The property owner who wanted it all.

[renegade_7]

I wanted to search this old home property for the past couple years. There is only a foundation there now, but I remember the old dilapidated home that once stood there. I could never find the owner--until two weeks ago. He's building a new house on the property. I finally met him, got permission. Seems it belonged to his father and his before, so I couldn't wait to hit that place. The only catch, he wanted to be there when I searched. I figured, OK, might get him involved in the hobby.

Well on the day of the hunt, he shows up early. I explain my MD and the method I use, and off we go. The first find is a merc. Of course he wanted to see what I found. He was pretty excited about it. So he's holding it, and I'm thinking "well, I wonder if he forgot he's holding it." I didn't say anything, I continued to hunt, and next coin I find is a wheat penny. He says "I guess you can have that one." So now the gremlins are talking to me. Finally I say "Hey. how about that dime?" He said "Ya, they don't make those anymore. I'd like to hang on to it, it's silver. But you can have all the pennies you find." Well, that did it for me, didn't take a genius to figure out that he wanted to keep anything of value. I don't mind sharing, but based on the conversation we had, he was not interested in any type of even split. I understand it is his property, but... So I very nicely thanked him for the opportunity, and left. What a surprise. Fortunately, that's the only time that ever happened.

 

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[bk]

It's called Greed.
You will find this occasionally.
Go on to the next place and write this one off. Nothing you can do will fix the problem. You can offer him everything that you find, and he probably still won't be satisfied.

 

[Kentucky Kache]

I don't blame the guy for wanting what's found on his own property, but he should invest in his own detector, and do his own digging.

 

[TXKajun]

Geeeezzz!! That just leaves me speechless!

 

[JakePhelps]

If he was interested in the history of the stuff rather than the intrinsic value i would have let him keep some, but just wanting it for the silver or numismatic value is dumb I would have continued to detect and at least keep all the relics and pennies. The relics to me would still make it worth it, add in the pennies and nickels and i would have still detected it. o well some people dont appreciate the history of these artifacts we dig up

 

[grizzly bare]

Gee, I'm seldom speechless( except for thr time Ed O'Donnell caught me in his daughter's closet wearing nothing but my socks and a stupid smile) but this takes the cake. (Somewhere in here is a mixed mataphor) You do all the work and he gets to decide on the split? I'm on your side...thanks for the opportunity, now where's the gate.

grizzly bare

 

[Kentucky Kache]

Grizzly, It's good to see you came out of the closet.

 

[grizzly bare]

jbot,
trust me on this one, ain't NOTHING good about ole grizzly coming out of the closet in nothing but socks. A sight to make strong men ill at the stomach and a cautionary tale told to small children to keep them in line.
Ed and his two sons were good hunting buddies in the days before I went to VietNam and stopped hunting. It just seems odd to me that now those good ole buddies would rather take a gun to me than to the deer and other really wild game in MadisonCounty.
I guess people are just strange.

grizzly bare

 

[Gabbit]

I would have started digging junk and getting excited about it until he decided you weren't going to find any more silver dimes -- that is what you call a penny pinching tight wad -- I am sure there is a special place for those greedy types in **LL. ?Probably never given a red cent to a charity in his life.

 

[hollowpointred]

what a dick!

 

[Southcacalaky]

If you don't mind me asking, Did you have any sort of agreement before you started digging if you found anything of value? I have asked permission to hunt on some commercial rental property and the manager joking said he wanted half. I asked him if he had any wire cutters so I could split the nails, soda tabs and few lincolns I found. He was so generous and let me keep them all... You did the right thing by asking for permission in the first place, you did the right thing by letting him have whatever you gave him, and you definatly did the right thing by leaving when this person didn't want to share... Win some, Lose some... Hope you next finds are appreciated equally. HH Art...

 

[trk5capt]

Takes all kinds to make the world go round, better luck next time. trk5capt...

 

[jeff of pa]

A friend was going to search a place about a month ago.

He was Going to Bring Another Detectorist along, Which was Known at the Time they made Arrangements.

Last Minute He got a call Saying the OWNER only Wanted One Detector ON at a Time

Figuring this Meant the Owner Was Going to Follow & watch like a Hawk, He never went.

I can't Blame Him,
HOWEVER, I think I would have Just Spent the Day Digging Every Iron Signal
Till He got Tired of Watching & walked away.

 

[tallpaul]

what i do is i have an agreement form,, i get em to read and sign, then its a 50/50 split,, and all that is found remains in my hands untill the museum decides if they want it or not, any monies are then split,, some landowners will just say aahhh iam not bothered about that and you just go on,, and leave with ya finds,, but them who get really interested in what ya saying i always pull out the form,, because ive had em give me half an hour then there there right behind you,, if they dont sign then i dont hunt,, i got it all lookin official, like its from the ncmd national council for metal detecting,. which is well known here, like i say once they sign ya got em,,, i'll post the pics of my form,, you should be able to read it,, HH paul.

 

[fanatic]

I had a similar experience and this mutt even wanted the junk!