What if you... - DPChallenge Forums

Sony SAL-50F14 Normal 50mm f/1.4 Autofocus Lens for the Sony

05/17/2005 06:02:00 PM · #1

found a bag of money. Lets say $2500 in $100 bills

What would (or should) you do?

totaldis

Canon EOS-400D Rebel XTi

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II

05/17/2005 06:03:25 PM · #2

change the 100s to 20s
buy a dslr

ladyhawk22

Sony DSLR-A700

05/17/2005 06:04:11 PM · #3

Where did you find it?

Did anyone see you find it?

Are they marked non-consecutively?

Are they in a form that is consistent with your national currency (i.e. you wouldn't have to exchange them?)?

I would ask myself these questions. I would lock the money away somewhere and buy a newspaper for the next week. If missing money does not show up in the news and there is no lost and found to turn it in to.....oohhh....i hate to say it...it's so immoral....but I would buy a new camera!

05/17/2005 06:04:41 PM · #4

I would buy a crapload (is that a word?) of lenses from e-bay. :)

Message edited by author 2005-05-17 18:04:52.

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

05/17/2005 06:07:05 PM · #5

Originally posted by totaldis:

change the 100s to 20s
buy a dslr

umm, If you changed all the 100s to 20s you'd lose $2000. I don't understand. :)

zeuszen

Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II

05/17/2005 06:13:54 PM · #6

Originally posted by nfessel:

Originally posted by totaldis:
change the 100s to 20s
buy a dslr

umm, If you changed all the 100s to 20s you'd lose $2000. I don't understand. :)

I'd say don't let nfessel near your money. ;-)

GoldBerry

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM

05/17/2005 06:15:59 PM · #7

I'd do what someone said above about hoarding it away and watching the news. I mean, what good would come of it if you turned it into the cops? Um nada. Just like when they confisgate dope, it magically disappears. :-)

Message edited by author 2005-05-17 18:16:51.

Jewellian

Pentax *ist DL

Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 USM

05/17/2005 06:16:01 PM · #8

Originally posted by zeuszen:

Originally posted by nfessel:

Originally posted by totaldis:
change the 100s to 20s
buy a dslr

umm, If you changed all the 100s to 20s you'd lose $2000. I don't understand. :)

I'd say don't let nfessel near your money. ;-)

sounds like a good idea.

rox_rox

Canon EOS-20D

05/17/2005 06:16:38 PM · #9

1).Determine whether or not it was: A) Stolen, B) Authentic.

2). If not stolen or counterfeit, I would run an ad in the paper stating "Found Money" requesting a detailed description, amount and identification from owner.

3). If claimed, I would ask the owner to meet me at the police station and prove that they are not a criminal.

4). If no one claimed it, I would pay off a credit card.

Not very exciting, but good for my Karma.

GoldBerry

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM

05/17/2005 06:18:29 PM · #10

How do you prove that the money is yours? I mean, I've had $2000 in cash on me for buying gear at any one point and if I dropped it or left it somewhere I certainly wouldn't be able to prove later on that it was mine. Unless I got my finger prints all over it. Note to self: extensively hand ALL bills.

Message edited by author 2005-05-17 18:18:44.

Jewellian

Pentax *ist DL

Nikon AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D

05/17/2005 06:19:28 PM · #11

take a pic with you swimming in all that cash... that'd prove it... or you COULD write down every serial number of every bill..... nah,

sprite777

Nikon D700

05/17/2005 06:22:51 PM · #12

Originally posted by Jewellian:

take a pic with you swimming in all that cash... that'd prove it... or you COULD write down every serial number of every bill..... nah,

Um, am I the only one that sees that $2500 in 100s means 25 actual bills? That's hardly a "bag" of money, much less, pile-worthy. Anyone?

05/17/2005 06:23:46 PM · #13

Originally posted by Jewellian:

take a pic with you swimming in all that cash... that'd prove it... or you COULD write down every serial number of every bill..... nah,

It would be difficult to swim in 25 100 dollar bills. You'd need a mighty small pool. :P har har. Plus if you changed the 25 100 dollar bills to 25 20 dollar bills, you would lose $2000. semantics. hehe.

05/17/2005 06:24:38 PM · #14

Originally posted by greatandsmall:

hypothetically speaking...
Seems real...
found out of state...
found in a place where it could not have been dropped or lost. it was put there intentionally.
i know that is placed after may 2...and that 2 people were withing 3 inched of it on the day i found it. While i have not questioned them, they have not admitted to placing it there (a joke? a contest? a random gift? i have no idea)

concerns: how does anyone (the gov't specifically) track serial number? As in, if i deposit it in my bank, and they numbers show up as something someone is watching for some reason, i will have questions to answer...

the ad in the paper is interesting idea...had not thought of that one. The 'police' station is 300+ miles away.

I suppose it should be claimed as income for tax purposes?? Not that I want to break the law, but paying taxes does not head my list of things to do for fun.

Message edited by author 2005-05-17 18:25:25.

05/17/2005 06:26:48 PM · #15

Originally posted by sprite777:

Originally posted by Jewellian:
take a pic with you swimming in all that cash... that'd prove it... or you COULD write down every serial number of every bill..... nah,

Um, am I the only one that sees that $2500 in 100s means 25 actual bills? That's hardly a "bag" of money, much less, pile-worthy. Anyone?

