A $2.48 Thrift Shop Item Turns Out To Be Worth A Small Fortune!
That's it. I'm gonna start hittin the thrift shops from this day forward! lol....I'm a sucker for this kind of story because it can happen to any of us. Just gotta be alert.
Yeah, this guy in Tennessee was casually browsing around in a thrift store in Nashville when he spotted a yellowed, rolled up document looking thing. Like a scroll.
Hmmm...that looks ANCIENT
It looked really, really old to him so he was curious about it. When he asked the price and found out it was only $2.48 he bought it. Once he got home he started researching online.
Turns out it was one of 200 official copies of the Declaration Of Independence which had been ordered by John Quincy Adams in 1820! He spent months confirming his find and then sold it at a collectibles auction. For $477,650.00!
It didn't make him rich but it was definitely a life-changing amount.
Here's a closeup of the copy with John Hancock's signature:
source
This copy had an interesting story
The Tennessean wrote an article about the document and the sale and when they did, a guy contacted the paper and said that the very same copy that just sold used to be his.
He said he had it hanging in his garage for ten years. He'd bought it at a yard sale for something like 50 cents! lol.
But when his wife went on a tear about cleaning up his work area in the garage...well you know how most men are...it didn't really get done.
Can't blame it on the wife but...well I probably would!
So she did it herself and the copy of the Declaration was one of the items she took down and wanted out of there. They had a debate about it and the wife won so she took it and other old stuff and donated them to the thrift store.
The guy who had it in his garage wasn't bitter though, he said he was happy for the new owner and said if he had it it'd still be hanging in his garage and he still wouldn't know that it was worth anything.
That thing looks ancient. I don't know about you guys but wouldn't you have at least checked online to see if there was an off-chance that you had something old? Come on people!
And what was wrong with the yard sale people? I wonder how long they'd had it and never thought of checking it out? jeez. Oh well, at least someone was smart enough to do that.
Thanks for reading folks, God bless you all!
-jonboy
Texas
PS- lol..check out this officer and his partner:
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Amazing story! I can't imagine how many treasures like this are thrown away because nobody buys it. Although these days, a quick ebay search can reveal a lot about the value of things.
Howdy sir ironshield! I know, I can only imagine the treasures that are thrown away! I used to go to thrift stores and flea markets all the time and I'm gonna start doing that again. Yard sales seem to be incredible too. Do you go to any of those places?
Lol awesome story!! 😀😀😀
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Howdy jenina619! I love these kinds, I'm so glad you enjoyed it! Are you a flea market or thrift store shopper?
Hey janton, I hope there are lots of treasures out there for people to find.
Love the dog's loving look on his face. Animals are so beautiful.
I agree angiemitchell and that dog's look is priceless! lol. They're the best.
Do think that there might be a windfall in a thrifty shop or flea market waiting for us janton?
I think there is a good chance if a person was to spend alot of time at yard sales, thrift shops and flea markets. But most of us would never dedicate that much time to those things. Do they have alot of them down your way?
Hmm, I think I might be having a few stern words with the wife if this happened to me...But then it's his own fault for letting her in the workshop. 😄
Good story. Better that the document is somewhere being appreciated than rolled up on a shelf.
lol..he never should have let her in to take over his work shop! Yeah, wives and cleaning your workshop usually don't turn out well!
I don't know about you but I come home and when opening mail or handling paperwork use the kitchen counter filing method in conjunction with the leave it anywhere filing system. Faith comes along, cleans up and files my stuff somewhere and I never see it again. I wish she wouldn't upset my finely tuned systems like that.
(I don't let her tidy my workshop. She helps me sometimes when I'm doing it, but she's under strict supervision.) 😜
Haha! Exactly the same here. Mrs. J. is a minimalist, she wants nothing in eye sight that is not absolutely necessary to live. And I'm a natural collector and like lots of stuff so I have to guard it!
I know right? As if we don't have enough to do in our day we gotta gaurd our randomly left stuff from being organised. 🙈
Mrs J is a neat freak and she cannot comprehend my love of having lots of stuff and heaven forbid collecting anything!
Haha, I'm not sure they understand anything we do huh?
No but they tolerate us because they feel sorry for us! lol.
And we're handsome and witty devils that they couldn't live without. 😁
Lol! That's what I'd like to believe!
