billjustbill
Bronze Member
Some garage sale mornings, you'll find nothing, but the odds here in North Central Texas favor finding something 95% of the time.... I never know what I'll see, buy, or bring home.....
On our way to a Saturday sale listed in the local paper, that was outside the city limits, I saw a sign that said, "Barn Sale" and it gave a road name and house number..... IT wasn't listed.... That's the place I found the Aluminum and Copper.... At first I asked about 30ft. of #12 flexible 3-wire extension cord, and again about the heavy 12' lenght of #2 dual conductor copper cables. Then, I pulled out a 50 ft roll of #1/0 welding cable copper, which has copper the size of a 1/2" bolt, and saw another roll of wire. It was a large roll about 4' in diameter. I counted 14 continuous loops. Using Pi (3.14) time the guessimated 4' diameter, I quickly calculated it to be at least 175 feet of 2/0 aluminum wiring with dual cables wrapped around a bare aluminum support cable/Neutral... The lady checked a spiral notebook for prices of things. She said her husband based the price on what he thought they would sell for at the scrapyard..... All that wire came to $27.00.....
In the dim light of a 7:30 a.m. Friday morning garage sale, I bought 9 items and found one was just costume jewelry.... so I lost a quarter today.... ;>) For $2.25, at .25-cents each, in tiny plastic bags, I found 59 grams of silver, worth about $45.00. I found an unmarked gold bar-pin with a small broach with a clear bezel hanging from it.
The gold bezel is marked 1/20 of 12kt. g.f. (gold fill) and has gold nugget flakes in between the glass. I don't know how to price the gold filled bezel and pin..... IN the picture below, you'll also see an even smaller lapel pin with the words: "Try God". On the back, it is stamped "Tiffany and Co." , "Sterling".
It appears the upper income neighborhoods that sell jewelry in their garage, although it may very well be .925 silver, it's "out of style".... When I don't see jewelry, I've started asking if they have any. Almost every seller either points to it or those that don't have any are now answering with the same words... "Several others asked for jewelry, too." So, competition has increased, and about the only way to have a chance at silver or gold is to get out early, early, early.... and ask, ask, ask....
The possible white gold earrings (not pictured) will have to be tested to know, but the ear posts have 585 stamped on them. I've learned that 585 is a European number for 14kt..... IF they are gold, the 9.2 grams are worth over $200.00.... if not, I lost another quarter....
Keep looking to see what you can find..."The Metal is Out There" !!
Bill
On our way to a Saturday sale listed in the local paper, that was outside the city limits, I saw a sign that said, "Barn Sale" and it gave a road name and house number..... IT wasn't listed.... That's the place I found the Aluminum and Copper.... At first I asked about 30ft. of #12 flexible 3-wire extension cord, and again about the heavy 12' lenght of #2 dual conductor copper cables. Then, I pulled out a 50 ft roll of #1/0 welding cable copper, which has copper the size of a 1/2" bolt, and saw another roll of wire. It was a large roll about 4' in diameter. I counted 14 continuous loops. Using Pi (3.14) time the guessimated 4' diameter, I quickly calculated it to be at least 175 feet of 2/0 aluminum wiring with dual cables wrapped around a bare aluminum support cable/Neutral... The lady checked a spiral notebook for prices of things. She said her husband based the price on what he thought they would sell for at the scrapyard..... All that wire came to $27.00.....
In the dim light of a 7:30 a.m. Friday morning garage sale, I bought 9 items and found one was just costume jewelry.... so I lost a quarter today.... ;>) For $2.25, at .25-cents each, in tiny plastic bags, I found 59 grams of silver, worth about $45.00. I found an unmarked gold bar-pin with a small broach with a clear bezel hanging from it.
The gold bezel is marked 1/20 of 12kt. g.f. (gold fill) and has gold nugget flakes in between the glass. I don't know how to price the gold filled bezel and pin..... IN the picture below, you'll also see an even smaller lapel pin with the words: "Try God". On the back, it is stamped "Tiffany and Co." , "Sterling".
It appears the upper income neighborhoods that sell jewelry in their garage, although it may very well be .925 silver, it's "out of style".... When I don't see jewelry, I've started asking if they have any. Almost every seller either points to it or those that don't have any are now answering with the same words... "Several others asked for jewelry, too." So, competition has increased, and about the only way to have a chance at silver or gold is to get out early, early, early.... and ask, ask, ask....
The possible white gold earrings (not pictured) will have to be tested to know, but the ear posts have 585 stamped on them. I've learned that 585 is a European number for 14kt..... IF they are gold, the 9.2 grams are worth over $200.00.... if not, I lost another quarter....
Keep looking to see what you can find..."The Metal is Out There" !!
Bill
maybe if I drive a little faster 