That is a hypothetical amount.
If it was $30,000 would that make it more interesting, or difficult to deal with?

Nikon AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D

05/17/2005 06:27:29 PM · #16

I found two one dollar bills on the ground the other day, actually. I didn't think twice about trying to identify the owner. Although 2 dollars is quite less than 2500. IF the bag housing the cash had identifying marks, like NEW HAVEN SAVINGS BANK, I would probably return it to the bank. :) Otherwise, no identifying marks on the bag = finders keepers.

deapee

Kodak V803

05/17/2005 06:29:12 PM · #17

If I found that, I wouldn't tell anyone. I'd pick it up, run to my truck and get the hell outta there, make sure no one is following me.

I'd examine them closely to make sure they looked real. If they looked super real and had that little strip in them, I'd spend them like they were going out of style.

If they looked fake, I'd report it to the police.

sprite777

Nikon D700

Nikon AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D

05/17/2005 06:31:25 PM · #18

Originally posted by Prof_Fate:

Originally posted by sprite777:

Originally posted by Jewellian:
take a pic with you swimming in all that cash... that'd prove it... or you COULD write down every serial number of every bill..... nah,

Um, am I the only one that sees that $2500 in 100s means 25 actual bills? That's hardly a "bag" of money, much less, pile-worthy. Anyone?

That is a hypothetical amount.
If it was $30,000 would that make it more interesting, or difficult to deal with?

Probably both. "Interesting" and "difficult" are not antonyms, for the record.

And yeah, I'd have a tough time dealing with the tax thing on that, too, but honesty is a good thing, and a year from the point where I paid the tax on it, I'm sure I wouldn't mind losing a chunk of money, particularly if it wasn't mine to start.

05/17/2005 06:34:07 PM · #19

Originally posted by deapee:

If I found that, I wouldn't tell anyone. I'd pick it up, run to my truck and get the hell outta there, make sure no one is following me.

yeah. did that.

Originally posted by deapee:

I'd examine them closely to make sure they looked real. If they looked super real and had that little strip in them, I'd spend them like they were going out of style.

i want to do that...the wife is more conservative.

Originally posted by deapee:

If they looked fake, I'd report it to the police.

looks real...so no reportage.

Oh, hypothetically speaking of course.

Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro

05/17/2005 06:39:37 PM · #20

Originally posted by sprite777:

Originally posted by Prof_Fate:

That is a hypothetical amount.
If it was $30,000 would that make it more interesting, or difficult to deal with?

Probably both. "Interesting" and "difficult" are not antonyms, for the record.

And yeah, I'd have a tough time dealing with the tax thing on that, too, but honesty is a good thing, and a year from the point where I paid the tax on it, I'm sure I wouldn't mind losing a chunk of money, particularly if it wasn't mine to start.

You find $5, you spend it no thoughts required.
You find a $20 bill, same thing.
You find $2500... maybe. Not a huge sum, any BestBuy can eat that up in a heartbeat. IF you want to put it into the bank (to pay off debt or invest it, etc) then you have a whole bunch of questions to ask...tax related as well as if they are being traced at all (by serial number for exapmle).

ONe must keep cash transactions below $10,000 in a day (there is a federal form you have to deal with it you exceed this figure).
if it is $30,000 - that much filtering into your bank might attract attention, so yo need a story. Perhaps 'i found it' is sufficiant...any law that requires you to do something with fond property before you can keep it? all i found was this and it is some local ordinance someplace. The old 'ignorance of the law' thing is not a defense (so i am told by bar room laywers and TV showz)

TechnoShroom

Canon EOS-30D

05/17/2005 06:42:57 PM · #21

Originally posted by Prof_Fate:

found a bag of money. Lets say $2500 in $100 bills
What would (or should) you do?

I can't believe nobody suggested the obvious....

LOOK AROUND FOR MORE BAGS!!!!!!

soup

Canon EOS-30D

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM

05/17/2005 06:46:16 PM · #22

i would use it to experiment with the genetics of my money tree. i can't get it to grow green leaves...

Pug-H

Pentax K10D

Olympus 40-150mm f/2.8 PRO M.Zuiko

05/17/2005 06:48:12 PM · #23

Last year, some kids found several million yen in Y10,000 notes (roughly equivalent to a $100 bill) dumped in a drain. It turned out it was stolen from an ex-boyfriend by a woman and some accomplices, but they got nervous having so much cash. It's not the first time huge amounts of cash have been found dumped in Japan (it was quite common during the bubble economy).
So, when I'm out for a walk somewhere, I always keep my eye out for something like that ... though a couple of weeks ago I found a box under a bridge, but it had five dumped kittens in it.

Brad

Olympus OM-D E-M1

05/17/2005 06:49:28 PM · #24

Make EVERY attempt to find out who it belonged to get it back to them.
Finding a $20 bill on the sidewalk is different.
A large bag of money lost isn't an oh darn - shucks - drat - oh well kind of thing, and if the rightful owner / media / whatever source never spoke up, would probably find a suitable charity to donate it to.

Guess I have never been a greedy person and if I did keep it/use it, I would always have the nagging conscience that someone out there may have lost their life savings. At least a charity could put it to good use for those less fortunate than I.

Jewellian

Pentax *ist DL