Poll of the Day > How much money would you have to find on the ground before you *don't* keep it?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Most of us wouldn't think twice about keeping a $1/Pound/etc or 2 we find on the ground. But at some point I think we'd either leave on the ground or drop it off at lost & found, or the police etc. Maybe because you have high moral standards, or maybe because the amount is so big you're scared the owner might come after you if they found out you took it.

Whatever the reason, what amount would you not feel comfortable keeping the money?

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If it were a dollar or maybe five dollars, I'd leave it for a kid to find. $10 and up, I'd grab the shit out of it if no one else was around to claim it.

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Anything a dollar or more is going to be mine

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But the question is, at what amount would you not keep the money? It's more about the upper limit.

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$50 would be my limit, since anything more than that I'd have to claim on my income report... I'm on disability, so my finances are carefully monitored.

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Dont keep it!?

Remember Fight Club?

We were raised by television to believe that we'd be millionaires and movie gods and rock stars.

We were. And when you find that briefcase with the stacks, you look side to side... make sure no one saw... and then take whats now yours.

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If I saw someone drop it and could identify where it came from I would return it no matter what the amount.

If nobody is there to claim it, it's mine, no matter what the amount. No upper limit.

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My philosophy has always been, if it's not in a wallet with ID, and it's just cash, unless there's someone in the immediate vicinity who's it is, then it's mine now.

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Chances are you'll never hear back from a person/people that you've handed lost money to..

Of course if you come across a shady looking suitcase or a duffle bag full of cash, it's off to the authorities

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JixHedgehog posted...

Chances are you'll never hear back from a person/people that you've handed lost money to..

Of course if you come across a shady looking suitcase or a duffle bag full of cash, it's off to the authorities

Lol the authorities in switzerland maybe.......wooooooot paaaaaartaaaaaa.

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HornedLion posted...

Remember Fight Club?

First rule dude, first rule!!


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I try to find the owner or turn it in, no matter how much.

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If I saw it dropped or there is identification that allows me to locate the owner, I'll return it (or at least get in contact with them for the later), but if there is no way to identify the original owner (loose cash or a wallet with no identification, rare as that is), then I'm keeping it. Happy to help, but I can't work miracles.
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Neil deGrasse Tyson talked about this before. He was comparing relative wealth. Say if you saw a dime, and you MIGHT pick it up (depending on if you were in a hurry or whatever). But if it's a quarter, you pick it up every time. If you scale that up to how rich Bill Gates is, it'd have to be over $45,000 for Bill Gates to MAYBE pick it up.

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SpeedDemon20 posted...

Neil deGrasse Tyson talked about this before. He was comparing relative wealth. Say if you saw a dime, and you MIGHT pick it up (depending on if you were in a hurry or whatever). But if it's a quarter, you pick it up every time. If you scale that up to how rich Bill Gates is, it'd have to be over $45,000 for Bill Gates to MAYBE pick it up.

Everyone knows Neil smokes crack. I don't care how much money I have, if I see a 20$ bill lying on the ground, I'm gonna pick it up. If I was mega wealthy, i'd probably give it to someone, but I wouldn't let it just blow away, maybe get destroyed etc.

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That wasn't really the point. I was talking about relative wealth, but okay.

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SpeedDemon20 posted...

That wasn't really the point. I was talking about relative wealth, but okay.

I get what your saying about relative wealth, $5 for instance might actually mean something to a kid, $20 might mean something to someone who is just scraping by, and $100 in general will matter to most adults who are not mega wealthy.

If you make a few mill a day in interest alone, then yeah even a stack of $100 bills won't really matter much to you, but I still think a person would actually pick up a 20$ bill even if that was the case.

Then again, I am not a multi-billionaire or even millionaire so shrug, maybe I would just ignore it if I was.

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I guess for anything above about 25-30, I'd turn it in to my nearest police station if I didn't catch the person who dropped it, or if it was in a wallet or such without a name in. Always the chance it might be some person's entire welfare/benefit payment for the week, if they'd just cashed a giro or something like that.

I do, however, admit that the fancier the wallet, the more likely I'd be to consider keeping it whatever the amount - but I'd never even think of keeping 100 or more, and posh wallets also tend to have address details more often, because of business cards etc.

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I'd keep it matter the amount, unless it was in a wallet with ID. The larger the amount, the more likely it is to be dirty money anyway. Especially if it's in a duffel bag or something.

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Depends on where too

Ive kept a $100 that was blowing past me in a parking lot, but if it was in a store Id probably turn it in.

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Trialia posted...

the fancier the wallet, the more likely I'd be to consider keeping it whatever the amount

Good point, and along those lines where I found the cash would make a difference too. If I found it on the floor of a welfare office I would turn it in for any amount, while if it was in some posh store like a diamond jeweler or fashion boutique I'm less inclined.

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if it's loose it's mine. something like an armored car bag gets turned in
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Whargarble posted...

I'd keep it matter the amount, unless it was in a wallet with ID. The larger the amount, the more likely it is to be dirty money anyway. Especially if it's in a duffel bag or something.

what does it matter if the money was dirty? that doesn't change what you can do with it
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At least $100.

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No matter the amount, I turn it in. I have absolutely no right to keep the money.

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Id keep it all no upper limit unless there was an ID attached.

I have no upper limit. If it were something sketchy like a briefcase full of money I wouldn't take it directly home though. I'd drive somewhere else while paying attention to see if I'm being followed, ditch the briefcase flip through each stack checking for devices of some sort. Perhaps the idea of a tracking device is on the paranoid side, but a briefcase full of large bills just sitting around to be picked up is super sketchy.

I'd pay attention to the news to see if there were a story about some dipshit losing a briefcase of cash and turn it in if something like that pops up. But if not, I'm keeping it. Unless there were I.D. or something along those lines with the money. Then I'd feel obligated to return it.

But I'm not turning it over to the authorities if there isn't a way to identify who it belongs to with the money. The whole thing about them giving it to you if it isn't claimed after a certain period of time is a myth. They keep that shit. If it's property they auction it. If it's money they just add it to their organization's funds. It may happen with small amounts. But you're not getting a big bag of money back if it isn't claimed.
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I think this would be a bell curve. Too little is not worth picking up. Too much and I start to suspect I'm on a hidden camera show.

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It depends on the location. If I found anything more than loose change in a store/hospital/school, etc. I'd turn it in, but if I found it on a sidewalk, street, etc. I wouldn't have an upper limit, outside of some suspiciously large amount.

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The briefcase seems like youd have the mafia after you in a few days.

Krazy_Kirby posted...

what does it matter if the money was dirty? that doesn't change what you can do with it

Not trying to get smoked ?

Odds are if you find a bag or box full of money and walk off with it SOMEONE saw you.

I'd pick up a dollar or more.

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I remember when I was walking once, I saw a penny. I picked it up and continued. Then I saw a nickel, then a dime, and then a quarter. I would have liked to continue the money train, but sadly, Quarterville was the last stop, so...
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I don't have an upper limit. Plus if I find a wallet, it's check for cash then it depends. If it has ID and credit cards, it goes onto the police station or the security guards of whatever building I'm in. Otherwise the wallet goes into the trash. Pretty rare I find wallets though. Only found one this year and two last year.

Plus there's a Walmart near my house (literally a 5 minute walk) that I go by to check for loonies (they require loonies to be unlocked, occasionally people leave them and then it's whoever claims it).
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wtf is a loonie?
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Krazy_Kirby posted...

wtf is a loonie?

$1 coin

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