Myers Depot Metal Detectors

Keeping What You Find

7

7geez

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May 27, 2013
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Greetings all,

I'm brand new to metal detecting. When you get permission to hunt on someone's property, what is the general rule -- Do you usually keep everything you find, even if valuable? Or, should you offer the things of value you find to the owner of the property? I've only hunted public places and my own yard so far. Just wondering what your views are on the "ethics" of hunting and keeping what you find on private property. I feel like I should turn over valuable items to the owners but that kind of takes the fun out of doing it at all. What say you?
 
Welcome to the Friendly Forum!!

I would not mind if I have to give up a few goodies, in order to keep some..

You can spend 20hrs in a park for one silver (if you are lucky, in these parts), or 5hrs in a yard for 2 silvers? If you give 1 of those 2 up, you are still 15hrs ahead of a park hunt....

Just my 2¢

<*)))>{
 
There have been lengthy threads tackling this issue. The consensus is..................................................................................??????:D

My own theory is that I prefer to keep my finds if possible. (I'm doing the work(fun:grin:)

If if I find an identifiable object that might have sentimental value, I would most likely try to unite it with the person having the sentiment.

If helping someone with a find, within reason, gratis.

Ultimately, you are the judge :D
 
I primarily hunt private property all the time and 99% of homeowners tell me before I even hunt keep what I find....and then a lot of people saying stuff like anything over a million we split! then they laugh. I think MOST people I come in contact with assume there is nothing good in their yard
 
I say keep whatever you find (Like coins and stuff), but if you find anything that may have sentimental value (Like a toy or jewelry) ask if the person ever had something lost something in their yard, if they did, ask for them to describe it, GL HH
 
I haven't approach a complete stranger about detecting their property. Friends, family, and neighbors don't tend to have much interest in keeping anything you found, least my experience, but never found anything of much value either. I use a 5 gallon paint bucket to hold my tools, and finds in. I don't generally clean stuff, beyond a basic identification, doesn't really encourage the curious to go sifting though the dirty, rusty, crusty, treasures when out in public. It's fairly honest, since it showcases the amount of work, and all that I actually dug up, mostly junk. The few coins mixed in, hardly make it look worth the effort. Least I'm hauling off some potentially dangerous metal pieces, who wouldn't appreciate that?

When you go out to hunt, you aren't guaranteed to find treasure, anything you get to keep, is more than you started with. I don't hunt to get rich, or pay for anything, it's a hobby, it's just for fun. I'd be just as happy to just get pictures, and leave the finds, if that's the owner's wish. I don't have to go back and hunt there, if I don't care for the arrangement, and he doesn't have to let me return either, nor does he have to say nice things about me to his neighbors, or friends around the community. If you found good stuff there, chances are good, the neighbors, and other in the community will be productive as well. No real sense in limiting yourself access to future sites, over a few pieces of metal.

Everybody's different, every site will be different, there really can be no set rule on how to handle every situation, all the time. The people you interact with, are always going to be more valuable, than what you dig out of their yard. Show them the proper respect and appreciation for their generosity in allowing you to hunt. They didn't hire you, or request that you do the hunt, you contacted them. Think it would be rare to run into any, who would want it all, or much of anything you find. Leave the 'pirate' mentality to open, public ground.
 
"Anything worth selling I am happy to split 50/50"

If there is no response or clarification request to this statement it is up to me to determine what is worth selling.
 
In the few private properties I've searched, none of the owners has asked me to split my finds - in fact, most people have been barely interested. That said, I've heard that it happens sometimes.

I think anything up to a 50/50 split is reasonable, but there's no way I would hand over *all* of my finds: if they want everything, let them buy their own detector and do the digging themselves.

I think a lot of people way overestimate the value of what we find (TV shows like American Diggers definitely don't help with this). I do keep a copy of the Red Book of coin values in my car, so if there's ever any question of how much a given coin might be worth, I can show them in the book.
 
Whenever I hunt private property I've always gotten the same answer to the age old question, "if you find anything worth keeping, keep it."

I never go out of my way to point out the things I find, unless they ask if I found something they may have lost a time or so ago.

I have offered things I've found in private yards, like an old ring, a jar of pennies, an old dog tag or sets of keys to nam a few, only because I saw no real value in the items. To me they were more 'trinkets" than anything worth keeping.

But something like a a set of dog tags, or a beat up old toy may be more valuable to the home owner than anyone else. To them it brings back age old memories and with it comes the smiles and an open invite to come again.

Because everyone knows you can't hunt the whole yard over in one day.

But in truth its your choice in the matter if you want to keep your finds, or offer them over to the property owners. You are your own judge and jury, no one is going to put a gun to your head and tell you you have to share, unless the matter comes up before you start detecting.

The important thing is to leave their yard the same way you found it, clean and trash free. Fill your holes, and take your trash with you. You'll be happy you did!!

GL & HH
 
ScaredOfClowns said:
In the few private properties I've searched, none of the owners has asked me to split my finds - in fact, most people have been barely interested. That said, I've heard that it happens sometimes.

