What are some valuable items you have found?

[DFoster 0]

My topic post yesterday about the lady who lost her Thomas & Thomas got me thinking;  We must all have stories about finding something valuable in our travels.

About 30 years ago, I found a lady’s diamond ring in a supermarket parking lot.  It had been run over so many times that the dings in it made it look like a children's costume ring, so much so that I almost didn't pick it up.  When I did the weight immediately gave it away.  Good conscience would not allow me to keep it without at least trying to find the owner first.   This was before the internet or social media, so my search was old school.  There happened to be a jeweler’s store in the same plaza so I started there asking if anyone reported a ring missing and then I went to the supermarket with the same question.   I left my phone number at both locations thinking someone would come in.  After 2 days with no replies, I left my phone with the local police and put a couple of signs up at the post office.   I simply said that I found an "expensive ladies ring" and would gladly return it to anyone who could describe it.  I had a jeweler look at it and he said the stones were a high quality and that the type of cut on the diamonds was discontinued in the 1950's. Based on the style the ring was likely from the 1940’s and that told me it probably belonged to an elderly woman. It was winter when I found it, and I think she probably pulled her gloves off and with them went her ring. 

This is not a boast about my character. I put the effort in to find her because the thought that this ring may have belonged to an old widow, perhaps given to her from a deceased husband truly bothered me.  My mom was a widow at the time, and I knew how precocious anything given from my dad was to her.   As a Christian I knew that no good would ever come to me from that ring without making an honest attempt to find its owner.  Over the next year I got about a half dozen calls from people who said they had lost a ring.  They all seemed to be legitimate but none of their descriptions was even close.  The ring I found was very distinctive and I would know immediately if I was speaking to its owner.   So, the ring sat in my safe deposit box for over a decade and a half until I met my wife.    My wife feels the same way as I do in that it would have been a really nice thing and good for the soul to have found its owner but sadly, I never did.  In 2009 I asked my wife her thoughts about having the diamonds reset in a ring for her on our 5^th anniversary…. and that’s where they sit today.      

 

[The Mad Duck 0]

I found an $800 wad of cash in a Mall parking lot about 2 weeks before Christmas. I was 22,so that was a long time ago. I took it to the mall Security kiosk and got a receipt for it. 2 weeks later they called me and told me to come get the money because no one had picked it up. Win Win

About 20 years ago, I moved into a, new to me, home. The following spring, I was out tilling up some ground in the garden in preparation for planting veggies for the summer. I went to break up a clump and saw something shiny. It was a woman's wedding ring. The folks that had lived there before me had both  passed on, her first then a couple of years later, him. I figured it was her ring. I got the realtor to call the son of the couple and tell him that I had found a ring and to call me. He called the next day and described the ring to a T. I told him to come get it. He had tears in his eyes when he showed up. Turns out that she had lost that ring digging a garden several years before her death. The son's wife came with him and had that ring on her finger before they left..Both VERY happy

[Steeldrifter 0]

Most valuable was probably the Shimano Stella reel on a G loomis rod (spin setup) I found next to the dirt road that lead to the boat access by our cabin many years ago. Most likely the owner had it sitting too high in his boat while going up the road, and a tree limb prob hook on and pulled it out of his boat. I tried to find the owner but this was back before the internet was big, so outside of a note at the launch and talking to the local bait shop I never was able to find the owner.

[DFoster 0]

16 hours ago, The Mad Duck said:

I found an $800 wad of cash in a Mall parking lot about 2 weeks before Christmas. I was 22,so that was a long time ago. I took it to the mall Security kiosk and got a receipt for it. 2 weeks later they called me and told me to come get the money because no one had picked it up. Win Win

About 20 years ago, I moved into a, new to me, home. The following spring, I was out tilling up some ground in the garden in preparation for planting veggies for the summer. I went to break up a clump and saw something shiny. It was a woman's wedding ring. The folks that had lived there before me had both  passed on, her first then a couple of years later, him. I figured it was her ring. I got the realtor to call the son of the couple and tell him that I had found a ring and to call me. He called the next day and described the ring to a T. I told him to come get it. He had tears in his eyes when he showed up. Turns out that she had lost that ring digging a garden several years before her death. The son's wife came with him and had that ring on her finger before they left..Both VERY happy

Both great stories!

[DFoster 0]

13 hours ago, Steeldrifter said:

Most valuable was probably the Shimano Stella reel on a G loomis rod (spin setup) I found next to the dirt road that lead to the boat access by our cabin many years ago. Most likely the owner had it sitting too high in his boat while going up the road, and a tree limb prob hook on and pulled it out of his boat. I tried to find the owner but this was back before the internet was big, so outside of a note at the launch and talking to the local bait shop I never was able to find the owner.

Steve your a gun aficionado - Right after I graduated high school I took a job working for an exterminator.  He told me a story of while drilling holes in a basement for a termite treatment in the late 1970's he had to move some stuff away from the foundation walls.  In doing this he found what he said was an apparently brand new Thompson submachine gun still in it's original box.  He said it looked like it had never been fired. The house belonged to an old lady and she said she didn't know it was in her basement and thought maybe it was part of her deceased "uncle's things".  Anyone could buy one at one time.  She obviously had no idea of it's value (even then) and called the police who confiscated it.  You know that gun is sitting in someone's collection somewhere.

