
A defense attorney's job isn't necessarily to prove a person is innocent. Sometimes people just aren't. In those cases, it's more a matter of making sure the person is getting a fair shot.
Sometimes, though, even that is impossible thanks to clients who just seem determined to mess things up for themselves.
One Reddit user asked:
And it turns out there's not a whole lot you can do when your client is really determined to ignore your advice, leave out key details, curse out a judge, or is just plain flat out guilty as sin and shows no remorse or ability to not flaunt that guilt.
It's interesting to hear what attorneys do in these situations, though. Proceed with caution, some of these responses do include mentions of rape, other violence, cruelty/harm to animals, drugs, and more.
A Volunteered Confession
My client gave a textbook perfect confession to a robbery the police had no leads on.
He had walked into the police station and told the front desk that he thought the cops were looking for him. He then volunteered that he and a friend robbed a gas station last week. Then, after police arrested and warned him (right to silence etc), and after he spoke at length with counsel (not me)...he repeated his confession in an audio/video statement. He wasn't forced or coerced. He hadn't been detained for an unreasonable time in cells first. They hadn't even interrogated him. But as a result of his confession, they were able to get a DNA warrant and matched him to blood swabbed at the scene.
And the best part? The police had no idea beforehand that it was him. My client and his friend had covered part of their faces, the surveillance video was horrible quality, and they had bear sprayed the store clerk (a 16 year old kid) immediately upon entering so the kid hadn't been able to provide the police with as description beyond "two males." And since he had no criminal record, he wasn't in the DNA database from previous crimes. He had just heard a rumour that police were investigating, and assumed they knew it was him.
I had to laugh when I got the police report and read all of this. I then focused on securing him as fair plea deal because he had no chance at an acquittal.
The Shaggy Defense
I'm a criminal defense guy, so I have had plenty. Most infuriating one was a guy that got busted for selling rocks to a confidential informant.
The CI was wired for sound and video so the whole transaction is crystal clear. Plus the cops id'ed his car as the one that drove up the scene and he was stopped a couple of hours later with the buy money in his possession (serial numbers were recorded). He had three prior convictions for drug sales.
The prosecutor offered him five which was the mandatory minimum. He absolutely declined to even consider a plea, insisted on a jury trial, insisted on taking the stand and telling a ridiculous story about how it wasn't him in the video. There wasn't any doubt. It was absolutely him.
I felt like Lionel Hutz trying to string together a closing argument with a straight face. He got 20 years.
Premature Celebration
Sitting in court waiting and the case before ours at the time (theft) was going on much longer than it should have, Defense lawyer calls for a motion to dismiss, claiming lack of evidence. The judge says he will entertain said motion after lunch, hits gavel says court will reconvene at 1 pm, court dismissed. Defendant stands up and says loudly, "Told you i could get away with stealing that sh*t!"
He thought his case had been dismissed.
Pass
I had to try to defend a man who walked into a convenience store with a knife demanding money. He wore no mask, just his casual clothes, and walked through every aisle before he robbed it being spotted by every security camera in the store. After the robbery he ran back to the hotel he was staying at, also carrying an open back pack full of money and being seen by the hotel's security cameras in the process. He then went into his room, threw the bag on the floor and hid under a bed until police arrived.
I spent a long night thinking about it before passing the case to somebody else. Because I have no idea how to defend someone who has so much evidence against them.
A Tit Guy
My friend's mom was a defense lawyer for a hospital- her job was to represent doctors accused of malpractice or anything relating to doctor/patient interaction.
I forget all of the details, but she had one case where a female patient had accused a male doctor of assault. The claim was that the doctor groped the patient several times during a procedure.
Allegedly, the doctor had been coached to say that during a routine procedure, it's possible that he had inadvertently brushed up against the patients chest, and that if it happened, it was an unintentional consequence of following standard procedures.
So they get to the deposition, and I guess the first question the doctor gets is something along the lines of, "walk me through what happened" and the doctor says, "I don't know what you want me to say, man. I'm a tit guy. Always have been."
They settled.