I think anything up to a 50/50 split is reasonable, but there's no way I would hand over *all* of my finds: if they want everything, let them buy their own detector and do the digging themselves.

I think a lot of people way overestimate the value of what we find (TV shows like American Diggers definitely don't help with this). I do keep a copy of the Red Book of coin values in my car, so if there's ever any question of how much a given coin might be worth, I can show them in the book.
Click to expand...

Yeah, and if you want some property to detect on, go buy your own land!

As a prospector, 50/50 is where I start. His land, my tools.

Make the agreement before you take the first swing.

Holding back finds after agreeing is stealing.

Ethics are not on a sliding scale, honesty brings referrals.
 
Welcome to the hobby from NJ. You have asked an excellent question with no concrete answer. I think it depends on the land owner and that everyone's previous answers have been right on- especially regarding sentimental items. Take it one property at a time and you'll get a feel for it. Good luck and happy hunting. Matt
 
the general arrangement i make with land owners is that anything i find that has significance to the property, anything of any great value or anything of an historical significance i will bring to their attention and we decide what to do with the item(s).
every land owner has been interested in "what" i've been finding, in fact, one of the last places i've been searching the old guy had braved the mosquitoes and black flies and followed me around for close to 2 hours! he was very intrigued by some of the things he's been walking over for the last 60+ years but.... he didn't want anything. he was just amazed at the old coins and other things which have been buried in his yard for more than a century. :shock:
another guy offered to buy things from me. i turn down offers like that and just hand it over to them.
i've made donations of relics to my local heritage society. i've found a few small, but historical items on one property which the owner didn't want for himself and his suggestion was to donate to the h/s. some things are better in a museum than stashed away where no one will ever see them. why even remove something from the ground if it's still going to be "buried" in a drawer somewhere? that kind of defeats the purpose of detecting it in the first place. :yes:
that's pretty much how i go about it and so far it's been working just fine for me. :D

Pete
 
Landshark said:
Yeah, and if you want some property to detect on, go buy your own land!

As a prospector, 50/50 is where I start. His land, my tools.

Make the agreement before you take the first swing.

Holding back finds after agreeing is stealing.

Ethics are not on a sliding scale, honesty brings referrals.
Click to expand...

Well said. I couldn't agree more.
 
If an item is engraved, I would return it.

If not, finders keepers.

If I am detecting "The Smith's" yard, and find an item with SMITH on it, then obviously I would return that.

Otherwise I did the work, I reap the rewards!:yes:
 
I was given permission to hunt a civil war site & the owner told me he doesn't want anything, but I told him if I find enough decent stuff that I'd make him a little display box to show his friends & to have some history that came off of his land... Plus it gives me some good karma....:grin:
 
Landshark said:
Yeah, and if you want some property to detect on, go buy your own land!

As a prospector, 50/50 is where I start. His land, my tools.

Make the agreement before you take the first swing.

Holding back finds after agreeing is stealing.

Ethics are not on a sliding scale, honesty brings referrals.
Click to expand...

So if you found 1 gold coin & 1 silver coin would you hand the gold over to
the land owner if he asks for it..

A while back I found a token worth 160 bucks & I showed it to the land owner & he slipped it into his pocket, I wasn't sure what to say...:shock:

Should I have spoke up & risk getting booted off his land forever or say nothing & if I find another good item should I show it to him..:?::lol:
 
Lightningjack said:
So if you found 1 gold coin & 1 silver coin would you hand the gold over to
the land owner if he asks for it..

A while back I found a token worth 160 bucks & I showed it to the land owner & he slipped it into his pocket, I wasn't sure what to say...:shock:

Should I have spoke up & risk getting booted off his land forever or say nothing & if I find another good item should I show it to him..:?::lol:
Click to expand...

When I am prospecting or metal detecting and we agree on a split, and we get one nugget, we bid each other for their half, and cash the other out.

Let the owner know he got the last good find, and if there is no agreement, then go somewhere else.

You have now learned getting permission is the easy part of metal detecting.
 
Lightningjack said:
A while back I found a token worth 160 bucks & I showed it to the land owner & he slipped it into his pocket, I wasn't sure what to say...:shock:

Should I have spoke up & risk getting booted off his land forever or say nothing & if I find another good item should I show it to him..:?::lol:
Click to expand...

At the very least it showed you what kind of person he is. That was rude of him, and I personally would have told him so as I was loading my gear in the car.

I wouldn't have even wanted to come back if that is the way he was going to be.

I don't care if it was his land. If that is what he planned to do, then he should have told you so before you ever started swinging your detector.

Basically he punked you, and that wouldn't have sat well with me personally! I would have let him know that he was rude and told him where he could put the token, for future reference.

It's one thing if a guy says "I get half the finds, or a pick of the finds." BEFORE hand, but taking a find or all of them without a prior agreement just proves the guy to be a jerk at the end of the day.

The least he could have done is wait and see if you were going to offer the find to him as a kind gesture. Instead, he stole the opportunity from your hands!:no:

A good hunting spot is one thing... a rude and disrespectful owner is another, and imo the two do not go together.

TOOOOOOO many other places to detect to put up with people like that.
 
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