What is your best "unverified" or second hand tale of amazing find?

[bigcaddy64]

Anybody who goes to sales will eventually hear some whoppers about finds (free or hidden in other objects purchased) that may or may not be true but i still enjoy hearing them. It makes me want to go out and hunt more! I also wonder if these stories are urban legends and curious just how far they have spread across the USA. I've got a few and will start with 2 for now.

The first story i heard was about a guy that loved anything mechanical like vending machines and slot machines. I think he had a business that repaired ATMs so that sort of machinery fascinated him. He ended up buying a old slot machine, (from a sale that was a slot machine collectors estate) mounted on a pedestal base that needed some minor repairs. Once he got it home, he started to break it down in order to clean and repaint/repair. The post of the machine was stuffed with old newspaper which would be normal as a barrier for paint over spray. As the paper was pulled out, a bunch of small, wrapped discs thudded onto the workbench. Upon opening them, he discovered they were a mixture of Double Eagles, Eagles and Half Eagles. To me, that doesn't sound too far fetched since it wasn't a foot locker full of coins and its possible the coins were out of the machine from many years as a possibe hidden "savings" for emergencies.

 

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[Beans]

Two rifle bullets with casings in a tube of LEGOs from Goodwill. I still have the bullets, not for sure what to do with them since I am not into guns.

 

[jerseyben]

Two rifle bullets with casings in a tube of LEGOs from Goodwill. I still have the bullets, not for sure what to do with them since I am not into guns.

Not trying to be rude. But, I don't think that was what the OP was talking about.

 

[jerseyben]

A guy I have met numerous times at record fairs told me he used to sell baseball cards to another guy about 6 years ago. He told me at the time he did not know who the guy was. Turns out it was the owner of an infamous local record label. He later sold his record collection for a ton of money (rumor has it was over $50k). Just a funny story considering this guy who told me the story deals in records and missed a chance to buy some incredibly rare records but instead was dealing in baseball cards! No idea if this is a true story or not. It is all alleged, 2nd hand info.

 

[bigcaddy64]

My second story is about a guy who seems to stumble into amazing finds like a modern day Mr. Magoo The first was some killer piece of art that was found during a house clean out but the second one seemed more plausible and interesting. Mr Magoo was out driving around an older neighborhood and happened across a narrow alley (one of his favorite haunts in the older neighborhoods) and saw a couple setting out a bunch of old pottery, statues and misc. items. He stopped to talk with them and found out the guy was moving and didn't want any of the stuff since it was his dads (the gentleman he was speaking with was easily in his 70's) and thought it was junk. It seems that dad was a college professor who did lots of archaeological digs in south america and Egypt. After the items were loaded up, he took them over to another guy to look at and his find was supposedly pretty spectacular. All of the items were pre-columbian, native american or Egyptian artifacts from a time when taking them wasn't looked upon as a big deal.

again, it sound far fetched but not really when you figure lots of those objects/artifacts came here with academic types

 

[Beans]

Not trying to be rude. But, I don't think that was what the OP was talking about.

I know but that was the best I could come up with. How is this. I heard of a guy don't know how true it is but he found two unused bullets in a tub of LEGOs he bought from Goodwill.

 

[cyberdan]

Mr Magoo was out driving around an older neighborhood...pre-columbian, native american or Egyptian artifacts from a time when taking them wasn't looked upon as a big deal.

Thats not Mr Magoo that was Indiana Jones

 

[Beachkid23]

Went to a yard sale and they had a lot of paintings that I knew nothing about. Saw some friends of mine who had a thrift store and they bought a lot of the paintings. Supposedly they sold one online for $14,000. Never showed me a picture of it and I never checked on eBay because I wouldn't even know what to look for but if they did get that then good for them!

 

[bigcaddy64]

Went to a yard sale and they had a lot of paintings that I knew nothing about. Saw some friends of mine who had a thrift store and they bought a lot of the paintings. Supposedly they sold one online for $14,000. Never showed me a picture of it and I never checked on eBay because I wouldn't even know what to look for but if they did get that then good for them!

That reminds me of another one!! Another sale of a couple, both college professors of art, that had huge quantities of art. Some was from travels across the world, others were from current/past students they purchased or acquired as gifts. One guy went inside to buy and settled on the better of 2 paintings that appeared to be from the same artist. Once outside, he looked up the name and found the works sell for huge amounts. As he was walking back, a woman was walking out with the other painting. An offer of 5000 cash didn't make her move and he only ended up with the single painting.

It later sold at auction for $100,000 plus. I have no idea who the artist was

 

[cyberdan]

I told about these over the last couple years and they were about me. These were copied from my posts.

1) ....An hour later this yard sale was a little boring but I walked around it anyway and spotted something I recognized. I asked the sale owner three times. "how much is that Don Quixote?" He had no idea what I was talking about so my next question was "will you take a dollar for this?" and pointed to it. he said sure. I bought myself an original Picasso bichromie (2 color) silkscreen called TORO Y TOREROS. one sold on ebay last month for $350, but it was framed.

2)....1895 Seth Thomas clock
This clock was tagged at $30 and as soon as I looked at it the lady lowered the price to $10.00 Did I accept that great price? Nope, I countered with $5.00 (boy am I cheap!) and she accepted. It is the 8 Day Chicago. sell from $200 to $350

3) .....Bought a very expensive license plate frame. Cost me close to $40,000
The most expensive yard sale buy is my daughter's Alma Mater. She graduated one year ago, pre-med veterinary science. Last June she finished year one of a two year college. The only courses are animal care and running a zoo.

4).....Sunken Treasure ship coins found at yard sale
No I didn't find a treasure map but X did mark the spot at one yard sale. I did my usual questioning at each yard sale. "do you have any coins...etc" and this weekend 5 people said "yes let me go get them". But at one sale this lady said she had Pirate coins. So I asked her if I could see them. The whole time I was thinking they were "Pirates of the Carribean" coins because I was only a few miles from disneyland. But she came out with a large flat box and pulled out a big picture frame with 5 coins and several certificates glued to the matte board. I knew these were real because I recognized the very first coin. A silver 8 Real the size of a silver dollar from the ship Atocha sunk in 1622 and found by Mel Fisher. There were 4 other coins too, from other shipwrecks, but I didn't care, I immediately asked the lady how much. The first price she said, I thought about it a little (just for drama) and said OK. I knew the Atocha coin was worth a lot. Here are google pics of three of the coins. Mine are glued to matte board and under glass. The pics would not come out very well.

1st coin) 8 Real from the Atocha, wrecked in 1622
2nd coin) Ducaton from the ship Hollandia sunk in 1743
3rd coin) copper cash coin from the Admiral Gardner wreck of 1808

 

[tamrock]

One of my daughters friends mother found this authentic signed B&W photo of Elvis in a box of magazines when she was in college. She was making extra money cleaning newly vacated college dorm rooms and students would leave all kinds of stuff behind in the rooms. She found the photo in the box of books and magazines in 1975. It was signed with a fountain pen and believed to have been signed in the later 1950's by Elvis himself. The original photo has a tear in the upper right and a buddy of mine photo shopped that out.