A Baby Attorney's Mistake
I had a client come in and spin me this yarn about how he owed all these child support arrears and the payments are killing him and could I file a petition to have the payment reduced. He spins this tale of his spouse alienating the children and that's why he never saw them. I filed the petition and the clerk called me aside one day and said I might want to review his actual divorce file, not just his child support file.
That was a wild ride. Orders of protection due to stalking, losing his visitation due to meth use, not making a single child support payment in 14 years. I do the best I can until he admits, on the stand, that he smokes a carton a week and drinks over a liter a day .... so that's over $200/week in cigarettes and liquor (and a little weed sometimes).
It did not go well. I was a baby attorney at the time and I could tell the judge wanted to tear me a new one for even filing this, but I was so beaten down by the end of the hearing that it would have been child abuse at that point.
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The Actors Who Seemed Miscast But Absolutely Nailed The RoleFew people bought into the idea of Bryan Cranston in the role of Walter White before Breaking Bad...Cat Killers
A group of three young boys in my city drowned their neighbour's cat and recorded themselves doing it with their phones. The videos were copied by their friends and would inevitably be shown to the jury in court.
It was a case of the evidence speaking for itself. All I could really do was to argue for lighter punishment using their age as defense and the disastrous effect that group mentality can have on young people.
Trial Hasn't Even Started Yet
Young lad, bail hearing for weapons and drugs charges, had a decent shot at getting bail. Then he decided to give the judge the middle finger and told him to F off. Safe to say bail was denied. It'll be at least 4 months between that hearing and when trial starts...
A Secret Family
I had a family client whose ex wasn't letting him see his kid. So we were in court with him explaining how important parenting was to him, how much he loved being a father, etc.
After 45 minutes of this the mother says 'I don't know why he's saying this, he abandoned his other kids'.
Cue me who has never heard him mention having other kids. Turned out, yeah, 100% abandoned them. Has had no contact for years, never made any efforts.
Please give your lawyers important information especially if another party involved knows your secrets.
- amgirl1
Being A Karen
My 1L summer I worked at a criminal defense firm and got tasked with watching all the police footage from our OWI (operating a vehicle while intoxicated) cases, my FAVORITE involved a woman (our client] calling police on some teens swimming at the apartment complexes indoor pool.
She claimed they were drinking, they clearly weren't. So, the cops ask them to try and keep it down and are about to be on their way when, for some insane reason, our client drives up to the community building (her apartment unit was across the street) like a bat out of hell.
You clearly see her almost hit an officer, then have the audacity to start yelling at them to do their job. . . You see where this is going right?
Homegirl was drunk. It was obvious from her entire demeanor. Also she left her home only wearing one shoe. She was legitimately in no risk of police conflict prior to this.... she definitely got an OWI. 🤷♀️ mind ya business folks.
Half A Bottle Of Vodka ... And Mom
I had a client come in for a DWI. She was about 40 and her mother came with her. She went into this story about her medications and how she wasn't drinking and she was framed by her ex that was the supervising sergeant of the officer who arrested her.
There was some difficulty getting the video from the prosecutors, but eventually we got it. Up to that point she had insisted on a trial. I took her (without her mom) to watch the video. She was wasted. Couldn't walk straight. Clearly intoxicated. Admitted on the video she drank half a bottle of vodka before driving.
I asked her if she thought we could convince the jury she wasn't intoxicated. She then agreed to take the reduction I had worked out for her (thankfully the prosecutor hadn't watched the video yet). Her mother was furious with me. I told her it was the clients decision; not mine or the moms.
Client eventually reached out to thank me for not showing the video to her mom. Weird relationship.
- Rsee002
A Klepto Client
Late night closing on a multimillion dollar deal. This was about 120 billable hours into my week (worst week of my career). Client came into our office to sign the papers and finish the negotiation. We finally got the deal signed up around 2 in the morning with the bankers set to initiate wires when businesses opened.
As the client was leaving, he took a decorative vase from the front desk of the firm on his way to the elevators. I was finishing up documents and didn't see it happen. Earlier in the week he'd been talking about taking some of our office chairs because they were nice and he was paying the bills anyway.
Long story short, client was a kleptomaniac and it cost the partner on the deal about $20k out of his own pocket because his client was stealing random items from our office.
