Would You Tell Anyone If You Found Treasure?

S

SifuPhil

R.I.P. With Us In Spirit Only
Location
Pennsylvania, USA
Two treasure-hunting hobbyists using metal detectors recently found a buried hoard of 156 gold Roman 4th-century coins near St. Albans, England.

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It is my understanding that the find was made on privately-owned land, but that trespassing laws in the UK are a bit different than here in the states. That might color what happened next, but I wanted to get an idea of what you folks would have done.

The hobbyists promptly notified the authorities and turned the treasure over to the proper parties. It seems that after an estimation of their worth is made a "finder's fee" will be split amongst the two hobbyists and the land-owner.

My question is: would you have done the same thing - turned the coins in to the government - or would you have quietly held onto them and sold them, one at a time, on the collector's market?
 

Brits are often more "proper" about things like this and these types of coins have great historic value and besides, they would be harder to sell. I would have done the same thing I think.
 
R. Zimm said:
Brits are often more "proper" about things like this and these types of coins have great historic value and besides, they would be harder to sell. I would have done the same thing I think.
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Yeah, that's interesting how the Brits have a different attitude about some things, like how they queue so patiently and accept bad news with that famous stiff upper lip.

Now we Colonists would probably just grab the coins, shoot any witnesses and rush home to put them up on eBay. :p
 

I think I might be more likely to keep a found cash money treasure, and turn in coins or property. Doubt if I'll ever have to make that choice. :daz:
 
Reminds me of a TV show I saw a number of years ago about odd homes. A couple had bought a bank building and converted it and avery few months they paid a locksmith a couple hundredd dollars to drill out the locks in a few safe deposit boxes. They usually found nothing but overall it was worth it.

They did however, pass on any valuables that had documentation with names to relatives in the town so that was nice of them. If they found just some money or jewelry with no connection, it was "treasure" as far as they were concerned.
 
That's neat.

Perhaps as a result of the economy I've seen several bank buildings for sale or lease in this area over the last few years and I always thought how cool it would be to live there, especially from a survivalist's point-of-view with that massive vault.

But I'm still holding out for living in an old church - if only I could afford the utilities!
 
I find cool treasures all the time along the shore. Oh, but you're talkin' REAL, like, riches. Well, if it might be spendable cash, ain't tellin' nobody nohow nowhere no time. But, bein' like ancient stuff worth moola . . . probably, have to tell somebody in order to reap the rewards.... if any.

Now, talkin' found money. Had a fight with the wife one evening. Took a walk to cool off. Saw a twenty dollar bill smilin' up at me from the sidewalk. Picked it up, went home and took her out for dinner.
 
There were many times when I was working as a bouncer that I would find an inebriated patron's wallet sitting under their stool or dropped out in the parking lot. I always returned them exactly as I found them, even the one time when this little black leather number contained well over $3,000.

Never got a reward from the guy either - I guess my reward was knowing I did "the right thing".



Yeah ... that and $3.50 will get me a breakfast sandwich at the convenience store.
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That Guy said:
Yer a good guy, Nutcase . . . I mean Phil...

Doing the right thing is always its own reward.
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I used to buy into that with my entire heart and soul - I truly did.

The as I got older I saw the corporate robber-barons flying in their private jets. I saw the drug dealers driving Ferraris. I saw no-talent "entertainers" living the life of Riley. I saw the cheaters getting ahead and the nose-to-the-grindstone types falling by the wayside.

And it hit me, like a thunderbolt - that old saying is TRUE!

Doing the right thing IS its own reward - the only thing is, the SIZE and CONTENT of that reward is laughable, and its applicability in this life is zero. My moral high-handedness and my superior ethical make-up won't get me anywhere. It won't pay the bills. It won't feed me. It won't win me any friends or influence any people.

In other words, it's all in my head.



... and a fat lot of good THAT does me. :(
 
I agree that watching all the corruption having it's own reward these days, makes a person think twice about doing the right thing. There was a story recently about a woman that was following an armored car when the back door flew open and money started spilling out. She stopped and gathered up all the money and called the police and returned the money to the company.

Now if there is such a thing as fate...what are the statistical chances of that happening to anyone, and who's to say it wasn't just her day to be the benefactor of a good stroke of fate. I have to say if it happened to me I would most likely be having a very good day.
:daz:
 
SifuPhil said:
My question is: would you have done the same thing - turned the coins in to the government - or would you have quietly held onto them and sold them, one at a time, on the collector's market?
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Would have done the same thing, turned the coins over.
Got a soft spot for history.. some things you just can't put a price tag on.
 
SifuPhil said:
I used to buy into that with my entire heart and soul - I truly did.

The as I got older I saw the corporate robber-barons flying in their private jets. I saw the drug dealers driving Ferraris. I saw no-talent "entertainers" living the life of Riley. I saw the cheaters getting ahead and the nose-to-the-grindstone types falling by the wayside.

And it hit me, like a thunderbolt - that old saying is TRUE!

