Featured Best Finds Ever?

Discussion in 'Pottery, Glass, and Porcelain' started by KEVIN AIREY, Sep 17, 2020.

  1. KEVIN AIREY

    KEVIN AIREY Well-Known Member

    Great Forum and lots of experienced folk. (Thanks)
    Here is a Victorian children's oil lamp that I picked up in a job lot and maybe paid 70 pence, the forum told me what t was and I sold it for over £100. (only in the last month)

    Picking up £300 worth of auction various (20 boxes) this week.

    There is always a good 10 treasures - Can't wait to sort through.

    [​IMG]
     
  2. J Dagger

    J Dagger Well-Known Member

    Ditto
     
    kyratango likes this.
  3. evelyb30

    evelyb30 Well-Known Member

    My favorite find ever wasn't resold or kept. I went to an estate/moving sale late and it was seriously picked over. Went through the entire house and picked up a teddy bear (left behind) and a CD. Then I went into the garage and came nose to nose with a Riddell Dallas Cowboys helmet, just sitting on a shelf. It may have been game worn and might just have been messed around in by the kid who owned it. Cost? $5. I put it in a box and gave it to my pastor (since retired) for Christmas; he's a die-hard Cowboys fan. (ain't none of us perfect) I heard about that one for years ... his wife said you should have seen his face when he opened it. The helmet was a holy grail purchase; he'd always wanted one but could never justify spending the crazy money to buy one. And here I dropped it in his lap. It sat in pride of place front and center on a bookcase in his office until he retired.

    I've found other peoples' holy grail pieces over the years, but that was the best one.
     
  4. J Dagger

    J Dagger Well-Known Member

    I just spent $900 on box lots of various scientific instruments and contraptions. I pick them up tomorrow. I have no idea what they are and probably can’t test any of them. If the pieces I looked up are any indication it could be my best score ever by even selling “as-is”. Hope yours are great!!
     
  5. komokwa

    komokwa The Truth is out there...!

  6. ascot

    ascot Well-Known Member

    Back in the mid 2000s, Lowe's (a home improvement store, for those of you not in the US) was doing a "change out" of its bath and kitchen showroom: kitchen and bathroom sinks, bath and kitchen faucets, etc. They were going to throw away all the merchandise on display. My husband bought everything for $500. Boy, we had a house full of stuff! It took us 3 months to sell it all on Ebay, but our final take was over $23,000.
     
  7. komokwa

    komokwa The Truth is out there...!

    also a winner !!! :happy:
     
  8. Ownedbybear

    Ownedbybear Well-Known Member

    Christopher Dresser ugly pot for £1.50. A signed Keith Murray glass jug, same amount. 18 carat gold bracelet for a whole pound. Christofle ice bucket, silver plate, a whole pound. A Whitefriars bison slab, one of only eight ever made, £1.50.

    Dresser sold for £300, the ice bucket over £100. Kept the other things. Oops.
     
  9. capitulation

    capitulation Active Member

    No what is it?
     
    judy and smallaxe like this.
  10. John Brassey

    John Brassey Well-Known Member

    Michael Cardew Volta one of the leading studio potters of the 20th century.
     
  11. daveydempsey

    daveydempsey Moderator Moderator

    Not from a charity shop but a car boot sale.
    Large jar of old mixed world coins for £12.

    This one went for $2k to the USA
    The rarity is in the edge lettering.(not visible)

    1795.jpg
     
  12. charlie cheswick

    charlie cheswick Well-Known Member

    pearlsnblume and kyratango like this.
  13. charlie cheswick

    charlie cheswick Well-Known Member

    did you know right away aaron ?
     
    pearlsnblume likes this.
  14. moreotherstuff

    moreotherstuff Izorizent

    A small (4 3/4" with stopper) cut glass cruet from the White Star Line. Purchased at a thrift for 25¢, sold for about $100.

    Cut Crystal Glass Cruet White Star Line-a.jpg

    CutCrystalGlassCruetWhiteStarLine-d.jpg
     
  15. Bdigger

    Bdigger Well-Known Member

    Years ago I posted a picture of what I was putting out for my garage sale. A member here quickly ID'D one of the vases as a valuable Italian glass vase (I forget the details).I had paid $10 for it at the flea market and used it for years as a catch all. Long story short......ended up listing it on eBay, and if I remember right I got $1200 for it.

    Here is a link to that thread
    https://www.antiquers.com/threads/art-glass-vase-help-longshot.586/#post-7159
     
    Last edited: Sep 19, 2020
  16. aaroncab

    aaroncab in veritate victoria

    I was pretty sure it was legit Qianlong period - so of course I greedily snatched it away from Savers...but I had no idea what it was worth. After googling a bit at home I fired off the inquiry to Sothebys with some pics, and the rest is history :) Helped pay off some long time medical bill debt I had - next time I find an 8K item for 2$ I'll indulge myself with something nice.
     
  17. charlie cheswick

    charlie cheswick Well-Known Member

    That's an incredible find congrats

    Think you did exactly the right thing as well

    Don't think it would have got anywhere near that on ebay or such
     
  18. Janice Nicholls

    Janice Nicholls Active Member

    Quite a few over the past few Estate Auctions! Love those Boxes with hidden treasures found below! A painting I sold for 180.00 US Dollars, 2 figures, a boy and a girl busts with cobalt blue bases of an alabaster material, for 50 Canadian dollars. Silver salts with cobalt blue linings from about 1927-28, for not much. I love those pieces hidden below the top ! McCoy planters too that go for about 35-40 Canadian. Many more! Book ends, etc..
     
    anundverkaufen and pearlsnblume like this.
  19. J Dagger

    J Dagger Well-Known Member

    Speaking of hidden below. Box lot finds are always fun. However I grabbed shoe box that had a couple items I wanted in it a sale a couple weeks ago. The other day I was using the box to ship and found an Abraham Lincoln medal in it under the tissue paper. Not too old or valuable but a fun $20-$30 I had no idea was there.
     
    komokwa and pearlsnblume like this.
  20. Daniel G

    Daniel G Well-Known Member

    My best find will forever be recalled as my worst sale. In May 2015, I purchased two Bowman Chrome X-Fractor Mike Trout rookie cards. I purchased one card for $1600 and the other for $1800. Both autographed and graded 9.5/10 by Beckett Grading Service. In September 2015, the price had quickly doubled so a great time to keep one and sell one, right? I sold both.

    Each card is now selling for $38,000+

    Best find in terms of future value but still lamenting the lost opportunity
     
    pearlsnblume likes this.
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