[Diana in Wisconsin]

When he got home from the auction and looked at the artwork under a magnifying glass, he realized it was a print, with dabs of paint added to make it look genuine.

"I paid $350 for a $35 object, which always taught me to look at things very carefully," Veilleux said.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

[1Old Pro]

who doesn't have the Kennedy silver half dollar. 1967 Kennedy Half Dollar Value According to the NGC Price Guide, as of December 2024, a Kennedy Half Dollar from 1967 in circulated condition is worth between $4.55 and $5. However, on the open market 1967 Half Dollars in pristine, uncirculated condition sell for as much as $5750.

[Scrambler Bob]

Check Youtube for:

“Nobody wants your stuff”

[Blurb2350]

The late shlock artist Tom Kinkade made millions doing just this — daubing a bit of paint onto high-res prints. He later figured out he could train amateurs to do the daubing . . . but only after they’d bought a special license issued by Kinkade.

[Organic Panic]

I check Craigslist for musical instruments. A “genuine Stradivarius” violin pops up occasionally that was found in a closet somewhere thinking it is a real Stradivarius. The luckiest I ever got was a TAG Hauer watch at a thrift store for $2.50. After polishing it up I made near $2000 selling it.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Who could have guessed a banana duct-taped to a wall could sell for more than $6 million?

People who are laundering money.

[Joe 6-pack]

As was explained to me in an historical preservation class in college:

The teacher pulled out a round 5", 12 lb. iron ball, and explained that current scrap value for 12 lbs. of scrap iron was about 50 cents.

Put the ball on a little wooden stand and take it to a Gettysburg gift shop and call it a "civil war paper weight" and you will find people willing to pay $30-$40 for it.

Add some paperwork authenticating that this was in fact a civil war cannonball recovered from the Gettysburg battlefield, and it's now worth $100-200.

If hypothetically, one could produce paperwork authenticating that this was irrefutably the cannonball that removed General Sickle's leg at the Battle of Gettysburg it essentially becomes a priceless museum piece. Even though there were likely hundreds of thousands, if not millions of cannonballs just like it produced during the war, with many copies still in existence, this one becomes singularly unique.

Or to put it simply, one man's trash is another man's treasure.

[Jet Jaguar]

Bump

[catnipman]

“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 ...

[lowbridge]