"I'll Give You 25%"

ToddsPoint

ToddsPoint

Gold Member
Mar 2, 2018
6,146
17,354
Todds Point, IL
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
I stopped by and seen an old friend at his antique shop. When I mentioned metal detecting his eyes lit up. He pointed to an old house next to his shop. He bought it to use as storage. He said an old lady lived there who never used banks and stashed money in walls and buried it in the yard. I thought yeah, right. I've heard stories like that before. Looking at the house, she looked dirt poor to me. Anyway, he said to come and detect it and if I found buried money I could keep 25%. What? Only 25% and not 50/50? I almost felt insulted. Then I thought maybe I'm too greedy. After he said "25%", I didn't say yes or no. Hey, this kind of stuff could end a 45 yr. friendship! So, would you do it for 25% of any buried money?

What about any loose coins I find? I thought Charlie in NY had a good idea. Offer him any personal items and jewelry and keep any coins. Gary
 

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45 years a friend, wants your help and is willing to pay.

Man that sounds great; I get it, many on here would expect their mates to give them half their furniture just because they have a pickup truck to help them move. But really, when do mates have to pay for help, and yours just throws 25% out there.

You ever structure hunt before? If not, it is good training.
 

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what happens if he Gets his own detector, Or someone else who will accept the 25%.

What If the Cache is Found & Valued at $250,000.00 in gold & silver coins.
or even $500.00

Will you still be Glad you didn't accept the 25% to hunt there ?
and that someone else got the $62,000.00

or even the $125.00 to Metal Detect ?

even going away with some Relics from A New Site ?

Priceless imo !
 

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If asked I would always say a 1/2 split. If offered the 1/4 oppertunity I would take that also. No research, no asking for permission, it sounds like you would pretty much have free rein, whats not to like?
 

I agree with chlsbrns. If he is a friend you do it for nothing. Metal detecting is a hobby and it's about the thrill of the find. If he offers you something then accept it.
 

25% and he does the digging....and remember put it in 1 tone all metal.....or notch out everything except pull tabs - cherry picking the 'gold'.....

Chub
 

If you do decide to hunt the place, do not forget to check all crawl spaces, behind the water heater, in air vents, window boards, kitchen base boards.

I have hunted structure before that where own by folks who did not like banks either, pays off.

There was a story not long ago from a user on here, I think BruceR, had a neighbour like that and found several thousand dollars in a vent.
 

A friend is somebody you enjoy their company & spending time with.
If a friend presented me w an opportunity to find some treasure I’d jump no matter the split.

Money matters almost always strain a long time friendship. If you can handle keeping business & friendships separated & your friend & partner can too, then your golden. If money matters stress you out in general, don’t do it.
 

If you decide to share % finds GET IT IN WRITING FIRST !!!
 

Yea Chub has it right. I have some sites where the home owner wants to keep anything and everything of value. I never intend to detect them. I also said "thats fine, should I bring you a shovel or do you have a good one because I'll find it, you dig it if you want it that bad." My agreement is usually finders keepers: sometimes 50% anything over $50 (sometimes $100) and I'll bring you a detector to use , so if either person finds something good the other gets something.
 

A friend will bail you out of jail.
A true friend will be sitting next to you saying , "That was fun , lets go do it again!"
 

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A true friend will say, "You got a detector and I heard a tale there is supposed to be money hidden in this old house next door I bought, when you got the time you wanna come over, maybe drink a beer, and go see if we can find something together!" Period.




The way I see it, if he could have done it by himself, he already would have.
Obviously he's either too cheap to buy a detector and search for himself or (more than likely) he just lacks the knowledge and know how to do it himself, but he is willing to let you do all the work and give you 25% for your efforts as a door prize. I'd do it sure. But he wouldn't be as high on my list of close friends anymore. Actually, he dropped a few notches already, just for mentioning the 25% so fast.
 

"I'll Give You 25%"

I would not be offended by 25% in the least bit. It’s his house, and everything on his property belongs to him (obviously you know this, I’m just saying). If he thinks money is buried around the property, and he doesn’t want to get a machine to find it himself, then that sounds fair to offer you at least something.

He knows something good is down there, so he is actually being nice in my opinion to offer the ability to hunt his property. I actually find it weird that some people get upset or startled by someone setting a rule on their property. Friend or stranger, I wouldn’t want someone detecting on my land and taking 50 percent of what’s on my property. 25% sounds more than fair, especially if you get one good find. You can make out great from your friend.

He can always get his own machine whenever he wants, so it could go that way too and be zero percent.

Just my opinion.
 

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jeff of pa said:
what happens if he Gets his own detector, Or someone else who will accept the 25%.

What If the Cache is Found & Valued at $250,000.00 in gold & silver coins.
or even $500.00

Will you still be Glad you didn't accept the 25% to hunt there ?
and that someone else got the $62,000.00

or even the $125.00 to Metal Detect ?

even going away with some Relics from A New Site ?

Priceless imo !
Click to expand...

I bet you buy lottery tickets too
 

Just go detect it. Simple as that! 25% and you are having a blast doing it????? I would all ready be there. Have fun.
 

0% of nothing is nothing, 25% of 4 million is a million.
 

I think you guys have talked me into it. When it cools off this fall, I'm in. Thanks for all the tips and advice. I don't think I'll be hunting inside the house, only the yard. I'll be sure and post the hunt when it happens. Thanks for your responses. Gary
 

It's all about making the deal. The 1st offer was 25%, now it's your job to counter offer.

I have hunted a couple sites with a 50/50 split. I did it at one site since it was very old and a promising site. I did not pull one keeper and after 4 hours of hunting I showed the owner the 3.75 I dug. He felt so bad that his yard did not offer up any keepers. He told me to keep it all. The second site I quit soon after hunting because the property owner was hovering over every plug I dug. I gave him the $1.50 I dug in 45 minutes and left the site. That owner thought it was more prudent to watch me dig pennies than to continue renovating the house he was fixing up to flip. The yard was full of hot rocks which was another good reason for me to look for another site. During many permission discussions with property owners over the years, it is often brought up that if I dig treasure (cache/hoard) we split it 50/50.

His 25% offer was a starting point for the discussion. What would happen if all you dug were 3 large cents? He get's all 3 since you did not pull 4 of them? Honestly the lowest I'd go is 50/50. I'd stop by his house on occasion to show the keepers I dug at that day's site. Soon enough he'd come to realize that if he want's to see what treasure his property holds, he'd eventually come around and agree to a 50/50 split.
 

"I'll Give You 25%"

Maybe it’s just me but I would never bargain with a homeowner. It’s their property, their rules. Not to mention I’d feel pretty stupid bringing that up personally. I’d just be happy with the opportunity, especially with the lack of sites nowadays being that the hobby is getting increasingly popular.

Also, if he wants to see what his own property holds, he can always get his own machine and give you 0%. But hey, if that awkward conversation works for you, go for it. It doesn’t work for me though. Again, just my opinion.
 

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Personally, I'd be pretty stoked with the permission and the %25 would be an added bonus. But, that could just be because I am still quite new to the hobby and am happy just to get out and swing the detector. That's what it's all about for me.
 

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