The wife and I went to dinner for a friends birthday. We came early and sat the bar to have a drink. I pulled my chair back and noticed a folded $20 on the floor. I picked it up and noticed more than one bill. In total it was $140.

The next closest person was 3 seats away so its safe to assume it was not theirs. I asked the bartender if she knew the people who were sitting here and where they went as they dropped a few bucks. She knew of them and said they come in every week or two. She said they knew the older ladies sitting at the table behind us.

I spoke with the ladies and they knew the people but had no way to contact them.

I ended up leaving a note with the bartender to give to the couple next time they came in to call me about missing items. I figure if they call and verify the money I can return it to them. If no one calls in a month I will officially claim finders keepers laws.

My wife thinks I should have just turned in the money to the manager. Call me jaded but I have trust issues if the money would be returned. I also mention what if they money did not belong to the couple before us.

What would the SF crew do?

Makes sense - see how it plays out.

MDS

that's a reasonable, fair plan.

What you did. Good for you. Played perfectly.
It could of been anyone that walked by as well.

Perfectly logical. Good on you, most people would have just taken the money with no questions asked.

Sounds like a plan.

I once found a 20 dollar bill on the floor in a convenient store at check-out. There was no one around me. I picked it up and gave it to the guy who does odd jobs around the store helping out the owner. After I got home, checking my wallet later, I realized I was the one who dropped the bill on the floor.

^Hahaha

I mowed the lawn for the first time this season last week. As I was weed-eating along the back fence line I noticed something in amongst the leaves. It was a $20 that had apparently blown into the yard. Told my wife it increased my mowing time by about 20 mins as I approached all piles of leaves much more carefully for the rest of the afternoon.

I found a $20 just lying in the middle of the aisle at Target. I can't imagine it had been there long. I asked a cashier what I should do with it. He said he admired my integrity, but just keep it.

I think you handled this the best way.

(I actually found another $20 another time walking into the same Target. Weird my life is. But not complaining.)

I found a 20 and a 5 last week in a strip mall parking lot. I saw the 20 when I left but thought it was just junk like a curled up scratch off ticket. I left but had to return about a hour later and it was still there. I walked over after parking and it was a 20. Ten feet away lay the 5. Over a hour with all kinds of people just walking by. Go figure.

As someone who has been on the other end of this, thank you.

In my much younger days I lost my wallet at a house party of people I didn’t know and wasn’t even sure that is where I lost it. It had $650 in it which was my worldly belongings, most to go to rent.

My drivers license was in my wallet so the people that owned the house were able to get ahold of me and let me know they had it. Being young, broke and in debt I didn’t have what I thought were adequate funds for a reward. So I brought the couple a bottle of Champagne. I realized my error when a pregnant woman opened the door and handed me my wallet. I was ever so grateful that they were helpful and I’m sure it felt good for them.

Leave your name and phone number with the owner
But not the amount

Tell the to give the info to the person
And they can call you with a description to claim it.

I know a Lady that found a thirty thousand dollar tennis bracket who did this.
Plus
She took out a four day sf in the paper And told the p.d. about it.

She still has the bracket today
30 years later.

Handled just fine. Yes, I’ve had tickles, too, where I thought, will this (item) ever make it back to the owner?

You did the right thing.

That’s the right way to go about it OP, and what I would do.

When I was a teen me n my bro found several $100 in a roll outside of the 7-11. We were both scouts. We went home, told dad, who left a note at the store. That money sat there for a month, then he made us put it in the bank.

When I lived in Buxton I found wallets all the time as people drove off the beach and they fell off in a curve. I returned every one. One had $500 cash in it and I was flat broke after my divorce. But I saw the kids pics in the wallet and couldn’t think of keeping it.

As a cop I found lots of stuff, guns, dope, cash….all of it got turned in. You only have integrity once

You done the right thing.

I have not found cash, but on three occasions I have found a wallet on the ground in a parking lot. They all had driver licenses in them, so I was able to track down the owners and return them.

One guy offered me a reward, I gave him a wave-off and thought that the matter was closed, but a few days later there I received a thank-you card in the mail with a twenty dollar bill.

My wife once did a Heimlich on a guy who was choking in a restaurant. In the excitement afterward, she forgot her wallet. The restaurant folks used the address on her driver license and mailed the wallet to her; they removed all the cash and replaced it with a check and enclosed a note saying that they did not feel comfortable sending cash in the mail.

In 1982 while on routine patrol found a purse laying in the roadway along a residential area street. Address in purse was where found... Left a note at the address that purse had been found and could be retrieved from the police dept.... Next day while doing paperwork a florist delivery man came into the dept with a boquet of flowers with my name on the card..... Purse had the owners SSI check and some other cash that she had drawn out of her bank account that morning...................drill sgt.

Now that you spell it out, I’d do what you did.

Honestly, I might have left it with the manager or the bartender, but your idea is *way* better. If the manager or the bartender is as honest as you are, you’ve given them a problem or a chore giving them the money. If not, the owners might not get their money back. Beyond that, as someone else pointed out, the folks who were there last before you might not have been the ones who dropped it. Yah done good!

I did the same after finding a envelope with $1200 in a museum.

Name was on the envelope, waited 45 min while I had the reception desk page the name several times.

I left a note with them that financial documents were found and left my full contact information.

Needless to say, with my skills… tracked them as Italian tourists and the bank where the conversion was made.

Unfortunately, they did not have an account with the institution in Milan so there was no recourse.

I was never contacted, funds were used to pay for my sons laptop for first year of college.

Uncle Luigi (real name) was generous.

At the time, the conversion would have been approx 850 euros.

Felt bad about it, but did my due diligence.

And no, I would never hand cash or anything of value for that matter in.

30 years ago I found an envelope in a theater as the movie was ending. it contained no information and $500. As a teenager with no clue I left it with the manager of the theater.

A friend of mine who worked at the theater told me that ten minutes after I left the money the manager pocketed the cash. Lesson learned. I think the Op's method is great!

I like your idea best.
Leaving it to the people there has a lower probability of getting the lost funds back to the rightful owner.