Q: I found a single shoe in my shul. Must I publicize and try to return it?

A: The minimum value of hashavas aveidah is a perutah, a coin worth .025g (1/1,000 oz.) of silver. At current silver prices, this is a penny or two. Thus, almost all items have this value.

However, this minimal value must exist both at the time of loss and at the time of finding. Thus, food that spoiled and no longer has any value is not subject to hashavas aveidah (C.M. 262:1). Furthermore, some Poskim maintain that the perutah value is determined by the item’s market value (Nesivos 148:1). A single shoe is worthless on the market.

Nevertheless, many contemporary Poskim (Chazon Ish, Harav M. Feinstein and Harav Y. S. Elyashiv, zt”l) maintain that the item’s value is determined by its owner. Thus, even a single shoe is of value to him, to pair with the other shoe that he has not lost. Therefore, you should try to do hashavas aveidah with the shoe (Hashavas Aveidah K’halacha 1:7).

The same halacha applies to something like a family photo, which has no market value, but is valuable to its owner.