Antique Shows.
@PhillyDreamer (3039)
United States
December 30, 2011 6:05pm CST
I am loving the show American Pickers, their is something fascinating about digging through others peoples junk and finding a hidden treasure. I would love to start doing this kind of work. My question to you is how many people out there have interesting pieces lying around their house, what are those pieces and what makes them so valuable to you. I loved collecting sports cards, and comic books, but I know these aren't the only collectibles.
1 person likes this
4 responses
@cotruelove (1016)
• Denver, Colorado
31 Dec 11
Whenever I see people refer to the American Pickers, I chuckle. I took care of two elderly family members for years, and both of them collected stuff. One had Royal Dalton, Hummel figurines and gold jewelry. The other had fabric, patterns for fabric assembly, crochet and knitting magazines and craft books. Unfortunately, I inherited all of it from both of them, and truthfully, dollar wise none of it was worth anything close to what my two family members thought it was. The show you watch, those men have access to people who purchase the things they find from them and that is the way they support themselves. It takes years to acquire the knowledge of those who collect the things they buy so they can resell them at a profit. As you have seen in the show, they do not always make good deals and loose money. It took a long time for me to get rid of the things from my family, but I finally did and the price I got for them didn't pay the storage.
@PhillyDreamer (3039)
• United States
31 Dec 11
Naturally I wouldn't go around buying stuff without doing my research, but just the excitement of seeing someones treasures and learning why they value them is pretty interesting to me.
@cotruelove (1016)
• Denver, Colorado
31 Dec 11
The figurines were used as decorations in my one family members house and she was involved in an organization were she wore a lot of formal wear and she displayed the jewelry. The fabric collection was collected over years because the other relative sewed and made her own clothing and her children's clothes. She also made quilts but bought fabric because she liked it and many times had no plans for using it. For her it was like an addiction that she just couldn't stop doing. Like you, I watch American Pickers and love it!!
@PhillyDreamer (3039)
• United States
31 Dec 11
Well it's good you found a new home for their things. The fabric sounds interesting, I'm sure a fashion student would love to get their hands on vintage material.
@saizo6 (2199)
• United States
31 Dec 11
I also find antique related shows interesting. It's always fun to find out how much something is worth on these shows. There are a lot of totally unexpected collectibles that pop up. As for your question, the only thing that I can think of off the top of my head that might be worth something are these old US coins that we have. My dad had to do a renovating job on this old store years ago and he found a lot of coins that dated back to the twenties and such. I don't think they're worth all that much but it's nice to have.
@burrito88 (2774)
• United States
31 Dec 11
Gold coins are the ones that are worth a lot. Silver dollars can be worth ten dollars or more depending upon rarity.
@PhillyDreamer (3039)
• United States
31 Dec 11
I wonder how many gold coins were made back then. I have to imagine in the 1920's gold was a scarce commodity.
@PhillyDreamer (3039)
• United States
31 Dec 11
Those coins are definitely a piece oh history. It's so cool that your dad found them lying around. Have you ever researched them to see any values. Even the metal they used back then has to have some value.
@cher913 (25782)
• Canada
3 Apr 12
here in Canada, we have the show Canadian Pickers and its much like the American Pickers but the Canadian guys are interested in everything, even glass bottles. i love these type of shows because i am really into antiques. i have some, most of which i have gotten from family, i few i have bought at antiques markets and a lot, i have gotten at thrift stores.
@PhillyDreamer (3039)
• United States
18 Apr 12
That's really cool that they have a Canadian version. Are there a lot of antique auctions in Canada? What are the hot collectibles over there?
@bounce58 (17385)
• Canada
31 Dec 11
I've been hooked on this show too! It's great that they find treasures in some people's junk. And it's great that some of the people they buy from understand that their objective is to flip it around and earn cash for themselves.
I have a couple of friends who have some furniture handed to them by their great grandmothers/grandfathers. I'm sure they're worth somthing if they could just agree to sell it.
@PhillyDreamer (3039)
• United States
31 Dec 11
Antique furniture is great, although family heirlooms are valuable because of the memories. Eventually after stuff passes hands for a while, someone is bound to undervalue it.