Payment Up Front
I'm an employment lawyer. I was representing the guy accused of sexual harassment. He did it. It went poorly for him. I made sure I got paid up front.
My Brother's Stalker
I'm pretty sure the lawyer who served the girl who sued my brother had that same question for her.
My brother started dating the girl right after he and his first fiancé called things off. From the get-go this new girl was bat-sht. He brought her home to hang out and she burst into my room without warning to introduce herself and tried to hang out with me.
She told my brother she wanted him to get me, our mom, and our step-dad together downstairs so we could all meet and play board games. She found our dad and stepmom on Facebook and friended them. She was the weirdest clingy girl I've ever seen. My brother wasn't looking for that kind of relationship so he ended it with her.
This girl proceeded to fck with our house, his car, his friends, she started making calls to the local police saying she'd seen criminal mischief happening and she thought it was my brother. After months of trying to ignore her and hoping she'd go away it didn't work.
My brother came home and found her sitting on our porch with this other girl. Apparently they were in a relationship and they wanted my brother to have sex with them and get them pregnant so they could have kids. My brother snapped after months of stalking and basically threatened her with violence if she didn't leave him the hell alone.
A few weeks later he got served to show in court to determine an order of protection against him filed by that girl. He didn't bring a lawyer and he didn't expect her to have one.
Anyway, her lawyer started talking about how my brother had threatened his client and she felt like she was in danger and how my brother deserved to be locked up. She also tried to have him banned from being near the local elementary schools, for reasons unknown to us.
My brother was entitled to call witnesses so he called our mother, me, our stepdad, and the three friends. Each of us detailed the months of stalking and property destruction. Then my brother presented the photos he had of everything she'd done, the screenshots of messages sent to him, to me, to our relatives, on cellphone and social media.
Based on the look on her lawyer's face she hadn't mentioned (and had probably lied about it) she'd instigated everything. My brother was given an order of protection against her, that she ended up breaking a few weeks later. She moved away after she was released from county jail and last I heard she sells her body for drugs and money.
Do you have something to confess to George? Text "Secrets" or "" to +1 (310) 299-9390 to talk to him about it.
It's a known fact, that after having one too many drinks, our judgment and multiple abilities become severely impaired.
And as a result, we should probably avoid doing important work, calling exes or unrequited crushes, and, of course, driving.
But, have you ever surprised yourself, by realizing that you're actually good at something after having a few drinks.
That maybe one thing an excess of alcohol cured was your self-consciousness, and may have improved your confidence?
Redditor 1bottleofwineb was curious to hear what hidden talents the Reddit community unearthed after having one too many, leading them to ask:
"What are you strangely good at when drunk?"
Who told you that? Oh...
"I start oversharing pretty quickly."
"It's a problem when hanging out with colleagues."- tanej86312
I'm not usually this outgoing!
"Making friends lol."- Illustrious_Big_8485
Where did my inhibitions go?
"Oddly enough, most anything that relies on reaction speed."
"My best guess is that I second guess myself too much when I'm sober, so I wind up waiting too long."
"If I actively try to counteract that, I jump the gun."
"When alcohol gets involved, I just stop thinking about it and nail it."
"Literally the only time I've managed to beat several textbook examples of incredibly difficult video game bosses, ie. 'Hollow Knight's Absolute Radiance', 'Malenia in Elden Ring', was when I was riding that edge between tipsy and drunk.- orein123
Strike!
"Bowling."- PorkInfestedWater
8 ball left corner...
"Pool."
"I normally suck ,and when I'm trashed I really suck."
"But there's a sweet tipsy spot in the middle I'm freaking great."
"I don't keep drinking to be drunk I do it to keep the pool juice flowing."- Niznack
A skill no one wants
"Ruining friendships and relationships."
"F*ckin masterclass."- KatatoniK94
I'm bilingual? Who knew!
"My second language comes out easier."- Grapegoop
Making decisions... I'll definitely regret...
"Sending my friends stupid 'I'm drunk haha' texts."
"Someone take my f*cking phone away please."- existential-mystery
Ready, Steady, Go!
"Running."