Believe it and is shall be. 😃 (Something like that anyway) Lol.
I know there's some truth to that so I'll go with it!
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I've seen so many copies of the Declaration of Independence sold in museum gift shops that are printed on parchment type paper and yellowed and made to look old that I probably would have just assumed that someone had bought it as a souvenir when they visited Philadelphia. Cool story. I love the dog photo!
Howdy Melinda! Is your family gathering over? How about those Packers beating those guys like a drum? lol. What was it, 31 to 13? dang that was a good win.
I agree about the copies of the Declaration. I thought you might like that dog photo. lol.
That was my kind of football! Stress free!
Gotta love those Shepherds!
It was wonderful having the kids and grandkids here for the weekend! They decorated my Christmas tree, so now I'm ready for the next holiday!
I bet your place looks very festive and holidayish! lol...who does the Pack play next?
They play the Redskins on Sunday at Lambeau. They got a gift on Monday night when Seattle beat the Vikings!
That's great..are the Redskins a good team this year?
Apparently they are 3-9. I really know nothing about them this year. It doesn't sound like they are doing great though! Jim used to watch every single football game during the season, so I was much more in touch with the various teams, but it's not as much fun watching alone and I would rather be on Steem!
Exactly! Well, I hope this is another easy win for them!
I would say your chance of making it big hitting the thrift stores is much better than on Steem. 😊
Oh that's depressing! lol...I hope that isn't true but of course it may be true!
I often wonder if some of those thrift shop don't also go over a lot of stuff that comes in. Some are private church owned that get donated estate stuff or go out and bid on entire estates. I often find the private church owned ones have better quality stuff in the way of clothing versus those who sit donation boxes around cities and people just throw whatever junk they have in it. Sometimes visiting those stores can be a hoot....leather couches with big swaths of the leather worn off, faded clothed couches and chairs, grease stains or missing zippers and buttons...like I wouldn't give fifty cents for that stuff and they'll be asking thirty, forty bucks for furniture like that. Same with Craigslist sometimes, makes you wonder if people are truly that mental they'd think people would buy stuff like that or they post it as a joke to see if people are that desperate.
Haha! that sounds like good entertainment, watching people buy junk! It's unreal what people buy, like you said, desperate!
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Howdy steemplus! Thanks for the upvote!
Awwwwwww, another priceless photo of German Shepherd 😍
And this old document story, is priceless also, lol. Well not that the value is, but honestly, as you said, what;s wrong with people? I thin I must say again, only Americans, lol. If it's not gold, diamonds or car, they can't suspect a value, lol. But kudos to guy with brains. Oh and I agree, you should go around thrift shops too. You can also write about them on Steemit, so even if you don't find anything major, you still make money. You could use title REDNECK'S THRIFT SHOP ADVENTURES 😂😂😂
lol! I like the way you think Miss Lena, that is a funny idea! I might do that at some point. Americans are kinda dopey. lol. But that German Shepard dog is such a wonderful dog!
You really should, lol. But not all Americans, lots of you guys are great! And German Shepard is the best 😍
I agree about the Shepards, I think you should get one.
Amazing treasures. I love thrift shops because you get some of the best stuff there👍
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Oh do you? That is so interesting, I do too and you never know what you're going to find, lots of top quality items though.
Yes @janton. We have a lot of them here. Clothes and bags and footwear top the list. Most are unused and unwanted items.😊
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Those sound like great places to shop!
Most young people and others running on a budget are frequent visitors 😃
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Mornin’ Cowboy! That sure is a awesome garage sale find.
I hope he gave the guy who sold it at the garage sale some of the hefty price gotten for the Copy and John Hancock signature.
Howdy again redheadpei! I thought it was awesome too. Do you guys ever to to yard sales or flea markets?
Dogs are, indeed, awesome.
Can you imagine being that thrift store appraiser and passing that item right by? "Oh yeah, that old thing? Pfft. I was going to let my kid colour on the back, but the paper was too brittle."
Seriously, I know it'd be a conflict of interest to keep the item, but if they realised what it was they probably could have sold it at auction as well. Most thrift stores are charitable, and that would have been an awesome improvement.
lol..."color on the back!" that's so funny sir wwwiebe! Yeah the thrift store had to be embarrassed a little by this story.