Regrets

[zombie]

So far I think my best find was a horseshoe and a nice carbine once. Not really that much.
My question is more about personal ethics I guess, not so much the legality of it.. Finding something valuable and making some money selling it would be great, I'd like to do it all the time. However, that ring I might have just found belonged to somebody before I found it.
Do they deserve to get it back?
Do I deserve to have it because I actively went searching to find something?
I know that there are things that I have lost that I would dearly love to have back in my possession, some valuable and some not.
I would like to think that if (and when) I find something of value that I would actively pursue finding the owner to return it. It would seem to be the right thing to do and lets face it, I think karma follows me around sometimes just waiting....
I would love to sell a ring I found for $10,000 and buy a new bike with it but would I always feel guilty? and should I?

I just read a post about someone returning a class ring and the owner was over the moon about it. A really good experience for him and the finder of the ring.
There must be the times though when you go through all of that only to get a mediocre thanks or even less. Or return something that the person had replaced by insurance, a win for them.
Has there ever been a time that you regretted either keeping an item or returning it? Did karma catch up with you?

 

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[DeepseekerADS]

A couple years ago I found a sterling bracelet tag dated 1953 given to a husband from his wife. Took a lot of research to find the guy who was in a retirement home, Indian Steve actually found the guy's family in New York. How it got down here in Virginia will never be known. The wife had passed away. I returned it to his children by snail mail. Yeah, it was silver and silver is a favorite color to me, but that tag needed to go home where it belonged.

 

[SD51]

I prefer to return any jewelry I find and have always had a good experience when doing so. Some rings you won't be able to return because they've been in the ground for years and there's no way you will know who owned it. Class rings are different. They have the owners initials engraved inside. I'm currently working on finding the owner for a 1971 class ring. Good karma will always reward you later!

 

[SnohomishDigger]

This question applies to “non-valuable” things, too. I once found a trade token while searching a private permission. At the end of the hunt I learned that the token was from a store that the property owner’s father and grandfather owned in the 1920s-30s. The store went out of business before she was born.

This was a no-brainer. For me the token was just a cool find. For the property owner, it was a part of her family history. She now carries the token with her everyday. It feels good to know that I was able to connect someone with a bit of history that’s important to them.

 

[Tpmetal]

if you can identify something on it to track it to the owner, I feel you must attempt to return it in my opinion. If not there is not much you can do.

 

[DeepseekerADS]

I still have a couple of class rings, tried to return both. Waited 2 hours to be stood up on one return. Steve, his wife and I waited and waited for the dude to show up, and he didn't. The other ring, the guy's phone was always busy. I still have both, no precious metals involved, and just maybe someday those class rings will go home. We just have to always do the right thing, take them home.

 

[zombie]

I like the replies so far.
I just want to say that I'm not asking about whether or not I can keep finds as I think we should try to return things. I live that way and my daughter understands this too. She found $10.00 in the parking lot at her school a few years ago and handed it in to the office. We didn't know about it until weeks later when the Principal called us to let us know that nobody claimed it and she was bringing it home with her that day. A great lesson for a 10 year old. Shortly after that I lost $60. Called Walmart the next day on the slim chance that I lost it there and they had it, 3 $20 bills folded the way I had described. A customer found it and handed it in. Karma I think.

 

[dfallis1]

If its something like a class ring, then sure ill try to return it. No engraved wedding band or diamond ring is a different story. When I get a new permission I now ask them if they ever lost jewelry before I start. I was played by the tenant of a permission about 5 years ago.
I was driving through a old historic town, decided to do some door knocking. First house said yes and I got to work. In a short period I found a Draped bust large cent and my first gold ring. Upon showing the finds to the "Homeowner", they replied oh Wow you found my ring. Oh thank you soo much, blah blah blah. Long story short this lady was a renter, her landlord grew up in that house and it was the landlords wifes ring. She had lost it 15 years earlier. So this renter lied and tried to claim it as theirs. What could I say at the time, I was in her yard. I left my card and moved on. Weeks later, maybe a month or so I received a phone call from the actual owner, renter told the story and im glad she gave it back.