"I guess not so much anymore but in my early twenties, when I lived in San Diego, I'd get drunk and run for like 12 miles, sometimes by the beach."
"When I would wake up the next morning I'd be like.... how did I do that?"- helltothenoyo
Amazing the things we can do after a few too many glasses of wine.
Though, best to just enjoy it in the moment, rather than try to replicate it...
Those who have recently moved, or simply visiting, a city completely new to them often feel unsafe and unsure in their new surroundings.
Even if they likely aren't in any immediate danger, they still might feel worried or intimidated to go out, particularly on their own.
Unless, of course, they are experienced city dwellers, and have a well developed set of street-smart skills.
Redditor egalCriminal69 was curious to learn the best tips from the most alert and attentive Reddit users on how to stay aware of your surroundings and handle possibly unsafe situations, leading them to ask:
"People with street-smarts, what is ur best street tips?"
Best not to get involved
"No shame in running away from a fight."- SuvenPan·
Always be open to alternatives
"There's more than one way to get home."
"If you see something shady going on on your normal route you're better off taking the long way than getting involved with whatever is happening."- RedPanther1
Show confidence... even if you arent...
"Always act like you know where you are going."- Grenuille
Sometimes bringing attention to yourself pays off...
"Know that criminals rely on their victims to be polite and not cause a scene or draw attention to themselves."
"When something happens to you, scream and shout."
"Make it known you’re in danger."- brkh47
Be aware of your surroundings, and hold on to your belongings
"If you're in a big town or a city and a group of kids surround you, keep your hands in your pockets and don't let them get behind you."
"Some will try to distract you while others pickpocket you."- Melonmode
How long have you got...
"There is no good reason to loiter in a city, especially at night."
"Stay moving."
"Look at street signs and sh*t only long enough to know where you are."
"Walk quickly, but like you're in a hurry to go somewhere, not leave where you are."
"Mind your business."
"Any yelling, fighting, or any source of commotion should be ignored."
"Move away from it immediately--you have more important shit to do, act like it."
"If someone calls out to you or tries to stop you, don't break stride."
"Respond immediately by briefly glancing at their face, their eyes, and their hands, in that order."
"Immediately look back in your direction of travel, shake your head and loudly say 'I got sh*t going on'."
"Keep moving."
"If they persist, just repeat it while walking away."
"A stressed, visibly engaged person looks dangerous."
"Cultivate a pissed-off expression."
"Not 'bad@ss', don't try to look like someone you're not."
"Just look mad, inconvenienced, and on the way to deal with it."
"Don't hold eye contact longer than four seconds, and don't break it faster than two."
"When you break eye contact, glance down to diffuse a situation, and look away to the side to display confidence."
"Break one law at a time."
"If you're doing nefarious sh*t, dress like you're on the way to or from work."
"Make sure your car is sorted, all lights work, tags are current, full tank of gas, etc."
"Keep your speed within five MPH of the posted limit."
"Don't have bumper stickers, window decals, or anything hanging from the rearview mirror."
"Wear your f*cking seatbelt."
"Unless you absolutely know you need a gun, just don't f*ck with them."
"Never keep it on you."
"Never carry drugs, stolen sh*t, or anything illegal with a gun, and don't keep or store any of that stuff in the same place as a gun."
"Anything + a gun = much longer sentencing guidelines, and mandatory minimums."
"Just don't f*ck with guns."
"Never let someone force you into a car, an alleyway, inside a house, anything."
"Never."
"No matter what the situation, your odds are better if you fight or run."
"If someone pulls a gun on you and is farther away than about 15-20 feet, run away from them at an angle."
"It is a lot harder to hit a moving target with a handgun than most people realize."
"Even if you know how to fight, avoid it whenever possible."
"Graveyards are full of people who thought they were hard."
"If any of this is something you have to think about on a regular basis, change your life."
"This is not the way people are supposed to live."- kiloheavy
Don't text and drive... or walk!
"Stay THE F*CK off your phone and pay attention to your surroundings."
"Best way to get knocked over the head and your pockets ran is with your nose in your phone and your earbuds in."- mediaG33K
Sometimes best NOT to give the benefit of the doubt...
