Anyone ever find something extremely rare/expensive?

y0ssar1an22

Hello,

So I was looking on this forum and you see people posting things they find that might be expensive. Has anyone ever posted something that turned out to be crazy expensive or rare?
It would be cool if someone finds something random and it turns out to be worth millions, or at least in the 10s of thousands.

Thanks

zimmermania

y0ssar1an22 wrote: »

Hello,

So I was looking on this forum and you see people posting things they find that might be expensive. Has anyone ever posted something that turned out to be crazy expensive or rare?
It would be cool if someone finds something random and it turns out to be worth millions, or at least in the 10s of thousands.

Thanks

The find i made is not going to make me filthy rich,but i did find something very rare when i was was browsing ebay USA looking for irish silver.Imagine my surprise when i spotted what was described as an"old irish spoon",it was an irish spoon alright but it was made in limerick by Ed Walshe (Ed from ul is a self taught registered silversmith).I bid and was lucky enough to get it.Silver made by Walshe is extremely rare and was usually presented to visiting VIPS,including the king of spain and members of the royal family in britain.I have no idea what its worth but i am glad i spotted Eds makers mark.

TOMP

Still waiting for the big one!

pimpmyhat

Nothing on a major level but found a nice 1911 full gold soverign nestled away in a box of mostly worthless coins! that was a lovely surprise that would be my most valuable to date

1shot16

I found a rare 1908 Melbourne Half Soverign was listed as British seller didnt cop the mint mark double in value only 2 on ebay for around 350-400

zimmermania

Iwas rooting in my attic and i discovered a large 4 foot by 3 and a half feet that rolls out and can be hung.It is a brightly coloured map of ireland,showing canals,roads,and mountains with height of mountains displayed.It is titled Physical Map of Ireland,makers name at bottom reads W and AK johnston and G W Bacon London and Edinburgh,also printed on bottom on opposite side copyright 5 65 (1965?).I bought this about 25 years ago with other stuff and put it in the attic and forgot about it.It seems to be made from what we used to call oil cloth.I do not expect it to be worth a fortune as they were produced for schools in Ireland,but i would imagine it would be collectable and probably worth a few hundred euro as it is in very good condition and impressive when unrolled,it has a square wooden pole on top and a round pole on the bottom.

gobnaitolunacy

Maybe a hundred euro, a 'few hundred' euro would be milking it a tad. If it were pre-1922 might be worth at lot more, 1965 is pretty recent and I suspect a lot of those maps were still knocking around in the 1980's or even 90's.

A lot of things that are in demand these days are items that aren't large and bulky and can be easily displayed and don't look out of place in a typical home.

zimmermania

gobnaitolunacy wrote: »

Maybe a hundred euro, a 'few hundred' euro would be milking it a tad. If it were pre-1922 might be worth at lot more, 1965 is pretty recent and I suspect a lot of those maps were still knocking around in the 1980's or even 90's.

A lot of things that are in demand these days are items that aren't large and bulky and can be easily displayed and don't look out of place in a typical home.

You may be right,i was just wondering if anyone on here had seen anything like it,it is nicely coloured and detailed.I am not sure if the "5 65" i referred to was the year of manufacture,though i have discovered that the company changed its name to a shortened version in the 60s so it is at least that old,without being ancient,thanks again.

gobnaitolunacy

Dates found on maps could be when the map was last corrected or updated rather than when printed.

peter bermingham

Found a milled edge pound coin got it in change in the pub one night

chopper6

Found a neolithic flint tool in the mud when they were digging teh foundations for Northwood in santry...i'd previously found a few of those clay ball thingies in the area too.

dave45dave

Have these the last 15 years. Went to a couple of antique dealers in dublin and they suggested an auction. Typical Ireland , rang a well known auction room in Kilkenny only last week and still waiting for a reply.
Anyway probably worth nothing.

dave45dave

More

dave45dave

And more

Judgement Day

dave45dave wrote: »

And more

This is a curious one, did you try ringing the National Library to see if they are missing any editions?

dave45dave

Did think about calling them at one stage , but was afraid they might take them off me. They have been in the family over 40 years now. Left to my Dad and now left to me. Might just put them away for my own kids.

chopper6

Judgement Day wrote: »

This is a curious one, did you try ringing the National Library to see if they are missing any editions?

