Bava Metzia 25B

כאבני בית קוליס, מהו?

If they were configured like the stones of the house of worship dedicated to the Roman deity Mercury, what is the halakha?

תא שמע, דתניא: מצא מעות מפוזרות ⁠– הרי אלו שלו, כאבני בית קוליס ⁠– חייב להכריז. ואלו הן אבני בית קוליס: אחת מכאן ואחת מכאן ואחת על גביהן.

The Talmud suggests: Come and hear a resolution of the dilemma. As it is taught in a baraita: If one found scattered coins, these belong to him. If they were configured like the stones of the house of worship dedicated to Mercury, he is obligated to proclaim his find. The Talmud explains: And these are coins that were configured like the stones of the house of worship dedicated to Mercury: One was situated here on one side, and one was situated there alongside it, and one was situated atop the two of them.

תנו רבנן: המוצא סלע בשוק, ומצאו חבירו ואמר: שלי היא, חדשה היא, נירונית היא, של מלך פלוני היא ⁠– לא אמר כלום. ולא עוד, אלא אפילו שמו כתוב עליה ⁠– לא אמר כלום. לפי שאין סימן למטבע. דאמר: דלמא אפוקי אפקה ומאיניש אחרינא נפל.

§ A baraita states: In the case of one who finds a sela coin in the marketplace and another person finds him and says: It is mine, and the distinguishing mark is that it is new, or that it is a coin minted by the emperor Nero, or that it is minted by king so-and-so, he has not said anything and the finder need not give him the sela. Moreover, even if his name is written on the sela he has not said anything, due to the fact that there is no distinguishing mark for a coin that is effective in its recovery, as the finder says: Perhaps he spent the coin and it fell from another person.

מתני׳ מצא אחר הגפה או אחר הגדר גוזלות מקושרים, או בשבילין שבשדות ⁠– הרי זה לא יגע בהן. מצא כלי באשפה, אם מכוסה ⁠– לא יגע בו, אם מגולה ⁠– נוטל ומכריז.

Mishnah: If one found, behind a wooden fence or behind a stone fence, bound fledglings, or if he found them in the paths that run through fields, he may not touch them, as they were certainly placed there intentionally. In a case where one found a vessel in a garbage dump, if it is concealed, he may not touch it, as a person certainly concealed it there. If it is exposed, the finder takes the item and proclaims his find.