"Don't talk to any strangers and don't let them stop you on the street."
"Just keep walking."- gmilfmoneymilk·
No matter where you are, it's always best to be aware of your surroundings.
And whenever possible, wise to avoid walking alone at night.
That's why we have Lyft.
Good smells and bad smells are generally considered pretty universal, but there are definitely some outliers.
Most people can't stand the smell of gasoline, but there are quite a few people who find the smell pleasant.
Redditor Psycho_Bunny_Cutie asked:
"What's a weird smell you're willing to admit you like?"
Skunk
"Skunk"
"Not getting sprayed directly because I've never had that happen so I don't know if I'd like it, but the lingering aftermath."
"My friend's dogs got sprayed and I helped get them bathed. It almost drove them out of their house, but I liked the smell. It lingered for months."
- LakotaGrl
Disney Home Video
"I remember liking the smell of Disney VHS cases."
- AtlUtdGold
"Omg. This unlocked a memory for me. I also loved this. But I haven’t done it in so long that I had forgotten. But this comment literally brought the smell right back. Thank you!"
- el-mil
"Me toooooo. Holy sh*t. I feel like it’s 1995 and I’m on the living room floor about to pop in Pocahontas for the 4th time today."
- lubs96
Friends' Homes
"I dont know if this counts, where I used to live is very common to hug people all the time, and if I have been in someone's home before, the place would have a particular smell, and almost everytime I would hug them, they would smell like their home. It always felt good to make that association, it was comforting somehow."
- Montpierce
"Same for me, and then when you're out and about and you catch a wiff of something that smells the same even if it's been years they pop into your mind."
- loonettt
New Tech
"The smell of brand new tech gadgets. It smells of technology. Whenever I buy a new mouse or keyboard (it is especially true for logitech products I don't know if it is a general thing) I sniff them as long as I can detect that sweet plastic-y, ultra clean-smelling goodness."
- bobisz
"Back when CD's were the dominant form of data transfer, I would LOVE every time a new one was opened, just sniffing the new CD."
"Years later, I discovered a nearly identical (to me) smell that works just as well... fresh saffron. Saffron smells like new CD's to me, and I love it."
- ConnectionIssues
Mimeograph Solvent
"Ah, back in the old days, the smell of papers that the teacher handed out that were fresh off those old hand-cranked mimeograph machines. The solvent. Mmmm."
- whazzup_b*tches
Pool Toys
"Pvc pool toys when you're unfolding them before you blow them up."
- NoticeWhenUAreHappy
"I bought a shower curtain the other day and instead of a light plastic smell it smelled heavily of inflatable pool toys, best shower ever."
- I_PEE_WITH_THAT
Basements
"I love the smell of basement- which I don't know if is weird, but I'm the only one I know who likes it."
- AmeliaUsesReddit
"Yessss, also sometimes underground parking garages or stairwells have it. Everyone always thinks I’m an idiot when I bring it up."
- Fenzik
Home Depot
"The smell of Home Depot"
- lanuevagringa
"I have long been hoping for Yankee Candle to team up with Home Depot to a lumber aisle scented candle."
- MintyFreshBreathYo
Hot Pavement And Rain
"Hot parking lot when it first starts to rain."
- TheUSForestService
"The best! I can smell it now. Thanks for that. That smell in a sun shower is like the best feeling you could ever feel."
- uffdathatisnice
Burnt Matches
"Matches after the flame goes out."
- makeful
"Ooooh I like the smell when you blow out a candle."
- Kaisa_is_short
While there are some smells that seem like everyone must hate them, there's always going to be someone who thinks they smell better than roses.
We know "metal detectors" and "cool" aren't typically used in the same sentence, but rock with us on this one.
Imagine if you found something really undeniably awesome. Would it make the hours of pacing and searching worth it?
Reddit user heloooreddit asked :
"People who metal detect, what's the coolest thing you've found?"
As someone who lives in S. Florida and has really only seen metal detectors used on hot, sandy beaches, I can confidently say it would have to be really very insanely cool and/or adorably heartwarming in order for me to decide being out in that heat and getting sweaty and likely sunburned was worth it.
