Erik Oostra

This is from the Queensland Government website regarding found property.. Found property If you find property that someone has obviously lost, take it to your local police station. If you find goods or money, you can’t keep them. In fact, police can charge you for keeping goods or money you’ve found that you don’t hand in. If you tell the police that you’ve found something of value, they may later return the goods to you if they can’t find the owner. I can't find any mention on the Queensland Police website about how long they hang on to found property before the finder gets to keep it.. It does say that: "if these items are not claimed by the owner within 30 days of written notice (i.e. publishing on this site), then the Commissioner may destroy or dispose of the items."

6 months.. Wow! 1 year.. Even bigger Wow! Thank you very much for that research Valens Legacy, is that the same for other U.S states as well? I'm pretty sure it's 3 months in Oz but you've got me thinking now.. I'll have to find out..

Phew! I've seen the flip side of this at my local metal detecting club, where owners post on the club's facebook page hoping to recover their jewellery.. and sometimes offering huge rewards.. one woman offered a AU$ 1000 reward to find her lost wedding ring, plenty of punters took up the challenge but none ever found it 😬.. In this case the ring had a lot of sentimental value as her husband had passed away..

Has there ever been a case of cops or owners monitoring forums such as this to find lost property? If so, were they successful? Could this lead to prosecution for the unfortunate detectorist for not handing it in (or even accusations of theft)? Or perhaps the detectorist was lucky and got a reward for her/his hard work?

What would you do if they didn't still have it? You'd have to prove ownership of that exact ring.. And the cops probably wouldn't love you too much for trying to test their honesty.. My guess would be that this would come back to bite you on the arse, maybe in the form of unwarranted speeding tickets.. 😬

Crikey! That puts a different spin on the dilemma.. 😬 If Kac is right I probably would loose sleep over it..

Thanks for that in-depth reply Tom, it looks like you've really studied this dilemma.. It seems to me it's a case of both 'Finders Keepers' and 'Losers Weepers'.. Although I usually check with the local cops if anyone has lost the jewellery I've found, especially if it has names or initials on it.. Thanks Kac and Hard Prospector, this has also been my policy..

I've already posed this question on Jim from Idaho's post in relation to gold bars, but I'm curious about the general consensus among detectorists.. Is there a time period after which the 'finders keepers' rule applies? I'm asking because I face this dilemma every time I find valuable jewellery (especially wedding rings) on the beach, whether to turn them in at the police station in case someone has reported them lost or to hang on to them and keeping quiet.. Value could not just be monetary but also sentimental.. Thanks for your feedback to a question I'm sure plagues the conscience of other detectorists as well.. Edit: just realised I've posted this on the wrong forum, it should be on the 'Metal detecting for jewellery' forum.. Not sure how to change it..

What happens when/if you recover the gold bars? Do you get to keep them? Or do you have to hand them back to the original owners? Is there a time period after which the 'finders keepers' rule applies? Just asking because I face this dilemma every time I find valuable jewellery or rings on the beach, whether to turn them in at the police station in case someone has reported them lost or to hang on to them and keeping quiet..

This article caught my attention as I've also been on the receiving end.. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-28/environmentalists-versus-bush-user-groups-veac-proposal/100096256

Thanks a million for the excellent feedback Tim.. I really appreciate it.. As I said I've been hesitating on buying the CT but from what you and others are reporting I get the feeling that it could provide a depth advantage, especially on the beach.. This is ultimately what I'm after on a patch I've called the 'Silver Mine' where the ML is getting as deep as it can possibly go and there could be more silver coins lurking below.. Again, thank you for your help in making up my mind..

not a meteorite? 😬

Sorry Steve, after your brilliant reaction to a similar post I just couldn't resist.. I fully agree with what you told the other punter.. This unusual specimen was once part of an ancient rock formation.. Any ideas what it could be? I'm guessing a meteorite.. 😬

Thanks a lot Dances with Wolves and GB_Amateur.. Gerry's video is exactly what i was looking for, it answers my questions in great depth.. Thank you Gerry!

Thanks a lot Tiftaaft.. I've been hesitating in buying one, they're expensive and I don't want to rush into it like I normally do..

Since the 15'' Coiltek coil for Equinox detectors has been out for a while, I'm wondering if there have been any meaningful comparisons? Especially regarding sensitivity and depth.. Any feedback would be much appreciated.. 😁

Good point! It would be interesting to see how it matches up with the other detectors on the chart seeing it's also a VLF detector like the Gold Monster.. Maybe Minelab doesn't consider it a true 'gold' detector but rather an all rounder..

I'm glad you said that Jeff, I bought a GPX 5000 just before the GPX 6000 was released and had come to believe that Minelab was breaking my heart on purpose!

Why don't most of these detectors perform too great on 10 and 100 gram nuggets? This doesn't make much sense to me, I thought that on nuggets this size they'd be real screamers..

Just wondering if anyone has ever used this app and if it's any good (or just another gimmick).. The blurb says all you need to do is take a picture of the coin with your phone and the app will identify it and tell you all about it.. It would be very handy if it worked.. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/coinoscope-visual-coin-search/id1329237590

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/apr/01/arabian-coins-found-in-us-may-unlock-17th-century-pirate-mystery

We're lucky that Australian silver coins minted between 1910 and 1945 contain 92.5% pure silver (sterling silver), later dates until decimal coinage was introduced in 1966 contain 50% silver.. There are some parallels to British silver coins after WWII with Australian silver coins dropping to 50% just as yours did in 1920.. Who says history doesn't repeat itself? Most of my pre-decimal coins were found at a spot I've called the 'Silver Mine'.. It's on the edge of where a grassy embankment meets the beach.. every time there is a heavy downpour or a really high tide, a huge amount of water runs down from inland creeks as well as up from the sea, continually exposing silver coins..

The coin was 25/26 and the little butterfly was 13.. normally i tend to avoid 13s as it's nearly always a aluminium pull tap..

This morning I found a silver Queen Victoria six-pence (1900) in the same hole as this little beauty! I thought at first it might be a pull-tap but Foxy Noxy kept reading a solid 13 instead of flicking between 12/13/14.. am glad I had another dig..