 

[Hillbilly Prince]

I don't believe in karma. The concept is difficult to define because the people who invented the idea-mostly Hindu- are divided on how karma works. Karma is closely linked to the notion of rebirth or past lives. If you were "bad" in a past life you just might be hopelessly screwed in this one
For the West it seems karma has been reduced to an idea that if one does something "good", then something "good" will happen to them, or at least some"bad" event will be avoided. Kind of like a cosmic balance sheet.
Should people who salvage a shipwreck make sure the items be returned to the country from whence the ship came? Should a stash of Jesuit gold from Arizona be returned to the nearest church? Outlaw or Confederate gold returned to somebody?
If I found some ring which I could return, I expect I would as long as I didn't have to do something on the order of bringing in Liam Nelson to find the owner.
A ring is nothing to me. But what to do if the ring has a monstrous diamond. Maybe good old karma was rewarding me by putting the ring in my path!
One has to keep in mind no good deed goes unpunished.
You have to satisfy your own concience in these matters, I think. That would be good enough for me.

 

[DeepseekerADS]

It is not at all about karma, it's about doing the right thing. The cleanliness of our spirits matter most in this life.

 

[releventchair]

I have not been faced with a 10,000 dollar ring....

I don't detect for profit. I like history ,it's layers (peoples evidence of having been around ) and of course running a detector.
I've saved a lot of recoveries. Even look at some now and then. But the fun (for me) is first seeing a long buried relic.
Some take time to i.d. and add to the fun but usually it is on to the next.

Those of modest value I've kept don't have a way to track down a previous owners kin. Sure they could be sold. That would not be a matter of conscious though.

Would I sell an enemies valued item I found if knowing who it belonged to? Fortunately I don't have either close at hand. I might though!

 

[KevGA]

I think there are some great points made here. If you're finding something that has inscriptions, names, initials, etc., then I would make some effort to find the owner. A few years back I worked with a few folks on here to track down the family of a soldier based on another detectorist's finding a dog tag. They were able to track them down and return it. It's family history, and I would hope that someone would do the same for me.

In regards to the example of the renter/ring find, I read something on a site regarding the "Genevieve Method" (link below), in which when asking for permission you ask the property owner or occupant if they have lost anything specific. If you find that item, it goes to them, no questions asked. There's a bit more to it than that, but I thought that particular point was salient for this conversation.

https://gatewaymetaldetectingclub.com/genevieve-method/

 

[Grizz12]

I can't tell you how many valuable rings Ive lost in all of the states, if you find one I'm sure it belonged to me or a family member at some point in time. Please PM and I'll send shipping instructions to insure safe return. You guys are the greatest!!!!

Seriously though I haven't started detecting yet but plan on getting set up later this year. I'm sure some finds will warrant a search for the owner but for the most part I need the money. Here in AK we don't have the historical find areas you have in the lower 48, we don't have the tourist traffic you have down there and most jobs are low paying while everything for sale is very expensive. I seriously doubt I will stumble upon the retirement size gold nugget but I hope to find enough to pay for some hunting/fishing adventures which will fill my freezer each year.

 

[Kace]

I agree with these guys...I always return things that are returnable to the individual or family. IF there are any left.

This situation only happened to me once so far....I found a really nice engagement/wedding set and was able to find the woman who lost it. Insurance had paid out, she hadn't told her husband she had lost them and had had it duplicated and replaced by insurance photos/description and wanted no part of her husband knowing she lost them or insurance knowing anything about the set being recovered. I respected her wishes.

I used to keep Dog Tags that had belonged to vets If they were deceased or there was no family to return them to, but then I found where some VFW halls would take the tags and put them into a flag box or around a flag that was displayed in the hall... that's what I do now with those...I did find out that not all VFW's do this but when I've said that the vet was from their county or state and some other halls do this, they liked the thought and wanted the tag to start their own memorial displays.

The other option if there are not any living descendants or VFW's there... is most counties or the county seat have some type of memorial for vets of all wars that were from there and they are very happy to have and display them.

If you don't have the time to search for a vet who's Dog Tags you've found, contact ANGELOS ANGELS. They locate and return tags to the vet or family.

