First class ring!

First of all, Congratulations on a Nice hunk of Dirt Gold! The most difficult target to find repeatedly is Dirt Gold! So Hat Tip There! Well, the thing is, on returns, they can be a very cool event, or they can be a Big BAD time Bummer!

The best thing to do is think about it for a while, dont make a snap decision on emotion...I mean Hey, it was good and lost when you found it, so whats a week or two? Plus, the guy has insurance, so he aint out nothing for his carelessness, and furthermore, He's a richyrich collich Kid from Alabama, not some kind of poor Working Family Man...

What are we? Pirates or Philanthropists? Did you buy all this gear and go out hunting metal to give the good stuff away to strangers?

Then again, you could change somebodies Life with a Good Shepherd gesture on the return, of course not accept any kind of renumeration offer, (if there is one) just a cheerful Gold hand over with a Pay It Forward admonishment...Maybe store up for yourself a bit of Treasure in Heaven instead of greedily cashing it in, seeking the riches of the Earth, and pissing it away on Beach Cabana Margaritas!?

Its a real dilemma when we go out and make some ID inscribed finds that a guy has to wrestle with Spiritually...Who needs that kind of trouble? Not Me! Thats why I like clad so much, no Spiritual wrestling...

And, no matter what you do, Half of the People on here woulda make the other choice! So yeah, I supersize with you Man..Its all on you from here and I wouldnt let anybody know what you decide to do either!

The best thing to do is simply box it up and send it to ME! Dont even wait another moment or think about it! Wipe your hands of the whole dirty deal and troubling situation you got yourself into...Do it RIGHT NOW and Sleep well tonight!...

Then, you are off the hook and clean Spiritually! What I do with is none of your business! Its all on me from there on out! In fact, you send me that ring, and I'll send you $2000 worth of my Treasures In Heaven!...I probably wont be needing them anyway...

Congrats on the great find.

rlhjr72 said:

When you buy the ring you get a 4-year "Ring Loss Protection Plan" included for free...

So...if the original owner wanted their ring back so badly they would have already replaced it with a free one from Balfour...correct?

That eases my mind if I do decide to melt it.

Click to expand...

Congrats on the class ring recovery... i have to admit that this "free replacement policy" might influence my decision- particularly considering we're currently in the 4-year window and the ring is still eligible to be replaced.

Funny how $180 in gold can end up costing $1000+

Nice find!


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I often think if I ever find a class ring I’m not looking inside the band!!!!

I ain't that easy now is it?

Just went through the same ordeal but 11 grams of BPS.
(Balfour Premium Silver 80% silver with platimun or palladium)
I figured 10-20 bucks in melt.
Returned it to the owner 3000 miles away. He sent me a $40 check. I bought 2 oz of silver to take that empty ring spot in my treasure chest. He was thankful. I was lucky to get the reward.
Good luck with what you decide.

Great find!! I agree what you should do is simply box it up and send it to Mud.

rlhjr72 said:

Well I thought I had made my mind up to melt it until I started reading all of your responses. Now I'm feeling a bit guilty

Scuba's post made me curious about the cost so I did price the ring on the Balfour website and Scuba was right:





To muddy the waters a little bit, on the website, when you buy the ring you get a 4-year "Ring Loss Protection Plan" included for free. Here are the details:
---------------------------------------------------------------
College Ring Loss Protection Plan
Your Balfour ring is so precious that it is automatically protected against loss or theft. If your ring is lost or stolen, Balfour will replace the ring. This protection plan is in effect for four years from the date of purchase on all original rings purchased after August 1, 1996, and is limited to a single replacement of your original ring during the four-year period.

This Ring Loss Protection Plan excludes diamonds, precious stones, Military Academy rings, Championship rings and Texas A&M University rings (Aggie rings).
----------------------------------------------------------------

So...if the original owner wanted their ring back so badly they would have already replaced it with a free one from Balfour...correct?

That eases my mind if I do decide to melt it.

Or maybe I'll just go back and bury it where I found it.

Click to expand...

I wonder if you called the manufacture and asked if they had paid a claim would you be able to get a reward? I would have a hard time keeping something easily traced to an owner. IF the ring company had replaced it already through insurance it's no longer his and belongs to the insurance company. I would have no problem keeping it if it belongs to an insurance company. I would also have no problem telling the loser that I expected a $100 reward. 10 percent finders fee. If they can afford a $1000 ring and college, they can pay a reward, unless they bought it with student loans.

I worked with a young man who seemed to be reasonably intelligent that bought an $800 watch with his student loan money. He was dam near crying when the bookkeeper figured out how much that ring was going to cost. We didn't help by constantly asking him "what time is it".

That is a first class ring! Congrats -

Still waiting for my first gold, going on 10 years now

Mud-puppy said:

What are we? Pirates or Philanthropists? :

Click to expand...

Pirates don't tear their porch apart to return lost gold.

I will double Muds offer of riches in Heaven payable in GOLD, or as they call it there, pavement.

I few years back, I found a recent drop at a beach by my parents. It was a class ring 14k and I was able to locate the school. The school was unwilling to give me any information on the potential student(s) that it may belong to, which I understand.

However, Jostens was even worse. They said they have a Lost and found vault where they keep all of the rings that are turned in. If the owner contacts them, they will check their vault to see if they have it.

To me, that sounded like a bunch of BS.

My own feeling on class rings is that I give it a shot to see if I can find the owner - and if I hit road blocks, then I just stop.

Given the replacement protocol of most of the ring companies, recent drops have probably been replaced as has been pointed out. I'm more inclined to spend more time trying to track down someone from an older drop.

If it was mine, i would appreciate someone giving it back to me. If I had already been given a replacement, I would just tell them to keep the old one.

Like everyone else has already said - you have to do what you want - no judgement

While I have yet to find something like that, I'd like to think that I'd attempt to return it, especially since it would take so little work to do so.

That's easy for me to say of course....but follow your heart and you'll rarely go wrong.

Think about if it was you that lost it though. Even if you got a replacement, wouldn't you like the original one back? I'd think that they'd offer a reward (in fact, you could look for lost and found ads in the local paper to see if anyone put one in)

Nice find! My suggestion is to not overthink it and do whatever you are comfortable with. Make yourself happy! That is what this is about. A hobby, past time, sport that brings enjoyment. Everyone finds happiness in different ways. Find yours.