Finders keepers, losers weepers?

Hey guys,

Having read about the "theft by finding" laws we have in this country, does anyone have any stories about legally obtaining ownership of an expensive item - jewellery for example?

And what about all those $2/$1 coins that eveyone finds - do we legally need to hand those in too?
Where is the line drawn? Because technically all that metal trash doesnt belong to us either so can we hand that over as well to be held for 18 months or so, waiting for the owner to claim their trash (which will never happen).

I can see myself now finding a gold ring and a bag full of bottle caps then rocking up to a police station, saying "I'm handing this ALL in" lol.

Oh I didn't hear about this, I'm not handing in any of my silver or gold to anyone, not even the police, gee wizz!

want to post a link? (saves me Googling, feeling lazy...)

SF

http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2010/04/06/theft-finding-its-bag

One example of this law. Im sure this applies to a $20,000 diamond ring found in the sand too.

If a reasonable person would believe it should be handed in then it should be handed in. I diamond ring in the dry sand at the top of a popular beach would come under that. A broken seiko buried 6" deep in a park would not.

Several posts on this forum where people have returned items to the owners or handed in to police.
If not claimed they are yours to keep. 3 months I think.

Isn't there another rule that if its older than 50 years it belongs to the state?

basically yeah, its a heritage item and should be declared. But seriously, in 3 years time that could conceivably be decimal coinage

In Victoria all you need to do is take 'reasonable' steps to find the owner.
Whats is deemed reasonable will be different in each circumstance.
Finding a $20,000 diamond ring at a popular beach as mentioned - reasonable steps would probably require you to contact the local police or place an add in the local paper.
Finding a $100 note blowing down a busy street - having a look around in an attempt to locate a person in distress may be enough.
Each set of circumstances is different.
Finding a few gold coins on a beach - almost impossble to locate an owner.

Ramjet said:

Several posts on this forum where people have returned items to the owners or handed in to police.
If not claimed they are yours to keep. 3 months I think.

Click to expand...

I did not know this but was told by a forum member last weekend that if you find expensive piece of jewellery you have to turn it to police. If no one claims it in 90 days its yours. If you dont and try to sell it and get caught you will be charge with theft.

And what's the cut off line for "expensive"? This is where the confusion lies. Is it not better to hand in all jewellery found, expensive or not, since if you do try to re-sell an item that matches the description of something was delcared lost/stolen you'll get in trouble. I'm not taking that risk. Hope I only find coins so I don't have to deal with this moral/legal dilemma of "why can't I just keep my awesome find?"

(*Mental note: now that I don't want to find jewellery, irony will jinx me lol)

Keep it all bad luck they should have looked harder

Beagleboy said:

Ramjet said:

Several posts on this forum where people have returned items to the owners or handed in to police.
If not claimed they are yours to keep. 3 months I think.

Click to expand...

I did not know this but was told by a forum member last weekend that if you find expensive piece of jewellery you have to turn it to police. If no one claims it in 90 days its yours. If you dont and try to sell it and get caught you will be charge with theft.

Click to expand...

Here is a couple of examples of members trying to do the right thing....

https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=882

https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=1184

https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=940

https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=3003

They are lovely stories. I think we all would strive to do the right thing. If I found a wallet or something that was engraved or if someone asked for my help on the day, no question I'd do my best to help and I wouldn't be charging for "jewellery rescue" services either.

I found a wallet recently. Tried to contact the guy but couldn't.
So I took it to the police. He called me later and was ecstatic to get it back.
My good deed for the day

Finders Beware

- a cautionary tale from "Keen Ken" regarding the trustworthyness of one police officer...

"Dad had a friend who was an airline pilot, his wife running her fingers through the sand on a north coast beach came up with an expensive looking 18 ct sapphire ring surrounded with diamonds, they handed it in to police and were told if it wasn't claimed within a set time it was theirs.
Some time later they rang the police station and were told the ring had been collected but the owner did not want to leave details or even left a thank you note, for such an expensive ring they thought it was a bit strange.
Once again they visited the north coast and were invited to one of those "high brow" do's, the guy bumped into the policeman they had handed the ring in to and he and his wife were introduced to the policemans wife and guess what she was wearing??
"Be sure your sins will find you out"
May be the best way to find an owner is to place an add on a public notice board close to where you found the item with a vague discription eg, found one gold ring on such a date. Inform the police you have done that and maybe they will be less likely to go missing."

Due to the sapphire ring story, I'll be handing in any expensive looking rings with a padlock attached, therefore nobody (not even the policeman's wife) can swipe it. Only the owner will get the key. Is this overkill? maybe, but it's the only 100% way to guarantee it doesn't get accidently "lost" or "mysteriously" claimed at the station. And if my padlock ends up damaged/broken/missing....well, that's a good indication.

Not a bad idea really. But if someone really wants it, a bolt cutter or grinder will cut the lock.
Shame when ya can't trust the police.
Though I'm sure most are honest.

If i find a ring and it was on the surface and nice and clean, then i would hand it in. But, if its 6" under soil and looks like its been there for a bloody long time, then no i would keep it. Unless it has a name or something on it. I found a wallet on the road once it had 300 bucks in it and all of the blokes credit cards in it. I rang the police and gave them the blokes licence number and within 30 minutes i had a call from the bloke and he came around and picked up his wallet from my business and gave me **** all for my trouble. At least the miserable bustard could of bought me a six pack...Roscoe

Ramjet - You're right, if someone at the station wants the ring, they'll break the lock, but that will require a damn good explaination when I collect my property, the lock lol.

Roscoe- sometimes you wonder why you bother helping people like that.