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In 1996 in Wisconsin, I was in a thrift store and saw some paintings and sketches that I liked and I bought. the sketch I had gotten for $6.50. I had it on my wall for 7 years until a friend of mine told me to have it appraised. I had it looked up by an art gallery and it turned out to be a Rembrandt sketch worth $9000. lucky me. the sketch is still on my wall in my home.
In 1996 in Wisconsin, I was in a thrift store and saw some paintings and sketches that I liked and I bought. the sketch I had gotten for $6.50. I had it on my wall for 7 years until a friend of mine told me to have it appraised. I had it looked up by an art gallery and it turned out to be a Rembrandt sketch worth $9000. lucky me. the sketch is still on my wall in my home.
Good for you......... Im glad ya hung onto it!! (Most would become greedy and want the $$$$$$$)
I don't usually go to garage sales or thrift stores, but my father used to go to a lot of estate sales and garage sales on weekends. And once in a while, a junk store. I can tell you about a couple of his finds.
Three times, he found musical instruments that were valuable. A $7500 violin for $5, a $5000 flute in with a box of umbrellas (he bout the whole box for $7), and another violin worth $4000. Over the years, he also picked up some nice artwork for next to nothing.
One time at a yard sale he found a painting out in the front yard of a house, leaning up against a tree. He paid $35 and it's worth $18,000. He found another painting once, at a thrift store for $5. It's worth about $20K. Down the street, he picked up a nice Salvador Dali for $3. I think it's worth around $1000.
Also, a lot of signed art glass. I didn't think that stuff was worth much until I looked it up.
I could go on, but that's what I remember, off the top of my head.
I personally haven't had much luck with thrift stores, but my wife always seems to make out like a bandit. Between her finding vintage designer clothes to current designer clothes, she has walked out with a sack full of clothes which would have retailed between 500 and 700 dollars, for about 25 - 30 dollars.
$3.99 for a large Chinese coral carving on a wood base. It's a prunus tree with squirrels and birds on it. An auction house appraised it for $1000. It has some damage, but the carving is so busy that it's not that noticeable. It should have come with a fitted box, but it was just there on the shelf. Probably some of the damage came from the donation process and it being chucked into a box with other discarded things.
I plan on keeping it for now.
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