Doing the right thing IS its own reward - the only thing is, the SIZE and CONTENT of that reward is laughable, and its applicability in this life is zero. My moral high-handedness and my superior ethical make-up won't get me anywhere. It won't pay the bills. It won't feed me. It won't win me any friends or influence any people.

In other words, it's all in my head.



... and a fat lot of good THAT does me. :(
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What Phil said. :cool:


I do discriminate if I see someone drop a note, but that doesn't happen too often. If he's wearing a suit, or a white shirt with a tie and looks like a used car salesman I tend to lose my voice. But a soldier from the local barracks in a town where I previously lived dropped a $50 note in the shopping mall and I chased him to give it back. We do whatever our conscience will allow I think, hard to decide which way we'd go in a hypothetical situation. Whichever way would keep me out of jail I guess.
 
Diwundrin said:
... Whichever way would keep me out of jail I guess.
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... and for some of us even THAT consideration is negotiable.

I always taught my self-defense students that they have to forget all about the threat of legal consequences when they're in a life-or-death situation. You can't take the time to consider what the lawyers will do to you, because that time would be far more profitably spent figuring tactics and strategies for your fight.

But as related to money ... I guess I would have to weigh how MUCH money we're talking about. Everyone has a price, and (majority opinion to the contrary) I am not cheap.

... easy, maybe, but not cheap. :p
 
SifuPhil said:
Two treasure-hunting hobbyists using metal detectors recently found a buried hoard of 156 gold Roman 4th-century coins near St. Albans, England.
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I have a C-Scope auto 800 and I have not discovered any hidden hoard.

Must admit I have not used it for a few years.

Regulations have changed and it is now more difficult to do it on your own.

Joining a club is the best course of action as they will negotiate a search permit and deal with all the subsequent paperwork.

A great deal of hidden treasure lies buried out there but most of it is beyond the range of current equipment.

Most finds are discovered when plots are earmarked for development and the builders move in with their heavy equipment.

However in rural areas hidden hoards await the dedicated treasure hunters.

(Many areas are out of bounds)

It would be very difficult to keep and sell this type of treasure and the best course of action would be to contact the authorities

Down the line you might receive a reward or some form of recognition.
 
There have been a couple of 'finds' in my area in the past few years.

In Easter 2011 a locally-based metal detectorist made a very unexpected find: Viking treasure.
It is the first time that a significant amount of valuable Viking booty has been recovered from the Furness soil that indisputably links the area with the Norse mariners, and local history stands to be re-written as a result.

The 92 silver coins and artefacts – among them ingots and one near-complete silver bracelet – have been examined by the British Museum. It is thought that the silver was put into the ground sometime around 955 AD when the Viking invaders had established footholds in the north of England.

http://www.dockmuseum.org.uk/default.aspx?page=470


An extremely rare medieval silver-gilt crozier and bejewelled ring discovered during emergency repairs to the ruins of Furness Abbey in Cumbria – one of the great monasteries of England and in the care of English Heritage – will go on display at the Abbey over the May bank holiday weekend (Friday 4 - Monday 7 May 2012). The head of the crozier or staff is particularly beautiful and is decorated with gilded silver medallions showing the Archangel Michael defeating a dragon.

http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/about/news/rare-medieval-treasures-found-at-furness-abbey/

 
This is probably the only time you'll hear me say this, but boy, am I glad I live in the U.S.!

Although, I guess I can understand at least a bit of the intent of the Act, being they address finds over 300 years old - we haven't even reached that point yet, so perhaps we might do the same thing at that time.

And "wreck is not treasure"? Of COURSE not - it's BOOTY! :pirate: We have maritime salvage laws here as well, and although I'm not too familiar with them anymore they can lay claim to whatever salvage you find unless you jump through a lot of legal hoops.
 
If I found a treasure' and could keep it , I would do that, but if it were something that needed to be returned to someone, or should be a national treasure, or something like that, then I would do the right thing and turn it in.
But if I just found some silver dollars, or paper money, I would probably sell it bit by bit, and enjoy it, share it with my kids.
This is one of those things that you have to really think over and see what should be done, and do what is the right thing to do.
 
Keep it and my mouth shut.
Unless it belonged to somebody else and I knew it, or if it seemed to be somebody's life saving in a fridge, I'd try to track down the owner. But if a bag of money fell off an armoured truck...finder keepers. Or if I dug something up someplace I am sure I'd keep it then too.
 
I'd return it without even thinking about it. If I didn't, I wouldn't be able to sleep at night. I picked up a 20 off the floor of the local gas station last week and although nobody knew who it belonged to, I gave it to the cashier to hold in case anyone came back for it. Chances are that cashier kept it, but at least it wasn't on my mind. I'm content to work for my money. However, if I found a 20 on a vacant beach with no one around that it could belong to, then I'd have to keep it because there wouldn't be anyone to return it to.

I do buy lotto tickets when the take gets big and if I won that - ALL MINE!!!!
 
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