Here's an interesting story...For some reason years back, I had this overwhelming urge to type my last name into EBay. I never do that but the thought wouldn't leave my mind so I did it. Up pops my gggUncles WW1 Dog Tag...The telegram his family received said he was killed in battle overseas and when his coffin finally arrived home, it was never opened. It was a debate evidently in the family about opening it..his brothers, sisters and fiancé wanted to be sure it was him and his father was adamant that nobody was opening that casket...he said it had been too long to open it and if it wasn't him, he'd come home. As the story goes, his mother wanted someone to make sure it was him but respected his fathers wishes and they all took the coffin from the train station to the house for a wake and then a funeral in a couple days and he was buried.

Anyway, fast forward 90+years and I found myself staring at a computer screen looking at his tag, with his blood still staining it. I froze... I then messaged the people who were selling it telling them I wanted it and that he was my gggUncle. I ended up talking to them on the phone and they said they found it at a garage sale and thought it would be a cool trinket to buy and sell. No idea who had it.

I have No Clue how it got there... it was in another state even. I can only think that a buddy of his brought it back after he was killed and had kept it all those years...Or...It's definitely made me and my cousins as well as aunts/uncles who were living when I bought it, wonder if he really did die then... or was hurt so bad he either didn't remember where his home was or didn't want anyone to see him if he was in bad shape. There's really no way to know without exhumation and DNA.

As a side note.. his fiancé never married, always maintained his grave until she physically couldn't, then hired it done from her...family still decorates it too, and in her trust set it up where his grave would be perpetually maintained and decorated on his birthday, every holiday and the date they were to be married...it's still being maintained and decorated to this day. From Her. It's now been over 100yrs. There's still enough money for many more years of decorations. She is buried beside him wearing the ring he had given her before he left for war.

I still have his tag...Just as it was when I got it...prominently displayed with a 48 star flag since that's what he fought under...I found it a prohibition distribution site. (His family made their own spirits). I'm grateful that whatever it was that made me look happened. His tag is home now.

Some things found just Have to be returned to the individual or their descendants I believe.

I can see where there could be several people who could be in line as descendants on those type of things or in some cases just don't care and would sell it if they could and then what? It would mean more to the finder in that case. There's several options and I don't think that should involve any expenses incurred by the finder. Duplication, Casting, or even 3D are available now.

I have several really old pieces of nice jewelry that I've found that I'd love to return to descendants... but there's no way to ID who owned them.

Gotta Go With Your Conscience On Some Things.

Kace

 

[GaRebel1861]

I 've returned every one of the rings that I have that I could locate the proper owner. Still have plenty that I will never know who owned them.

 

[Bryan1776]

I always ask the owner of the property, this past summer I found a beautiful child's ring made of silver, hand made in the shape of a rose.
The initial's inside where from his ancestor from the late 1890's. He looked at it and told me who he thought its was, and said enjoy your find.
So my advise is let the owner of the jewelry decide. If he had wanted it, I would have been disappointed, but also would have understood and would have had no bad feelings!

 

[LawrencetheMDer]

I find lots of Cremation tags along the west coast of Florida. I always return them to the Gulf, where they belong with the remains/ashes.

 

[trdking]

What is found by you lost by another is yours to keep id you wish. Karma kicks in when there is an obvious trail to whom may own it. Either way you have no obligation to return anything you find. Unless of course the government feels they own it. Then just keep your mouth shut

 

[Ammoman]

The only regret i have is selling the rings i found back in the 80s. I would love to have returned them. But, back then it was pretty much impossible to find the owner of rings and i was a kid who had no clue so, i took the money and kept on truckin.

 

[searching 4]

years go I was detecting an old abandoned stone quarry , didn't find much at all just plenty of snakes...I came across what must have been the office building which was in real bad shape but I had to go inside to check things out . inside was an old metal desk. I opened the drawers and found a small bible with a name inside and an address...took some time to find the lady who owned the bible but I did find her ..she was at the time in her early 90's and was shocked that I had found the bible she had as a kid, she misplaced it and never could find it...found out her grand parents owned the stone quarry way back when and they often took her there to watch the "big machines "work...anyway it was a good feeling just to she how happy she was to get the bible back, made my day