar.[94]

Finders who are trespassers generally lose all their rights to finds,[95] unless the trespass is regarded as "technical or trivial".[96][97]

Where the finder is an employee, most cases hold that the find should be awarded to the employer if it has a heightened legal obligation to take care of its customers' property, otherwise it should go to the employee.[98] A find occurring in a bank is generally awarded to the bank as the owner is likely to have been a bank customer and the bank has a fiduciary duty to try and reunite lost property with their owners.[99] For similar reasons, common carriers are preferred to passengers[100] and hotels to guests (but only where finds occur in guest rooms, not common areas).[101][102]

The view has been taken that such a rule is suitable for recently misplaced objects as it provides the best chance for them to be reunited with their owners. However, it effectively delivers title of old artifacts to landowners, since the older an object is, the less likely it is that the original depositor will return to claim it. The rule is therefore of little or no relevance to objects of archaeological value.[26]
Due to the potential for a conflict of interest, police officers[103] and other persons working in law enforcement occupations,[104] and armed forces[105] are not entitled to finds in some states.[106]

By the Archaeological Resources Protection Act 1979,[107] finds more than a hundred years old on government land belong to the government. There is analogous state legislation. Special rules also apply to grave goods from Indian burials discovered on Federal and tribal lands under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act[108] enacted on 16 November 1990.[109]
 
Wow, thanks for the information.

Rudy said:
A majority of state courts, including those of Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, New York, Ohio, Oregon and Wisconsin, have ruled that the finder of treasure trove is entitled to it. The theory is that the English monarch's claim to treasure trove was based on a statutory enactment which replaced the finder's original right. When this statute was not re-enacted in the United States after its independence, the right to treasure trove reverted to the finder.[82]

In Idaho[83] and Tennessee[84] courts have decided that treasure trove belongs to the owner of the place where it was found, the rationale being to avoid rewarding trespassers. In one Pennsylvania case,[85] a lower court ruled that the common law did not vest treasure trove in the finder but in the sovereign, and awarded a find of US$92,800 cash to the state. However, this judgment was reversed by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania on the basis that it had not yet been decided if the law of treasure trove was part of Pennsylvania law.[86] The Supreme Court deliberately refrained from deciding the issue.[87]

Did you find anything about Washington State? Or perhaps you could point me in the direction of where you found the above info.
 
Yes, thank you.

Just to err on the side of caution (heirs coming out of the wood work, etc.) I think I'll keep it on the down-low if I find anything. This place is supposed to have two caches, one from the 1880s and one from the 1940s. I don't plan on finding them (it's probably all just local legend) but you never know. If I did find something, I'd love to share the news but not if it's going to bring on trouble.
 
Yes, thank you.

Just to err on the side of caution (heirs coming out of the wood work, etc.) I think I'll keep it on the down-low if I find anything. This place is supposed to have two caches, one from the 1880s and one from the 1940s. I don't plan on finding them (it's probably all just local legend) but you never know. If I did find something, I'd love to share the news but not if it's going to bring on trouble.

You can tell ME if you find it Huck!!:D:p:lol:
 
The laws are different over here.
If you find a cache, hoard, or potential treasure item, you have 14 days from when you first realize what you have may be classed as treasure, until you report it to the coroner. This can be handled by your local Finds Liaison Officer.

Eventually, any reward is split 50/50 between the finder and land owner.
 
Wow, thanks for the information.



Did you find anything about Washington State? Or perhaps you could point me in the direction of where you found the above info.

You can check the laws of Washington state, as they are on line. Here are a couple of interesting tidbits.

Intent -- 1988 c 124: "It is the intent of the legislature that those historic archaeological resources located on state-owned aquatic lands that are of importance to the history of our state, or its communities, be protected for the people of the state. At the same time, the legislature also recognizes that divers have long enjoyed the recreation of diving near shipwrecks and picking up artifacts from the state-owned aquatic lands, and it is not the intent of the legislature to regulate these occasional, recreational activities except in areas where necessary to protect underwater historic archaeological sites. The legislature also recognizes that salvors who invest in a project to salvage underwater archaeological resources on state-owned aquatic lands should be required to obtain a state permit for their operation in order to protect the interest of the people of the state, as well as to protect the interest of the salvors who have invested considerable time and money in the salvage expedition." [1988 c 124 § 1.]

And

27.53.045
Abandoned archaeological resources — Declaration.

All historic archaeological resources abandoned for thirty years or more in, on, or under the surface of any public lands or waters owned by or under the possession, custody, or control of the state of Washington, including, but not limited to all ships, or aircraft, and any part or the contents thereof, and all treasure trove is hereby declared to be the property of the state of Washington.
 
Back
Top Bottom