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.
My husband bought two Martin ukulele’s at a garage sale, both in cases in excellent condition; $400 for both. About 15 years later he sold them for $1800 to a ukulele player from Hawaii.
“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.