Finds, Tips, Etc.

[randazzo1]

Hello all - I haven't participated in this part of forum yet. Treasure is treasure and I spend as much time at garage sales, flea markets etc. as in the woods hunting with the metal detector. Here are some finds from this last weekend (all on ebay this week for 7 day acution - I'll update with how much they sell for).

1. A .999 Fine Silver 2 troy ounce round in a lucite paper weight. Passed over by at least 75 people at rummage sale in central NJ. .50 cents.

2. A pair of 14K and Opal Earrings picked up at a garage in south jersey. .25 cents

3. A Caravelle (Bulova) jeweled swiss alarm clock in Brass and Lapis. Same rummage sale as silver round. $1.00.

I've enjoyed all of your tips and want to contribute a few of my own (these may have been covered already)

a. Cutco knives (can be purchased cheap as hell in thrifts and at garage / estate sales) - pearl handles sell best
b. Rhodium plated silver --- don't pass up on those shiny silver pieces - a lot of them look too shiny to be sterling because they are rhodium plated.
c. Bags of paper goods -- anytime I see a large lot of ephemera from pre 1970 I buy it. There is almost always one or two items, be they post cards, letters, park tickets, etc. that will bring enough to make them worth shipping ($20-$40).

Thanks for all the tips and infor you all posted and I will let you know how these items sell.

Randaz

 

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[Sterling]

Very nice finds, and good luck on Ebay....

 

[jerseyben]

Do you live in the same South Jersey that I do?

WHERE are you finding this stuff

 

[randazzo1]

Thanks Sterling.

Jerseyben - the rummage sale was the twice annual New Brunswick rummage sale at the Synagogue at 222 Livingston Avenue - its coming up again in the fall. Relatively safe part of town and an excellent hunting spot. The earrings came from a garage sale in woodstown NJ. I like to stop at a few thrift stores in the Camden / Gloucester city area and then drive route 45 through Mullica Hill all the way to Salem and hit all the sales advertised on Craigslist / Courierpost - after about 1:30 I turn around and hit all the little antique/junk shops on the way back. I don't live in the area but there are always tons of finds along that route. Its a whole day, but its worth it. The thrift stores out in south west jersey cannot be beaten for finds. Especially the ones in the less prosperous hoods like Camden / Gloucester City.

 

[jerseyben]

Yea it seems like the Synagogue sales always have nice vintage high end stuff at them.

I live in Gloucester County so I am familiar with the area you are hitting - my stomping grounds actually. I am just surprised you are finding this stuff around here as the competition is usually friggin cutthroat.

I assume the thrifts you are hitting are actually in Pennsauken as I would personally never go to Camden. If you actually are, you deserve anything you find - as I never would.

 

[diggummup]

Nice finds. I can relate. I found a Ben Franklin Half dollar in lucite once, for the same .50, it sold for $20. I always look for vintage ephemera. I collect postcards as well. The last decent find were some old tattered concert stubs from the mid 70's- early 80's, sold for somewhere around $75 in 3 diff. lots, they were in a bag of misc junk that I bought for $1. I once found a misc. lot of UFO newsletters from various ufo clubs from the late 50's and 60's, I pieced them out and made over a grand on them. I think I paid around $10 or $20 for all of them. I still have some of the magazines, but they aren't worth much. Same sale for $20, I purchased a bag of 1920's- 1940's pornographic photos (very hardcore for the era), all original prints, they pieced out for over $700, the same guy bought the majority of them. I still have a few of the ones from the 40's.

Ben- you gotta travel to the hood to find the good stuff at the thrifts. That's a sound piece of advice. Goodwill distributes most of it's goods from a main facility and Salvation Army distributes all of it's goods from a main facility, so the goods sold there are just as likely to have come from a good part of town, as the stores that are actually in the good part of town. Just make sure you drive the beater and not the Beemer and dress the part too.

 

[AC1955]

My Mom used to donate to the synagogue sale in New Brunswick. Lots of name jewelry (Coro, Kenneth J. Lane, etc.), bric-a-brac, household goods, etc. She lived in Monroe Township (Concordia) from "84 to '10 when we moved her to NH. I've been to the sale once...wow! Awesome things and good prices, too. Remember, you are dealing with the "old Jewish ladies" from Concordia, Rossmore, Clearbrook, Whittingham, etc. to provide the goods being sold. [I can say this...I'm one of the old Jewish ladies! ]. (For those of you not from Jersey, this are complexes for "active" seniors 55+. Concordia has over 1,000 households alone).

Enjoy the next sale and good luck on EBay.

Anita

 

[RustDustPatinaVerdigris]

Yea it seems like the Synagogue sales always have nice vintage high end stuff at them.

I live in Gloucester County so I am familiar with the area you are hitting - my stomping grounds actually. I am just surprised you are finding this stuff around here as the competition is usually friggin cutthroat.

I assume the thrifts you are hitting are actually in Pennsauken as I would personally never go to Camden. If you actually are, you deserve anything you find - as I never would.

I grew up in GlouCo and now live just over the border in SalemCo and agree with you on that. Competition is very cut-throat around here, although it seems to have diminished somewhat, and is not as aggressive now than when the economy was good, circa 2000-2007. I don't know how it compares to other areas of the country, but here, sleeping in your car in front of a "promising" estate/tag sale, in order to be in the first group to enter was the rule, not the exception. There would often be 10-20 people standing on the doorstep of a sale at 3:00 a.m. that wasn't scheduled to hand-out numbers until 7:00 or 8:00 a.m. when I was starting out, which seems ridiculous to me today when I think about it. Reading some of the posts here, along with my own personal experiences has taught me that gold is where you find it, and you don't have to go to those extremes any longer to get the goods. I had some of my best finds ever last year that I picked up on the second day of a two-day sale, that maybe a couple hundred people overlooked before me. It still happens.

 

[silverdollarbill]

Why are so many people on tnet from NJ? I grew up in Gloucester County.

 

[randazzo1]

Why are so many people on tnet from NJ? I grew up in Gloucester County.

I wondered that too. I think part of it might be the abundance of historic properties and beaches gets people into metal detecting at a young age. Also the population density allows for hundreds of sales every weekend and loads of thrifts.

 

[RustDustPatinaVerdigris]

I joined hoping to expand my horizons with some further education from the members...hoping to learn some new tricks of the trade to get a leg up on the local competition. I agree with randazzo1 that this area is very historic with many 18th century properties, Revolutionary War sites, the Delaware River and its historic importance, along with it being in very close proximity to Philadelphia and all of the history that resides there. I sometimes have to take a step back to appreciate the history of this area as it is easily forgotten when you are around it every day.

 

[silverdollarbill]

I wondered that too. I think part of it might be the abundance of historic properties and beaches gets people into metal detecting at a young age. Also the population density allows for hundreds of sales every weekend and loads of thrifts.

That makes sense. That's how I wound up here. However, I have not picked up my MD in two years.