I see a lot of shows that tell a story of people finding old money, gold etc and calling police. If I dug up something like that I don't think even my wife would know. She's a "talker". You?

If I figured that it had no chance of rightfully belonging to someone, I'd probably keep quiet. I keep hoping to find some vikings gold when I'm digging a dirthole, but it hasn't happened yet.

Found with an ID, I'd return it. No ID, I'm not calling anyone, especially the police.

I found a $20 bill when I was a kid blowing around in a resteraunt parking lot. Didn't get to keep it. Went to buying our meal.

I make an honest attempt to find the owner. Found a heavy log chain in a gravel road. Went to a prominent farmer in the neighborhood and told him I had found something of value in the road.
Did not tell him what. Wasn't mine to keep. Didn't want to give it to wrongful owner. No one ever claimed it but I tried.

As a kid I was taught "Finders Keepers, Losers Weepers". But if you know who it belongs to your supposed to give it back.

As someone who spent most of my life doing search and recovery work. Metal detecting on both land and in water. Its sometimes even hard for me to know what should try to be returned to an unknown owner. One spring search snow piles as they melted I had literally a shoe box full of cell phones. I could not find owner for only one of them. They said keep it already been replaced. I've had piles of keys no idea who they belong to. Unless they were the ones I was working to find.
Any way for most part I try to do what the law might require me to. Sometimes your conscience has to be your guide. Most items that are lost and not considered abandoned. Technically may still belong to someone even if its the insurance company. That paid someone for their loss of the item

I certainly don't try to find the owner of any 10mm socket or wrench I find. Stick them in my pocket quietly walk .

Mac

This summer I was in a Culver's eating, and happened to look out the window near the drive thru. There was a 100 dollar bill laying on the ground, so of course I went outside and picked it up. The person who lost it may not have even realized it till much later.

I have turned in billfold I have found. Always expected the people working the coustmer service disk or counter pocketed the cars in them. BUT ONCE I did get to see a young boy come in to a restaurant frantic looking around then go to the counter and say something to them and the lady gave it to him.. I was leaving c at the same time he did and asked if his money was still in it. It was I was surprised and happy for him. I left a billfold in a bathroom stall on vacation when I was his age. I didn't have much spending money in it less than 100 but it tucked to not have it on vacation.

My boys have been finding random tools along the road. Drills, sliding clamps, screw drivers, a range finder new in plastic in the box.

The tools I sublet fall off the back of contractors trucks that have been building all over the place. The range finder has me stumped. After thing a nice drill to the closest construction sight and having the first guy he talked to claim it quickly he stared thinking some people would claim what was not theirs. I told him it's up to him to do what he thinks is right. He has to live with himself if the wrong person claims it you can't control their actions.

Now if I found a trove of gold or similar with no way to know who it belongs to. No way I would tell anyone.
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I’ve metal detected for 50 years… one day while looking for civil war bullets.. a lady approached me, she had lost a $3000.00 diamond ear ring.. she was pretty sure the area, so I started looking.. about 30 minutes into digging every pull tab in the yard, she says.. the insurance company has already paid me for it.. bla bla Bla.. i immediately lost interest and sorta quit searching for it… she’s passed now, and every time I drive by the yard, I think about it..

Old buried stuff definitely finders keepers, stuff like a wallet, cell phone that has id or lost and found items
I'll get ahold of them.
Found a wallet year's ago on a 4 wheeler ride, could tell I was a kid's so called the # and mom answered the
phone said It ment the world to her son cause it was his grandpa's wallet that passed away.

Felt good to return it, and have found to cell phones now out trapping or hunting.
Both by gates, returned them to the owners.

I believe for the most part, most people would try and return things if it is identifiable !

I have had a metal detector for years and have found many things deeper than one could stumble across, which I kept, all coins the same, rings most of them not any way to track down, have been asked to find things all the time, and usually can find what is sought after if its not been weeks after wards. Anything metal I've found it's really hard to believe what people discard or do not know they have done so !

This all being said if I was out metal searching for a hit on gold nuggets, or a coin or money treasure, nope be mine, gold is easy to disperse of coins depending on age not so easy, as to have a good price on them they need to be inspected for wealth and age, however they can still be moved with out much notice, if you know how to do so.

Most foreign country's you don't have the decision to keep any thing found , it's automatically taken and you only get a small notice of finding it, same thing here in certain locations, private property, government areas and such, usually stay away from those unless invited by the right person or owner !

When my wife and I were dating, she found a wallet w 2K in her apartment parking lot, some loot on ground most in wallet. The owner was a dubious character, or should I say a D - Bag selling drugs in the complex. She did turned it in and got 50.00 for her good deed. I kinda thought hoped she do the right thing and keep half!!!

If I lost a wallet with money in it, I would be tickled to death just to get the wallet back. I lost one time and retraced my steps for hours to no avail.
The next morning after a sleepless night, I heard someone knocking on my door, but they were gone before I could get dressed to answer the door.
Someone had returned my wallet and put it in the mailbox. Still had the seventeen dollars in it.
I still don't know who returned it. I went to the Seven Eleven and handed a dollar to anyone who would take it, then told each of them the story.
Everywhere I went after that I did the same until those seventeen dollars were gone.
I'll net a big majority of those 17 people became better citizens from that experience.
Each one of them looked at me like I had 9 eyes when I asked them if they wanted a dollar. Once I told them the story behind it they all smiled brightly like I had made their day.