Hey! Those are now 'Classics!' I had this one as a teen. Well, what teen girl didn't? Right next to our posters of Donny Osmond and Bobby Sherman, LOL!
Posted on 12/16/2024 7:38:58 AM PST by Diana in Wisconsin
Kaja Veilleux has hunted New England attic treasures for more than 50 years. He once found a copy of the Declaration of Independence sitting on a pile of trash, and he made headlines this year when he stumbled upon a million-dollar portrait gathering dust in an old farmhouse in Maine that may have been painted by the Dutch master Rembrandt.
Then there was the time, Veilleux said, he was shown a $50,000 gold coin kicking around in a tool drawer, only to have the well-meaning owner destroy much of its value before he could auction it by using a scouring pad to clean it — and scratch it.
"It's like a treasure hunt every day," Veilleux said, chuckling.
Many people dream of cashing in on some dusty, old heirloom. In October, three sisters from Ohio sold a rare dime for more than a half million dollars. Two years ago, a case of old hockey cards found in a Canadian home sold for more than $3.7 million.
Veilleux, 73, helps people sort gems from junk when he appraises furniture, antiques and art by using his knowledge of what similar items have sold for in the past. But art auctions can be fickle. Who could have guessed a banana duct-taped to a wall could sell for more than $6 million?
Veilleux started collecting coins at age 8 and soon found he had a good memory for visual objects. His training for a career in antique dealing has all been on the job, he said, including a lesson he learned early when he spent most of the money he had at the time on bidding for a beautiful miniature painting.
(Excerpt) Read more at channel3000.com ...
Anything has worth if you find the right buyer. A co-worker was rather eccentric, going out at lunch bringing back bags of toys.
I said “Oh, did a niece or nephew have a birthday?”
“No” he snapped “Those are for me.”
Lunch time was for exploring local shops for any trinkets, his wife a collector too. And I’m sure part of a larger group of like-minded.
He had his own business cards to get into toy shows and expos - Toy Collector Extraordinaire - his happiest days were anytime he found Star Wars stuff.
I first became interested in coins around 1946 when my father brought home coins he collected for his insurance company from people who paid him monthly for their dime & qurter policies. He would give me the old coins and replace them with his own newer coins before turning them in. I still have them, Barber coins, Walking Liberties, V nickels, Indian Head pennies. I bought a house in late 1960s. There was an old rectangular side table with a top that rotated on its frame so you could see inside. It contained maybe 10 silver dollars. I recently found the bag of “junk” silver dimes my mother had bought a while before she died in the mid 1990s. There are somewhere between 1500 and 2000 Mercury and Roosevelt dimes. She bought them at a time when silver was selling for under $4 an ounce. Recently silver has been selling for around $30 an ounce. I have checked a random 50 dimes for quality and they range from Good-8 at $3 a coin to Extremely Fine-40 around $5 a coin a few of the most recent Roosevelt dimes from the early 1960s still have their Mint Lustre, so may fall in one of the Uncirculated-60 or higher categories. Now if I can just get a recent copy of the Red Book of coin values. My old one is from the 1990s. but it is still useful for checking the quality and relative rarity of silver coins.
As to the value of my half dozen JFK 1/2 dollars, I grabbed them as soon as they came out so they were minimally circulated. If most of my silver dimes are now worth $3 to $5 my JFKs must be worth more than $25 each. My partner asked what I wanted for Christmas. I said a new copy of the Red Book, hope, hope, hope!
ping!
Nope, not Don Ho. We did find it humorous that it was a guy from Hawaii.
Regarding coins—a typo. Should have typed Uncirculated-50+, not 60.
Regarding how people value things. I have had booths in several consignment stores. [Never made much money, but it was fun.] Once bought a dull brown Rookwood pottery jar with a small chip in the lip (size of my pinky finger nail), filled it in, painted it the same brown, and listed it “as is” for $50. I had paid $3 and it sold. Another time I bought a piece of art glass with a small chip for $4 and also got $50. No repair this time.
Bump
I’m working hard on getting rid of stuff; I am the LEAST sentimental woman you will ever meet.
Well, except for my dogs. :)
I know we legitimately have attic treasures of our own, but you called me here because of Thomas Kincade, didn’t you?
I do miss the gigantic Kincade flame wars from back in the day. It was a simpler, gentler time on this site.🤣
Cast my memory back there, Lord.
“The luckiest I ever got was a TAG Hauer watch at a thrift store for $2.50.”
Score! Love that brand! Can’t afford it, of course. I’ve found some nice sterling pieces of jewelry and real gemstone earrings in those ‘big bags-o-junk jewelry’ you can buy at my St. Vincent’s. I also take it all apart and re-use the beads and findings to make my own jewelry pieces which is a lot of fun on the cheap.
The best find of mine was a 1932 First Edition of ‘Cross Creek’ by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. She wrote the classic, ‘The Yearling.’ 50-cents at a Garage Sale and sold it for over $100.00. :)
I once found a crisp $100 bill in a used paperback that I bought. That was fun!
I don’t really own anything of huge value to anyone outside of my family. I have nice furniture pieces from the mid-1930’s that my Great Grandmother purchased - they bought whole homes with the contents in them during the Depression - they had cash while others did not.
Must have ben a thing in the day, my mom did the same "antiquing" in the 70's on some end tables. Stickley is nice stuff, heirloom quality for sure.
My first season strawberry picking I received a check for $92. I was told to put it in the savings account my folks just opened for me. Before I did so, I decided to see what $92 really looked like, so I got 92 silver dollars. Would be nice to have them now.
Tiffany or Target?
Hey! Those are now 'Classics!' I had this one as a teen. Well, what teen girl didn't? Right next to our posters of Donny Osmond and Bobby Sherman, LOL!
My Grandpa left me his collection of Wheat Pennies. Thousands of them. Their worth? About a penny each, LOL!
“Turning dusty attic treasures into cash can yield millions for some and disappointment for others”
considering what’s in my dusty attic, i foresee disappointment in my future ...
Funny you mention that. Last year my wife and I were starting to teach our five (now six) year old daughter about money, and it got me thinking I couldn't recall the last time I'd seen a wheat penny. Sure enough, about two days later, I got a handful of change, and in it was a 1952 wheat penny.
Collected wheat cents and old Jefferson nickels.
We went to a coin dealer and to every nickel he said: "spendable". Meaning worth a nickel.
We did have a 1911-S penny that was worth $8
They are pretty special, now. Common as dirt, then. ;)
LOL! We LOVE that show. And I’ll take the lessons! ;)
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