Read through the things Reddit has found and see if it would be worth it for you.
A Whole.... Town.
"My buddy and I set out to find an old gold mining camp. We followed the maps and were in the right place when we discovered that the town was actually on the other side of a canyon. We had to beat our way through some 12' brush and then started finding things everywhere."
"He found a pocketwatch right by the side of the old wagon road. We realized that the entire dump was still there. Like the place had become forgotten and finally recorded on the wrong side of the creek years before. We actually stopped hunting and told the Forest Service. We met and took the archaeologist up there. He was floored because everything was still in context. Felt pretty good about finding a whole town."
- dzastrus
"Here I am prepared for some wedding ring, or a casual coin. First comment: 'we found a town' ."
- Mor_Hjordis
"Thanks for leaving as is and not taking what isn’t yours."
- sernamecheckzout
"I work with a bunch of archaeologists. They would just be drooling over getting to be involved in a dig like this."
- scarletnightingale
A Bomb
"15 years ago, me and my siblings found bomb from World War II in the Belgian Ardennes, using a $30 toy metal detector."
"I remember walking off-road in the woods for hours until we found a spot that looked like nobody has been there in ages. We quickly found a couple of bullets and, while I was inspecting the bullets, my younger brother age 9 saw something sticking out of the dirt."
"At first, we thought it was a rusty metal can, but when he pulled it out, it took us a moment to realize that he was holding a bomb. We didn’t know whether it was still intact so I instructed him to slowly put it down in way that it could not roll off the hill and hit something."
"We didn’t have any mobile phones so we rushed to the nearest road which we followed to get to a village to get help. We marked the trees so we would remember where we had hidden the bomb."
"When we arrived at the village, we explained what happened. Luckily, they believed our story and called the local police. When he arrived, we couldn’t understand a word he said (he was speaking French, we only spoke Dutch) — but eventually he would follow us deep into the woods."
"When we arrived, the bomb was luckily still there, and after an inspection by the police officer we were instructed to leave as apparently it was too dangerous and had to be picked up by the bomb squad — but not before we snapped a picture for the local press, posing with the bomb next to us. I still have that picture."
- Securinti
"This is fantastic, what a story and great you have the photo"
- Azonic
Some Tools
"I went with a friend who's big into his detecting to see what he gets up to, we spend a solid 6 hours in this one field which he was adamant used to have a roman farmhouse."
"Just before we were going to give up for the day, and to be clear we had found the odd roman coin which was really cool in itself, we stumbled across what seemed to be really big. Anyway, long story short we dug down amd found a selection of roman agricultural tools set out in a relatively neat formation."
"My friend has since gone back and found further tools as well as a huge haul of coins.
This will be really underwhelming for a lot of people but the historic tools were really cool"
- ctlislegit
"Wouldn’t have been underwhelming for me. Sounds awesome"
- HaoleInParadise
"Underwhelming? Hell no, that's wicked! In fact I'm sure a lot of people would love to see some pics!"
- Wolfsburg
Another Big Find
"I found a blacksmith’s shop in the middle of a farmers field. I was detecting for a historical society and their local expert told me to detect a certain spot that he calculated where the blacksmith shop would be."
"I did a 10x10 foot area with only finding small pieces of slag. I wasn’t convinced that the shop was there, but the expert wouldn’t have it."
"While everyone took a break at noon. I started a spiral pattern going farther and farther from his calculations. About 30 minutes later and 100 feet away, I got good strong signals and large slag pieces. I even found a single clay brick. One of the society members started an excavation at my spot."
"They eventually hit the corner of the shops foundation. They found a hammer and tools for the anvil and the rest of the blacksmith shop."
- 6854wiggles
"That's awesome. Good on you for using 'trust but verify' for the calculations"
- Edgar-Allan-Pho
Not A Tank
"Using a Schonstedt metal detector to determine the absence or presence of an underground heating oil storage tank in Morristown, New Jersey I found a subsurface object corresponding in size to a 550 gallon tank (4’x6’)."
"I obtained a municipal permit for removal, subsurface utility mark outs and when I excavated I discovered the object was not a tank but a cache of revolutionary war era cannonballs."
