Three battling for unburied treasure - Workers claim antique coins; landowner says he put them there

Associated Press ^ | December 2, 2002 | Associated Press Staff

[MeekOneGOP]

Three battling for unburied treasure

Workers claim antique coins; landowner says he put them in yard

12/02/2002

Associated Press

CORPUS CHRISTI - Serafin Trevino and Connie Moseley were working to remove a sewer pipe on a particularly murky plot of land in October when they unearthed quite a bounty.

Amid the mud and sludge were 422 antique gold and silver coins, worth about $500,000, on property owned by the man who hired them, Alejandro Lopez Jr.

The workers' discovery has brought about a question: Who has a right to the buried treasures?

Mr. Trevino and Ms. Moseley, his wife, filed a lawsuit in the 229th District Court in early November to claim the coins. According to their lawsuit, Mr. Trevino said he gave the coins to Mr. Lopez after Mr. Lopez threatened him.

Chuck Barrera, who is representing Mr. Lopez, said his client had put the coins in the yard. Mr. Lopez realized that Mr. Trevino and Ms. Moseley must have dug them up when he saw that the two had left the property, Mr. Barrera said.

"That was his property, and he recovered it immediately after he found out that it was taken from his home," Mr. Barrera told the Corpus Christi Caller-Times in Sunday editions.

"If my client did not know the coins were there, how did he know they were stolen? He knew how to get the coins back immediately, which he did."

Until the matter of the coins' rightful owners is resolved, attorney Abelardo Garza is holding the coins as a court-appointed receiver.

The workers' lawsuit contends that they found the coins scattered underneath the sewage line that they had been hired to remove. Mr. Lopez forced Mr. Trevino to return the coins, using "misrepresentations, fraud and illegal threats," the lawsuit said.

Mr. Barrera said Mr. Lopez has owned the property where the coins were found for 25 years. Mr. Lopez has collected coins, stamps, antique guns and other memorabilia for the last 27 years, Mr. Barrera said.

"We are simply proceeding under the theory that it is his property and his money," he said. "The law says that a finder can have title to treasure if he finds the property and the owner does not come forward to claim better and superior title to the property. That was my client's money and, yes, he had put it there."

Mr. Garza said it could be a while before the coins' ownership is determined.

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Online at: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dallas/tsw/stories/120202dntextreasure.5d1f4.html

[MeekOneGOP]

The workers' lawsuit contends that they found the coins scattered underneath the sewage line that they had been hired to remove. Mr. Lopez forced Mr. Trevino to return the coins, using "misrepresentations, fraud and illegal threats," the lawsuit said.

Huh? So these two folks "found" or "stole" the property and part of their defense to their claim is that the landowner threatened them when he found out his property was missing? What's wrong with this picture? Was their attorney part of algore's legal team in Floriduh?

[MeekOneGOP]

Three battling for unburied treasure - Workers claim
antique coins; landowner says he put them there

Please let me know if you want ON or OFF my Texas ping list!. . .don't be shy.
No, you don't HAVE to be a Texan to get on this list!

[MeekOneGOP]

Three battling for unburied treasure - Workers claim
antique coins; landowner says he put them there

Please let me know if you want ON or OFF my General Interest ping list!. . .don't be shy.

[Skooz]

I assume, not knowing the particulars of the law there, that if it is on his property it belongs to him.

[TxBec]

Ok, aside from the fact that it was his property and, therefore, is his, what the heck was he thinking burying something that valuable under a sewer pipe?

[error99]

It seems to me that it does not matter "who" put the coins on Mr. Lopez' property or "why" or "how". It seems to me that since they were "found" on Mr. Lopez' property, then they rightfully belong to Mr. Lopez.

[FreedomPoster]

Especially so given that these workers were there on his nickel.

[jeremiah]

Aw, wrong assumption. I will bet that the govt will step in to fix this mess. The booty belongs to the govt of course.

[RWG]

Mr. Trevino and Ms. Moseley, his wife...then who the heck is Mrs. Trevino?

[Fresh Wind]

The line about having "buried" the coins is pure unadulterated Bravo Sierra.

I know people whose hobby is to dig up old outhouse pits to find antique bottles. After 150-200 years, the nastiness is pretty much gone. Anything they dig up technically belongs to the property owner, and generally they have to reach an agreement with the owner before they dig, sign liability releases, and so forth. Sometimes the "agreement" is not much more than a couple of cases of beer.

It's not hard to imagine having one's coin purse fall down the dark hole while doing one's business.

In this case, the diggers were right to give up the coins though they are probably wishing they had kept their mouths shut. The property owner should sell the coins and give each of the diggers a new car for their trouble.

[Chewbacca]

The coins belong to the property owner. They were found on his land.

This is the same as the report a few months back of some kids who broke into a deserted house and broke the walls looking for anything hidden. Cash was found and the kids went on a spending spree and told their friends what they found.
The cops caught the kids and said the money belonged to the current owner of the house.

[flying Elvis]

A similar thing happened in Georgia several years ago. Relic hunters were looking for arrowheads on private property. They ended up finding a sword valued in the millions of dollars from Hernando Desoto's expedition. It ended up in court with the property owner, the state, and the relic hunters all claiming ownership. The court ruled in favor of the relic hunters.

[Maelstrom]

Except that the property owner took measures to obtain his coins without being notified.

I think we can assume the diggers *did* keep their mouths shut according to the information in the article.

[MsLady]

Totally agree!!! The two that dug it up are trying to steal what rightfully belongs to someone else. Weather he knew it was there or not. Geez, according to these two and there lawyer, if I found something in someones house, just because they didn't know it was there, would that mean I could take it? Isn't that called stealing???

[riverrunner]

If it was a metal sewer pipe most likey it was you do it so any body with a metal detector well think they are only looking at the pipe.

[MeekOneGOP]

I assume, not knowing the particulars of the law there, that if it is on his property it belongs to him.

Seems that way to me too. And the story line is that these folks stole 'em anyway. This could get interesting, depending on what judge rules on this, huh?.....

[MeekOneGOP]

Ok, aside from the fact that it was his property and, therefore, is his, what the heck was he thinking burying something that valuable under a sewer pipe?

It's crazy, huh? Who knows what TRUTH lurks beyond this A/P story, eh? heh heh!

[TxBec]

makes me wanna buy a metal detector, though :)

[MeekOneGOP]

LOL ! Ain't that the truth !?

[Centurion2000]

It's definately the property owner's money and the other guys don't have a claim. However, in the interest of being fair (because I'll bet good $$$ that the owner never knew abotu this) he should turn over a small percentage as a finder's fee.