> I found an 1879 French Gras Bayonet a foot deep....I also found 2 small cannonballs.
Now THAT'S a pincushion! Did you accept them or throw them out because you can measure better 😉
Some where in Lawton, OK, found this ring in a creek near a road. 19 diamonds 14k gold ring.
> I find it interesting that people think it is appropriate to secretly take something that they found on their client's property.
Well, in California the law may be different than it is in Texas. In Texas something that an Indian mislaid 6,000 years ago, a rusty bit of a knife that someone who was probably an Indian dropped on the ground 140 years ago, and a spur that someone who most likely was a cowboy or a mounted soldier lost at least 120 years ago are the property of the person who finds them. They're the property, that is, against the rights of everyone except for the original owner. Given that lapse of time and the nature of the object, the odds of identifying the original owner or his or her heirs are zero point zero.
Why else would a person want to go into the field if not for the chance to find the occasional projectile point, ancient bottle, or other souvenirs? Surely you don't think it's just to examine survey evidence or to know from one's own personal knowledge what has been done on the ground? :>
> I can appreciate the post, they are cool items. In the past I have refrained from taking some similar cool items found in the field simply because they were not mine.
Well, it may well be that the law of your state is different. Under Texas law, title to such things is in the person who finds them, not the owner of the land. That title is secondary only to that of the person who originally lost the thing. After 140 years or more, I think we can safely assume that person is past caring.
I'm frankly a bit surprised to read the opinions of the surveyors who would just leave that stuff in place to rust to nothing or who would want to waste time doing anything other than simply sticking it in a vest pocket and moving on with the work - well, the surveyors in private practice, that is.
I'm sure that government employees have their own manuals of procedures to follow and paperwork to fill out. :>
> Some where in Lawton, OK, found this ring in a creek near a road. 19 diamonds 14k gold ring.
>
I wonder if DP can identify that ring?
Seriously though, finders/keepers.
