What would you do?

[Treasure-Diver]

Untold Riches! Paranoia! Greed! Distrust! Murder! What would drive a person to this? LOST TREASURE!!!! As metal detecting treasure seekers all of us have dreamed of finding “IT”. My question to all of you is what now?!? For me it’s the famous saying Loose Lips Sink Ships! But what good is finding Treasure if you can’t reap the rewards of its vast riches. Would you tell the appropriate authorities? Nearly every ones first instinct is to nod their head yes. For some this has worked out. For others it has left them heartbroken and penniless. If you hide the secret how do you reap the rewards? If you go the legal route how do you protect your find from the government and/or governments. What a paradox! The story of Victorio Peak really caused me some sleepless nights when I first heard of it. I only lived about 200 miles south of the site at the time.

Mel Fisher and the Atocha (Estimated Value $400 Million) Reaps the Rewards legally but barely!

Mel's dream almost came to a complete halt when the U.S. Government and the State of Florida laid claim to the wreck and it appeared that the treasure he and his family had worked so hard to recover would never be theirs. After legal battles that would take over 8 years to resolve and cost the Fishers over $4 million in legal fees, the U.S. Supreme Court, in a landmark decision, would finally grant Mel and his family complete ownership of the Atocha wreck and its treasures. (Taken from this website)
http://www.randrdivers.com/storyofmelfisher.html

Milton Ernest “Doc” Noss and Victorio Peak (Estimated Value $2 Billion) Heartbroken and cheaped out of the Treasure.

This was the beginning of long legal battles over the ownership of the claim. The military claim stemmed from a statement made by New Mexico officials on November 14, 1951 which withdrew prospecting, entry, location and purchase under the mining laws, reserving the land for military use only. However, disputing the military claim, New Mexico officials stated that they leased only the surface of the land to the military. Further, they stated that underground wealth, in whatever form it took, belonged to the state or to any legal license holders. (Taken from this website)
http://www.legendsofamerica.com/HC-Treasures5.html

 

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[miser]

Treasure-Diver,

You hit a hard issue there. Most of us would like to believe we'd be upstanding citizens and tell the appropriate authorities, but watching the way Florida reacted to Mel Fisher, it would doubt give some people pause.

Even if you could take away your haul in secret, how would you unload it? The black market?

We'd always like to say what we'd do in that situation, but until I'm staring $400 Million in gold in the face, I'd hate to speculate.

 

[jeff of pa]

I just Received the August Issue of
LOST TREASURE
today.

there is a Story titled

CAN YOU KEEP A ROBBER'S CACHE
By Jay Pastor

I wish I could Reprint it here.
It delves into this Topic Very well.

 

[Ray S ECenFL]

It is sad but true that the vulture's are always on the wire just waiting. Be it Local State Government, National Government, Lawyers, Insurance Companies, the military, on and on.....

Some poor guy stumbles on to a fortune or spend most of his life looking for one, finally finds it and then the vultures attack.

Kind of makes the black market look kind of inviting.

Cross that bridge when you come to it.

 

[jglunt]

I think it might depend on some other factors.

Is it a known cache that thousands have been seeking for many years or is a relatively unknown treasure that perhaps no one knows about?

What form does it take? Is it a hoard of Spanish gold coins where each one has a numismatic value as well as a bullion value? Is it gold or silver bars that you can melt down? Or perhaps a suitcase full of drug money hasitly stashed in the panic of a quick escape.....unmarked bills. How about a tidy little pile of precious gemstones or jewelry?

If it's coins, it wouldn't take long for the word to get out when you start dumping them on the market. With gold bullion you always have the weight factor. Can you remove it to a safe place by yourself unseen or do you have to get help? The suitcase full of cash...probably the easiest to stash....but you can't put it in a bank and you're always looking over your shoulder. Precious gems are nice but you have to get them appraised and then sell them. Not easy tasks to do anonymously.

Mel Fisher was extremely public. The media and governments were tuned into him right from the gitgo, selling shares, enlisting dozens of contract employees and huge amounts of equipment....hardly conducive to keeping a secret.

I guess my answer to your question is that if it's an unknown cache that I can remove to a safe place by myself, no one else knows of it and I can easily dispose of it in small quantitites over time without drawing attention to myself....no one, and I mean no one will ever know.

Downside is that you can't flaunt your newly found wealth.

Jim

 

[BioProfessor]

The real question here is - "Who actually owns the property as it stands (ie lost)?"

In my old neck of the woods there was always talk of the "Last Chance Gold" or the "Confederate Gold." We are talking a lot of gold bricks here. Before anyone even finds this gold, the question can be answered about who it belongs to. I am not sure of what that answer is but when the war was over, property was returned, redistributed, etc. as per laws of the day. So, somebody owns the gold. If you find it, you have recovered someone else's property. There is a procedure for returning it. Whether you follow it or not, is up to you. But just because something is "lost" doesn't mean that ownership is also lost. The person that lost it, still owns it. They just don't know where it is.

As an aside, the "Last Chance Gold" has already been found. I personally know someone who saw it come out of the ground. It was a stack of gold bricks with iron bars bent around it so none could move or come loose. The person that found it did not know what it was and sold it for $20,000 as it sat in the ground. I for one would have liked to have seen it returned to the State and displayed. I am sure a handsome finder's fee could have been negotiated.

Just my 2 cents worth.

Daryl

 

[djui5]

There are no bigger crooks than our own Government. They're stealing from their own citizens on a daily basis. If you think they're doing everything proper and on the up and up, you're crazy. Why should we follow the rules of a Government who won't follow them themselves?

 

[U.K. Brian]

Good points Daryl.
Re the gold sold for $20,000 would the finder have lost out by declaring it ? Even if only a percentage of the value was paid as a reward then he would have ended up better off and would reap spin off benefits.

 

[MD Dog]

I once uncovered a cache of some considerable value, the actual amt has and will always be a secret that only I know. I was using a backhoe to dig a hole for a fairly large tree I was transplanting, thus the discovery was completely by accident. This was in fact what inspired my current fascination with THing. Well my first call was to my lawyer to see where I stood legally. My lawyer handled everything, believe me when I say they have everything already set up for just such a windfall. But I guess from my experience the only advice I could give to you would be for every person beyond yourself who knows exactly what, when, how and where and of course how much, increases the risk of your losing it and all control of it by 100% I have never told anyone everthing, that includes my lawyer, my wife, my pastor- no one !