once you purposely hide something are you giving up ownership of it legally?

"I also hid a silverwear set in an unused mail-drop becuase its what i got for my wife and didnt want her to see it ahead of time so once i find out who's using it i'll want it back or the proper retail value as long as my claim is valid which is what i wanted to check with you guys here thanks."

If you put a silverware set in an unused mail drop without any form of identification, you'd be taking a huge risk. You'd essentially be abandoning it. If someone is already using the mail drop, they will not be obligated to compensate you.

What you have described is pure lunacy. If the owner chooses to give the items to someone else - hide something in someone else 's laundry basket, then the owner has no right to ask for it back. It was "given" away. Leaving something in a mail drop is "leaving" it, "disposing" o it. If you want to hide it and retrieve it later, hide it in your closet, wrapped in birthday wrapping paper.

What one chooses to do with one's own legally owned property is entirely up to the owner.

No one else has the right to simply take it without their consent -- that's called theft.

It isn't complicated.

Scam

Not if it is in/on your property.