Let’s say you were at a mall in the parking lot and looked down and saw a 9K diamond tennis bracelet. Then, let’s say you went into the mall and asked a jeweler what it was worth and they said around $10,000. Let’s also say you really could use the money.
What would you do?
I’d contact the police and report a found item of considerable value.
That’s what I was thinking. This happened to a co-worker and she’s just keeping it with plans to sell it later.
Well you just found out that your co-worker doesn’t have a lot of integrity.
Yes, it appears that way…
This happened to me, sort of. I was working in a client’s home while they were on vacation and upon moving some furniture, found a ring with such a big rock I assumed it was costume jewelry and just left it on the bedside table. Turned out it was a seriously large and expensive diamond and they’d collected insurance for it years before because they’d assumed it was lost forever. (I’ve wondered since whether they ever contacted their insurance agency to refund the payout…)
Anyhow, I am pretty sure that no matter what the circumstance, I’d report it and hand it over. I once found a wallet with credit cards and mucho cash in a movie-theater bathroom and turned it in to management. I remember joking with my companion that we could go on a shopping spree, but to be honest I think I’d never be able to do something like that because the guilt would eat away at me. I’d rather know I did the right thing than live with doing the wrong thing.
God that sounds smarmy! But true, I guess.
If I found completely untraceable cash…? Different story, perhaps.
What a low-life.
I wonder what laws would apply to this situation?
I was on a train a few years ago and found a wallet with cash, pictures, the whole nine yards. It never crossed our minds to just keep it. I guess that’s why I’m so perplexed - it seems like it never entered her mind to NOT just keep it.
If you find a lost child, however, you can keep it.
The co-worker may be like someone I knew who just made up stories about amazing discoveries. Maybe not, so remind her that the bracelet could be stolen and identifiable. If she tries to sell it later it could be taken away from her, and she might be charged with stealing it in the first place. There’s little chance of that, but don’t tell her that part. Odd are she’ll get a reward of some kind if she turns it in to the police. And if the stories are true, she may get to keep it if it’s never claimed.
Why would you? Surely you must know what those things cost.
I would turn it in to the police. It wouldn’t occur to me to do anything else.
My morals would be a big more fluid if I found cash with no ID, though even then if it were a lot of cash and in some kind of identifiable container (like an envelope or a bank bag or something) I would still turn it in to the police. Actually, a large amount of cash at all I’d turn in, both because I’d want it to get back to its owner and because I’d be afraid it was a drug-money drop or something. I would make sure I got a receipt for it, though–if nobody claims it in the allotted time, I want it back.
I wouldn’t spend a lot of effort trying to find the owner of a small amount of un-ID’ed cash (say $100 or less), though.
A few years ago, the spouse and I were going to the bank ATM to get some cash, and I saw a bunch of $20 bills spread out all over the ground near the ATMs. I scooped them all up, took them inside, and turned them in to a teller. I left my name and never heard back, so I assume they might have figured out through their cameras who it might have belonged to. I hope so.
I definitely don’t think she’s making it up. She’s clearly not wired to feel any sense of moral obligation to find the rightful owner. I’ll point out the (however unlikely) chance of a negative outcome (A Simple Plan, anyone? 
but I doubt it will make a difference.
I found a diamond bracelet once (not as valuable as the one in the OP but still…) It was on the sidewalk outside a wedding I was attending so I took it inside and found the owner fairly quickly. She said a curt thanks and put the bracelet back on. I am still glad I returned it but it would have been nice if she had been a little more gracious.
If I knew if came from one of Putin’s pals I’d keep it so I’d be doing my part to impose additional economic sanctions on the Russian plutocracy. 
I have found nice pieces of jewelry. (None lately, unfortunately.) Turned them over to lost & found/the cops etc. In a couple of cases I got them back when nobody claimed them after a certain period of time (I think it was a year).*
However, one day at the bus stop I found a pack of the very brand of cigarettes I smoke–full pack, with the cellphone opened but not the foil. Tucked inside the cellophane was a $20 bill. I just assumed this was manna from heaven and made no attempt to find the rightful owner.
*I hate to admit this but once I was dumpster diving. My roommate and I were after a TV that looked like it might work, and I found a small velvet jewelry case. Inside was a diamond solitaire engagement (well it could have been) ring. I would say it was 3/4 to 1 carat, marquis cut, in white gold. I turned it in to the neighborhood police station. Even if it had been yellow gold (or my favorite, rose gold!) who wants a diamond engagement ring somebody has thrown in the trash?
A year later they sent it to me certified mail. I almost didn’t claim it because certified mail is pretty much never any good. Sold it for $900 which probably means it was worth at least $2700.
If I found something like that now, I would have to carefully balance it against all the nice jewelry I have lost. (Hint: Lots!). No one returned my stuff, so…
I would take it to the police department as I would suspect that someone is looking for it. I have lost several valuable items and unfortunately they were not returned so I know how it feels to lose something and not to get it back.
Now if we are talking about a bag of what is obviously drug money…. then that’s something different…
I’d turn it in to the cops, especially given that something like that is identifiable enough that there’s a good chance it can get back to the actual owner if they’ve reported it missing. My sense of obligation largely revolves around the question “how likely is it they can get it back to the owner and just won’t end up keeping it for themselves?” A wallet with an address would be even better, since I could skip the cops and any likelihood they’d have of stealing it for themselves.
If I saw someone dropped some jewelry in a parking lot, I’d probably just leave it there. I know that’s a jerky thing to do, but it’s the truth.
Knowing me, I’d pick it up with every intention of taking it to the police, go about my day, get busy, think about it a few more times and then find it in my glove console eight months later when looking for paper napkins.