- Number82EggFooYoung
"I totally thought you were about to play us with a really boring story."
- SixSpeedDriver
Two Decades Worth
"Been at it since 1999."
"I've found a lot of stuff so what would be the coolest find would be subjective."
"I've found a few gold rings , silver jewelry, silver coins, civil war bullets including a couple of possible 'bite' bullets and one union cavalry button."
"Top finds would be... several silver half dollars (Walking liberties from the 1940s and ben franklins from the 1950s). my oldest coin find (an 1853 seated liberty dime) , my only seated liberty quarter (1877), my three gold rings (one that has 25 small diamonds, another that is a wide band wedding ring with three initials carved into the outside with inlaid silver metal, and an old Herf jones graduation/school ring that is basically a blank... nothing carved into it), an uncrushed 1930s silver thimble (most found thimbles are crushed)."
"I've never found a gold coin or a silver silver dollar or a pocket watch, or a two cent coin, or a three cent coin. :("
"I live in Missouri so finds for the area will not be as old as say in the New England states. I DO know one guy who found an 1801 large cent in Kansas."
"I've found nearly every kind of coin from the 1850s to present day (barbers, wheaties, seateds, indianheads, standing liberties, etc. etc..). Only exceptions would be gold coins and silver dollars and some half dollars. I've posted some pics in my past AMAs and other posts so if you search my name and metal detecting or metal detector on reddit you will find them."
- dirtymoney
"Username checks out."
- Ketugecko
Solid Ending
"Literally only did it once with a friend when I was a teenager at a beach with a friend (he and his dad were really into it). We found a $20k watch in 1995 dollars."
"Wasn’t a Rolex, but can’t remember the maker. We took it to a jeweler who made a few calls and found out it was in a registry and the owner was called. He was elated as it was a gift from his wife. He sent us each a check for $1,000."
"The jeweler gave us each a b*tchin fake gold chain on the spot. Jean shorts and high tops need the perfect neck accessory and we got it!"
- DKmann
"So neat that you were able to find the original owner!"
- Amalmiem11
"Not only did you do the right thing, you got a good reward for it too. That's pretty awesome."
- drewisawesome14
Some Love
"I used to live near the railroad tracks near an airport and an old industrial area. They used to have a local station for the workers to shuttle into the area (late 1800's, early 1900's). They eventually tore down the station in the 30's/40's when the highways got built nearby."
"My dad used to take me with metal detectors and we would find railroad spikes, pocketwatches, wrist watches, old silver dollars and other coins."
"Best haul by far was a gold locket with a picture of someone's wife/girlfriend ensribed 'All My Love, Annie'. It wasn't the prettiest locket, but you bet your bottom dollar someone was kicking themselves for losing that precious treasure."
- TaxFreeTraveler
"All i can think is someone suffered a bad breakup and chucked the locket out of the train haha"
- super-goblin
Gold, Gold I Tell You
"Not my thing, but my brother was detecting just downstream from a popular swimming hole on the American River in California a couple of years ago, looking for dropped watches, phones, go pros, etc. Got a hit, flipped a rock, and found an 11.5-ounce gold nugget underneath."
"Miners tore the hell out of those rivers back in the 1849 Gold Rush, and amateurs have been panning it ever since, so it was pretty freaking incredible to find something that big."
- codefyre
A Cherished Find
"I was detecting on a beach and a desperate South African man approached and told me he had lost his necklace his mother (now deceased) had given him when he was young."
"His friend had wrapped it in a towel and gone swimming. Then upon returning, flicked the sand out of the towel with the necklace in it."
"He had to go home for the day, but I searched where he told me he was sitting. 15 minutes later, my metal detector went absolutely nuts for this beautiful silver chain."
'I said to him that had he not asked me to look for him, I would have definitely found it later that night long after he had left with no way of contacting him. Crazy how life works like that."
- Draviddavid
"Aww, that was really kind of you. I'm so glad you found it!!"
- foamcorps
Okay yeah - we'll admit, finding a whole town or a stash of revolutionary era cannonballs would be pretty worth it.
Which of these would be most worth it for you?