I assume the charge was Theft By Finding. The added advice is worth adhering to else being charged. There were defences you could have used for the charge but that is for another thread. It's also good advice to keep your mouth shut when dealing with the fuzz.
Hate to say it but I'd keep it. If I'm walking in the bush and find silver then someone sucks at hiding their stash. So it'd become a proper owners stash. At the same time though I'd leave my worst enemy's contact info >
It is so easy to say "walk away, leave it alone blahblahblah" but if this actually happened and you found a large stack of silver and no one to see you take it.. YOU WOULD TAKE THAT IN AN HEART BEAT! dont come here and act like some angel because you are not.. and I for one would take every single last ounce from that stack, sell half of it.. buy me some hookers and jim beam..
The Law - Treasure Trove Under American common law, treasure trove belongs to the finder unless the original owner reclaims. Some states have rejected the American common law and hold that treasure trove belongs to the owner of the property in which the treasure trove was found. These courts reason that the American common law rule encourages trespass. Under the traditional English common law, treasure trove belongs to the Crown, though the finder may be paid a reward. More info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treasure_trove TREASURE TROVE. Found treasure. This name is given to such money or coin, gold, silver, plate, or bullion, which having been hidden or concealed in the earth or other private place, so long that its owner is unknown, has been discovered by accident. Should the owner be found it must be restored to him; and in case of not finding him, the property, according to the English law, belongs to the king. In the latter case, by the civil law, when the treasure was found by the owner of the soil, he was considered as entitled to it by the double title of owner and finder; when found on another's property, one-half belonged to the owner of the estate, and the other to the finder; when found on public property, it belonged one-half to the public treasury, and the other to the finder. http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Treasure+trove The State Of Victoria - example If you find buried treasure trove, that is gold or silver objects such as coins, you will mostly miss out on keeping the loot. No matter who finds treasure trove, or where it's found, there is an automatic vesting of possession and ownership not in owner, tenant or finder but in the Crown (i.e. the government). After two tenants of rural land in Victoria turned up old gold sovereigns while digging post-holes, they sold some of the coins. Because the pair had found treasure trove which legally belonged to the Crown they were later actually charged with stealing the coins they had sold. A university property law lecturer says that, treasure trove finders do sometimes end up keeping their booty: "The Crown usually rewards honest finders, and it may do so by giving them the value of the coins, or if it's got a lot of these coins, it may not need them and just return them." http://www.lawyersconveyancing.com.au/real-estate-news/finders-keepers/ http://www.thenewsurvivalist.com/how_to_survive_an_economic_crash_depression.html
I vote lshallperish as the guy most likely to be crying like a baby when he finds himself in the dock in front of a judge.
It is not really stealing is it.. if you bury something on a public property than anyone can take it..
Just beacuse they are a stacker dosent mean they are a better or more of a decent human being because they do what we do so it must be returned to them. If the world went to crap and everyone on earth started trading and storing silver like cash and u found some, would u return it to them? Or is it just because we feel we are a small community looking out for eachother? If i found ten thousand dollars burried in a park. That would be a very good day for me. I wouldnt leave a note saying "i have it, come get it" because i also use money so this guy is appart of our money community. I dont know this person either way... That being said i actually would return the silver but keep any amount of money i find lol
you're just trying to make your self feel better... silver is money.. go to any bullion store and exchange it for cash.. why would you return silver but not money?
If u have to exchange silver for cash just to be able to purchase things then It isnt money. It that case my tv, fish tank and makita tools are money also. Because stacking is also a hobby/ passion/ addiction/ gamble etc. more goes into it than just keeping cash. Its a big part of alot of stackers lives. Its not money yet but its more than money to some people. We are taking a risk and putting what we believe is or will happen to the world into something physical. If there is a rush to metals in a few years time and u were on the ball so early on before everyone. Then u deserve your silver back. But if everyone has it, and i find some randomly..mine!
To be fair, apart from your attempt at humor I don't think there is anything wrong with what you said, as sad as that may be upon reflection. The vast majority of people would indeed take it and run if they knew they could get away with it. public land it's rightfully yours, private land and you question the owner first before doing anything.
Leave it be...you've all seen "No country for old men" right? Could be a tracker melted into one of those 10ozers.