How do you split the finds?

[alabasterbottle]

(I) We found a case gin in an Alabama pit........
not worth a whole lot but...

Tom

 

[baltbottles]

I think honestly everyone who digs privies in a team brings something to the table. Some are good at getting permission, others are good at probing, others just plain hard working diggers, And still others are good at researching to find the best potental sites and sites that have been over looked by others. I think everyone brings a unique piece of the puzzle to the table in every digging team. I think in all fairness At the end of the days digging you flip coins and decide the picking order. If the dig is going to continue over a couple days its ok to wait until the dig is finished before you split. As some privies can take two days to finish. But you have to take into account that sometimes the value of the things you find is drasticly different. And its not fair for everyone to work just as hard and one person go home with the best spoils for your efforts. I believe this is were the sell and split the value comes into play. Or you decide on a fair value and one person buys out the others shares in the item. case in point just recently we dug a pit with one bottle worth about $150 the next best bottle in the pit was probably worth $10 at best. That's a drastic difference. In that case selling and spliting the bottle is most fair. Or as I decided to do I bought out my two digging partners. Because i liked the bottle and it fit my collecting interests. Had the bottle only been worth less then $100 I'd have said just flip and split. If the pit had a couple other bottles in the $50-$100 range I'd have said just flip and split. I know some people don't like to spend money to buy shares of bottles they dug. But if you dig with the same people it evens out in the long run because everyone will buy everyone else out at one time or another. Or things will get sold and the profits split. The cash is just a way of evening things up in the short term and keeping everyone happy and digging pits together. Also an aggrement has to be made that the same person dosen't always try to buy everyone out. If someone else in the team wants something don't just try to out bid your friend. Is a bottle really worth a friendship. Now sense I dig with quite a few different people. This method works best for me. However With my regular digging partner we usually don't even flip we just ask each other what we want and work out future considerations based on what we collect. I honestly have no problem digging a multi thousand dollar bottle and letting my digging partner have it and he dosen't mind doing the same for me. This works out because we both have very different collecting interests. And simply like different things. and if we dig something really good that neither one of us likes we simply sell it and split the money.

Chris

I've noticed I tend to write an essay everytime I post a reply LOL

 

[otgb]

I agree with you on every thing you said Chris that is how we do it here to
we flip the coin first before we dig

Tim

 

[deepbluedigger]

My digging partner and I work pretty much the same way Chris said:

we usually don't even flip we just ask each other what we want and work out future considerations based on what we collect. I honestly have no problem digging a multi thousand dollar bottle and letting my digging partner have it and he dosen't mind doing the same for me. .

Has worked fine so far.

 

[bigghouse]

the bottles that me perry and carly find go to my house to get a few days cleaning in denture cleaner. then we sell them and split it 3 ways. as my math teacher says:

$ / 3 = E

 

[CALDIGR2]

On our digging crew it makes no difference who happens to be in the pit when a good bottle comes out. All bottles, regardless of value, are split by the flip of a quarter. Odd man out first get the choice pick, followed by whoever is number 2, and so on. There are three of us who dig together regularly and we have a rotating first pick. ALL rare and extremely valuable glass, usually that worth over a grand, is sold and the money split equally. If one of the guys wants a particular bottle, then he must pay the other partners an equal portion of the decided value.

I WILL NOT dig with anybody that gets greedy and tries to be a "hole hog". That only ends up with bad feelings all around. I had a neophyte that we invited on one of our digs, and once he found bottles he refused to exit the hole. I had no choice but to jump in and feed him s**it dirt. He has not, and never will, dig with any of our group again.

Only keeping the bottles you dig is not an option out west. Every dig is split fairly so that no digger is left with nada. Permissions don't mean squat either. We all get them and it has no bearing on the outcome of the dig. Most of the guys I dig with have been at it for more than 40 yrs, so we all are familiar with each other and understand what's going on.