ethical requirement when you find a ring?

In all legality you aren't obligated to do anything. You could probably detect cemeteries with permission as well. :laughing:

Me personally, I do it to get out and have a hobby. If I'm at a private location, I actually hope to find something I can give back. That would be cool to me personally as I really have no interest in gain. I don't really know karma one way or another I'm just a person that likes to give vs take.

I have no negative opinion of those that like to take though...within the law. If you hunt several times a week, almost job like, then I'd expect those types of hunters to be more possessive of things that they find.
 
I love reading the debates on this. So here is my opinion....Unless someone contacts me to find a ring they lost then it's finders keepers. I do not run a lost and found service for the public. Just thinking about how many rings are insured and how many have been lost and returned to the people who have already collected the insurance money. So when you return a ring do you ask if it was insured? If it was do you ask them if they already collected the money? If so do you wait their for the person to contact the insurance company to tell them the ring was found? Maybe I'm going a bit too deep here but wouldn't it be fraud if someone has collected the insurance money on a lost ring and then had it returned to them? It just seems like it would be a headache. Maybe I over analyze things sometimes but these are the questions that go through my head when I think about this subject.
 
Come on guys!!:mad: Can't we have a subject on here that does not get into bashing each other and our varied opinions on a subject?!? Tone it down or another thread goes to the dumpster!!
 
I believe in finders keepers, unless someone askes me to find a lost item, or askes if I have found their item. Why should I go through the trouble of finding an item, and then the trouble to find the person it belonged to?
 
I see the hobby a lot different than most others. I got lambasted for saying this before, but I will say it again. If I did research and found the best property ever to detect, and I knocked on the door and asked for permission and if their answer was yes, but the homeowner said that he wanted whatever I found, I would say excellent, and start looking.

I am in the hobby to find stuff, that is the fun part to me. Finding pieces of lost history is very intriguing to me. If I can't keep what I find, so be it, but I would at least take a picture of each find.
 
I see the hobby a lot different than most others. I got lambasted for saying this before, but I will say it again. If I did research and found the best property ever to detect, and I knocked on the door and asked for permission and if their answer was yes, but the homeowner said that he wanted whatever I found, I would say excellent, and start looking.

I am in the hobby to find stuff, that is the fun part to me. Finding pieces of lost history is very intriguing to me. If I can't keep what I find, so be it, but I would at least take a picture of each find.

I think you and I are in the minority. Technically it is theirs but most don't even care what you find unless it's "a pile of gold" and let you take whatever.

Of course we are primarily talking about relics and jewelry here. Things with personal ties. Coins most could care less about unless they collect them or know key dates. I know a couple but in general am about as clueless at land owner.
 
WHat??

Finders Keepers, Losers Weepers:D
Still as true today as it was when we were kids, that is why we are out hunting, is it not?
 
I don't know if its md'ers but im seeing more and more melted 14k and 10k chunks appearing on ebay...this may be some people thinking about taking the memory away from finds and so melting and selling for melt only.

I'd hope that if I find something traceable id return it if possible, its all down to the finder though, I know in a lot of places its the law that you take what you find to the police dept and they try to find the owner, think karma or maybe reward but as we're tend to be a bunch of folk who believe in karma id know I wouldn't want to curse myself when most of what I find is a matter of luck....hell with my scratch ticket winter im not going to turn my back on karma..no way!!!
 
Come on guys!!:mad: Can't we have a subject on here that does not get into bashing each other and our varied opinions on a subject?!? Tone it down or another thread goes to the dumpster!!

I hope spring thaw happens soon , this year was bad for you Northerners ! Cabin fever gets brutal :grin:
 
If I dig something up it belongs to me. If I decide to give my property to someone who once owned it then that is my decision and nobody else's. This is not a moral dilemma. Returning an item is a kindness, nothing more. It doesn't make you a better/worse person, it simply makes you... you.
 
If I dig something up it belongs to me. If I decide to give my property to someone who once owned it then that is my decision and nobody else's. This is not a moral dilemma. Returning an item is a kindness, nothing more. It doesn't make you a better/worse person, it simply makes you... you.

This is the exact reason a lot of you people get told that you cant detect someones property. If I had a piece of prime land and someone like this asked I wouldnt let you anywhere close. I would tell you to go spend your own money on your own land
 
This is the exact reason a lot of you people get told that you cant detect someones property. If I had a piece of prime land and someone like this asked I wouldnt let you anywhere close. I would tell you to go spend your own money on your own land

Apples to Oranges!

Big difference between the two. The thread is about finding a ring and finding the owner. If I received permission to hunt someone's property I would make a deal with the owner that we both agree upon, and I would honor that deal. If I am at a public school playground and find a ring I am keeping it. If that makes me a terrible human being in the eyes of some of you then so be it. I am here to learn and be friendly with everyone not to judge or be judged.
 
Apples to Oranges!

Big difference between the two. The thread is about finding a ring and finding the owner. If I received permission to hunt someone's property I would make a deal with the owner that we both agree upon, and I would honor that deal. If I am at a public school playground and find a ring I am keeping it. If that makes me a terrible human being in the eyes of some of you then so be it. I am here to learn and be friendly with everyone not to judge or be judged.

The hills have eyes. :lol:
 
Well I posted earlier BUT want to give a bit more info. I have found and retuned ON MY OWN a lot of gold rings and 2 sterling ID bracelets.

I am in a state with 11 thousand lakes and a lot of them private. In returning rings I have been on the news twice and in 7 different papers.

LOTS of people have contacted me to find rings. I also have been able to hunt more private lakes and beaches and have found thousands of dollars in rings, on top of what I have found for the people.

One lake I was hired to find a set of keys. Found them and was told to keep playing as long as I wanted. Got a beautiful Swiss Army watch still working, two mercs and a 2 grand in scrap platinum ring.

Besides all the wonderful thank you's I get in giving something back, I really have made a ton of money finding other things in these private waters.

My biggest gift has been 500.00. One of the ID bracelets I recieved 100.00. NO possible way what I found was worth that much in scrap.

So to each their own. I will keep doing what I have been doing, and by all means you also do what you want. I FEEL I am way ahead of the game doing it my way.
 
Wow, I did not mean to stir up this much contention. I am guessing this is not the first time people have argued this topic.

It see both sides, I want to teach my son how to detect the right way, but I am learning that this whole hobby is a bit more complex than I thought.

Thanks for all the input, here is what side I think I will come down on. If the ring is identifiable we will make a reasonable effort to locate the owner. If not we will keep it.

On a side note, a neighbor lost their wedding ring at a soccer game and he is going to hire my son to got detect for it. I pray he can find it as I think it would be a great lesson for him to use the skill he is developing to help someone out. It will be interesting to see what my son will ask for or take as compensation. I hope he will do it for free, but I am leaving that up to him.
 
This is the exact reason a lot of you people get told that you cant detect someones property. If I had a piece of prime land and someone like this asked I wouldnt let you anywhere close. I would tell you to go spend your own money on your own land



That is not true... these landowners read the forums? :laughing:
 
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