Do You Really Own Precious Items that Other People Have Lost?
In today’s post, let’s explore a question that is a bit more complicated than it seems . . .
If you find something, does it belong to you?
It’s a question that comes up more often than you might think, because people lose personal items every day and presumably, the things they lose are found by other people. If you don’t think people lose and find things frequently, just visit the Lost & Found section on the Craigslist in your area. You’ll quickly see that people lose keys, rings, dogs, cats, parrots, cellphones, and all sorts of personal items. You’ll also see that lots of honest people post “found” notices on Craigslist. They found your key or your parrot, and they would like to return it to you.
But Who Owns Items that You Find?
So let’s say, for example, that you are walking down the street, look down, and see a gold bracelet lying there. You pick it up and put in in your pocket. It’s yours now, right? The law of “finders keepers, losers weepers” applies right? Well, could be. But the whole issue of finding gold, platinum, silver, and other items is a bit more complicated than the old “finder keepers” rule.
What About Items You Find that People Have Lost?
If somebody lost something and you found it, are you legally bound to try to return it? We asked an attorney we know, and she replied that in most cases, you are under no obligation to do so. However, she then asked a very insightful question . . .
“Aren’t you ethically supposed to try to return it?”
And that’s a very good question. In a way, it is all about applying the Golden Rule. If you were the person who lost something, don’t you wish that somebody would be ethical enough to try to return it to you? Wouldn’t you feel that wish very strongly if the item you lost were something that had great personal meaning to you?
So even if you are not required by law to return something you found, doing so is a good thing to do, an expression of care for someone else. How should you do it? One good way is to post a notice in a local newspaper, if such a newspaper still exists. Community bulletin boards are another good option. You could also post on Craigslist, bearing in mind that dishonest people could be cruising the Lost & Found section there and could try to rob you of the item you found. (Ask people to give you a detailed description of what they lost, and to be safe, communicate via email, not face-to-face.)
What About Lost Items You Acquire in Other Ways?
Here, things get complicated. Because the fact is that people find, and take possession of, valuable items in a number of different ways. Here are some ways that people have acquired gold, silver, platinum, and other precious metals. Each of them poses different questions about ownership.
You find valuables in real estate you occupy. There are a number of different ways this can happen. You could buy an old house and find that some previous occupant hid a sleeve of gold coins behind a wall. (If you find items that were hidden many years ago, chances are you can assume they are yours.) Or you rent an apartment that was recently vacated, and you find a gold wedding ring on the floor of a closet. (If something like this happens, a good ethical choice would be to contact your landlord and ask who the previous tenants were, and whether it would be appropriate to contact them.) Or let’s say you find some old coins buried in a box in the back yard of a house you just bought? (Chances are pretty good you own them now, free and clear.)
You find gold or other precious items in a piece of furniture you acquire. This can happen. You bring home a nice old dresser from an antique store and find a piece of jewelry in it, or you buy a cigar humidor and find that an old silver dollar is hidden beneath its false bottom. In such cases, our attorney friend tells us, you can assume that you own your discoveries outright.
You dig up or acquire some valuable items outdoors. This too gets complicated, but the general rule to apply is that before you go hunting for treasure or lost items, get permission from the people (or government or other entity) that owns the land where you are prospecting. If you are taking your metal detector onto private land, for example, get permission to go hunting there. If you are looking on a state, county, local or other park, ask the appropriate authorities for permission, and ask what the rules and laws are.
And What About Discoveries of Value that Exceeds Your Expectations?
This situation happens, as you already know if you spend any time watching Antiques Road Show. It’s kind of a dream-come-true event if you buy a coin for $100 and then find out that it is a rare collectible that is worth 100 times that amount. Or you buy a silver punch bowl for $50 and discover that because it was made by a prominent silversmith it is worth a fortune.
If you buy something and it turns out to be worth a fortune after you already own it, you are a lucky person. Provided, of course, that you obtained it in a legal way – you bought it, inherited it, or someone gave it to you.
But of course, you did obtain those items legally, right? And if you want help in understanding what precious metals they are made of and what they are worth, we invite you to give our precious metal consultants a call at 800-426-2344. We are here to answer all your questions about turning your amazing finds into amazing dollars.