They've almost certainly been "borrowed" from the National Library at some point...these are periodicals that have been bound for library use...in the unlikely event they made thier way onto the market ligitimately they would have "withdrawn from stock" or similar stamped on them.

chem

I bought a 1861 US army Springfield musket in Belgium for €450 had it valued at €3,500

MasterSun

story in the paper
http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/collector-buys-9-of-imperfect-stamps-for-3000-29964758.html

chopper6

MasterSun wrote: »

story in the paper
http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/collector-buys-9-of-imperfect-stamps-for-3000-29964758.html

Just so i'm reading it correctly...yer man paid 3 grand too much and made no profit?

68deville

Bout 20 years ago me and a friend found 3 old English infantry muskets
In the thatch of his parents house when they were reroofing it,one was
Shagged but the other two were fine,date etched on stock were 1785
So must be from the 1798 era,obviously stashed for safe keeping!
Flint still intact in both and have no idea what worth?

Jagdtiger

68deville wrote: »

Bout 20 years ago me and a friend found 3 old English infantry muskets
In the thatch of his parents house when they were reroofing it,one was
Shagged but the other two were fine,date etched on stock were 1785
So must be from the 1798 era,obviously stashed for safe keeping!
Flint still intact in both and have no idea what worth?

A small fortune I'd say!

GoldenTickets

68deville wrote: »

Bout 20 years ago me and a friend found 3 old English infantry muskets
In the thatch of his parents house when they were reroofing it,one was
Shagged but the other two were fine,date etched on stock were 1785
So must be from the 1798 era,obviously stashed for safe keeping!
Flint still intact in both and have no idea what worth?

Well, the thatch must have been in an awful state if it hadn't been done in that long!

chopper6

GoldenTickets wrote: »

Well, the thatch must have been in an awful state if it hadn't been done in that long!

Was watching Time Team or something similar once..they reckoned in the right conditions thatch can last hundreds of years.

Also finding proper thatchers was very difficult and even then it was an expensive job...just think of the cost of getting a slate roof repaired nowadays!

small farms association

ive old coins and ols stuff id say theyre worth over 30 000

chopper6

small farms association wrote: »

ive old coins and ols stuff id say theyre worth over 30 000

grt

Wild_Dogger

The days of finding a sleeper are almost gone since the arrival of the internet.

Google is a bloody nuisance for people who have built up knowledge.
Today people with no knowledge can google and 'value' their own items

Back in the 50's there was little or no reference books available for researching and people bought items based on a hunch or their own area of expertise.

Go forward to the 90's and people could identify rare pieces providing that they were willing to do a lot of homework, study and waste time learning.

The internet has ruined the trade and created a very unstable environment with fakes and forgeries.

Judgement Day

+1000

This is a thing I frequently discuss with other dealers/collectors but we can't put the internet genie back in the bottle. I spent years building up contacts and learning how to trade...That said, if you specialise you can still win in the salerooms but the internet is increasingly intruding here too.

chopper6

Judgement Day wrote: »

+1000

This is a thing I frequently discuss with other dealers/collectors but we can't put the internet genie back in the bottle. I spent years building up contacts and learning how to trade...That said, if you specialise you can still win in the salerooms but the internet is increasingly intruding here too.

Erroneous word of mouth plays a part too....i collecet antique bottles and a guy showed up once with a plastic crate full of empty wine and beer bottles from the 1970's and told me "they are worth a good few hundred pound".

Yep...they sure are.

whisky_galore

Wild_Dogger wrote: »

The days of finding a sleeper are almost gone since the arrival of the internet.

Google is a bloody nuisance for people who have built up knowledge.
Today people with no knowledge can google and 'value' their own items

Back in the 50's there was little or no reference books available for researching and people bought items based on a hunch or their own area of expertise.

Go forward to the 90's and people could identify rare pieces providing that they were willing to do a lot of homework, study and waste time learning.

The internet has ruined the trade and created a very unstable environment with fakes and forgeries.

A double edged sword, you can also use it to call bullsh!t on overpriced dealers. Was offered a steamship co pay cheque at an antiques fair for €100 down from the advertised 135 to 'sweeten' the deal, an identical one was buy it now on ebay for 30 pounds and still not sold. Also, useful for picking up bits that you wouldn't otherwise get...Irish tourist brouchures from the 1900s that ended up in the states etc. and getting things that you would otherwise have to spend money on travelling to the big city and trawl through every antique fair and pay your way in at the door to boot, and don't talk to me about car boot sales bargains here ....a disaster, broken toys, clothes and crap fit for the bin. Depending on what you're into, if you're savvy you can tell the fakes from the real deal quite easily. It's a useful tool, god forbid that the plebs should learn anything and get one up on dealers and their golden circles of buddies.