[niveker 0]

About 2 years ago I found a $100 bill blowing down a residential street in Oxford, I was so excited I made the mistake of telling my wife who confiscated it.  

Back in the mid 90's when I lived in Anchorage, I found  women's purse in a Fred Meyers parking lot.  In addition to drivers license and credit cards, it also contained @ $600 cash and two state aid checks.  I returned it to her that day. 

Mid 80's I lived in DC.  On a flight back to Boston I found Alexander Haig's (former Sec of State for Reagan) American Express card tucked in between the seat cushions.  I didn't return it (or try to use it)  Should still have it somewhere.  

 

 

 

[Steeldrifter 0]

28 minutes ago, DFoster said:

In doing this he found what he said was an apparently brand new Thompson submachine gun still in it's original box. 

Wow, that is an insane find there. They are awesome firearms. I think last I heard they "start" at about 5k for one now, and depending on condition, can go well over 20k or more in good shape.

[skeet3t 0]

The thompson was probably destroyed if it was a full automatic version. Now strictly regulated by the National Firearms Act of 1934. Odd but before that and the mob wars, it was classed as a rifle!

[Steeldrifter 0]

Might not have been. Contrary to popular belief, you can legally own a full auto (machine gun) if it was made before 1986. Easiest way is if you get a private FFL license, but even if you don't want to do that, a non FFL private citizen still can own it if proper procedures are followed. There's a ton of paperwork and checks you have to go through with the ATF, and would take a decent amount of time (plus paying NFA tax stamp etc etc)...but long as someone is a law abiding citizen with no background issues, it can be owned if they are willing do what it takes to own it.

[RickZieger 0]

Since it was very foggy this am I went out the local University track to jog. Found a purse that I turned in. Just got a call that the lady had lost it two weeks ago.

She thinks I am a nice guy.

Rick 

[DFoster 0]

3 hours ago, niveker said:

About 2 years ago I found a $100 bill blowing down a residential street in Oxford, I was so excited I made the mistake of telling my wife who confiscated it.  

LOL- that happened to me.  I must have missed the line in my wedding vows that  said "wealth resulting from good fortune will be confiscated"?   

[DFoster 0]

1 hour ago, Steeldrifter said:

Might not have been. Contrary to popular belief, you can legally own a full auto (machine gun) if it was made before 1986. Easiest way is if you get a private FFL license, but even if you don't want to do that, a non FFL private citizen still can own it if proper procedures are followed. There's a ton of paperwork and checks you have to go through with the ATF, and would take a decent amount of time (plus paying NFA tax stamp etc etc)...but long as someone is a law abiding citizen with no background issues, it can be owned if they are willing do what it takes to own it.

I have a friend that's a small town cop who has his FFL and owns several full auto firearms.  He said even for him it was a long and painful process.

2 hours ago, skeet3t said:

The thompson was probably destroyed if it was a full automatic version. Now strictly regulated by the National Firearms Act of 1934. Odd but before that and the mob wars, it was classed as a rifle!

 Skeet you need to remember at the time these things were being sold you could also buy dynamite without a license.    I'm sorry to be cynical but if the story is true and the gun was as pristine as my boss described I got to believe the ATF was never notified.  A lot of police collect guns and something like that would be a serious prize to have.  I'm thinking someone from the dept that responded quietly moved to a member of law enforcement who collected.  If it was manufactured in the 20's I'm not even sure it would have even had a serial number?  

[skeet3t 0]

Mere possession of it would be a felony. Even if a LEO got it, it would still be subject to provisions of the NFA of 1934. Ask what a law enforcement group would have to do to get a Class III firearm. One writer stated if a LEO shot on full automatic and bystanders were involved, it's law suit city. Our F&W officers have AR style rifles but they are semi-automatic. OTOH, a close friend was stationed at the naval base at Rota, Spain. Spanish police carried full automatic Uzis. Policy was: shoot first, ask questions later. Spain has a low crime rate, I bet.

Edit- I have a friend who works at a local gun shop. I'm going to take the info from these posts and get the full story.

[DFoster 0]

13 hours ago, skeet3t said:

Mere possession of it would be a felony. Even if a LEO got it, it would still be subject to provisions of the NFA of 1934. Ask what a law enforcement group would have to do to get a Class III firearm. One writer stated if a LEO shot on full automatic and bystanders were involved, it's law suit city. Our F&W officers have AR style rifles but they are semi-automatic. OTOH, a close friend was stationed at the naval base at Rota, Spain. Spanish police carried full automatic Uzis. Policy was: shoot first, ask questions later. Spain has a low crime rate, I bet.

Edit- I have a friend who works at a local gun shop. I'm going to take the info from these posts and get the full story.

Tell him from what I remember of the story I believe it was still in the factory wooden box when it was found.  After setting that many years without any kind of care I wonder if it would still be in usable condition?  

[mikechell 0]

1 hour ago, DFoster said:

Tell him from what I remember of the story I believe it was still in the factory wooden box when it was found.  After setting that many years without any kind of care I wonder if it would still be in usable condition?  

There's was a company called "Cosmoline".  Now it's a general term for a type of protectant/lubricant.  Been around for more than 100 years.  Weapons, back then, were almost always coated in the stuff.  I spent a lot of time, in the military, cleaning that crap off of new rifles and pistols.  If that rifle was coated in it, it could found in the box TODAY and be in mint condition.