Have you found Hidden Treasure?

[vintage.vendeuse]

I can't be the only one! What have you purchased that came with a hidden treasure? I've found old coins deep in pockets and gorgeous vintage brooches pinned on lapels of coats but I think one of my most exciting surprises was a WW2 Wrigley's Gum poster by collected poster artist Otis Shepard.

The story: I bought an 1930's Bessie Pease Gutman print at a local thrift for a few dollars and sold it on eBay for a tidy profit. It was in a nasty (not period) frame and when I removed the print to prepare it for shipment, lo and behold, what was being used as a backing board? This:



It increased my profit margin quite a bit!

 

[GHT]

I haven't found treasure in the financial sense, but my wife often finds absolute nuggets of trivial history. She trades with a company in Canada that sources original vintage patterns. The times that these patterns went from one lady to another with a handwritten note explaining some intricacy about the pattern, or even just small trivia about the family, is incredible.

She always photocopies these gems, it's like shining a light on the past.

 

[LuvMyMan]

Finding the unexpected (out of the blue) a few times when buying hats for my husband, there has been some very old items behind the leather sweatband. Newspaper that was from early 1950 in one. Business card that was from a Blacksmith that had to sign his name with an X, post World War One magazine pages.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

I've found some interesting stuff between the pages of books. Among them were:

-- 1909 Russian 10 Ruble note
-- 1917 Russian 500 Ruble note
-- Original photograph of Richard Nixon at an airport

 

[Shangas]

I bought a copy of "The Wooden Horse" by Eric Williams, which came with original magazine-cuttings inside it, about how the escape was done.

And family treasure: When my grandmother died, I sifted through all her stuff that she left behind. And found three of my grandfather's business-cards. She must've held onto these for at least 30 years. How they never got lost in all that time, and moving three houses, I don't know. They're now safely in my possession.

 

[vintage.vendeuse]

I'm loving the stories so far, thanks for posting!

This find wasn't a valuable treasure but it was interesting, nonetheless. I bought my 1951-built house two years ago. Recently, my 5yo granddaughter was over playing outside and found this embedded in the driveway up near the detached garage in the backyard:



A quick internet check revealed that it wasn't worth chipping out of the cement.

 

[Shangas]

Perhaps not, but if you do, you should put it somewhere safe. Looks neat! The only things I found in the garden as a kid were buried flower-pots.

 

[Renault]

I always find little treasures secreted in many of the firearms I work on. I will always bag them and assure the customer receives them as they are generally an old family members gun. If it's a gun we have purchased and seller is usually long gone, I have been know to caretake the items.

I found these two state of Kansas hunting licenses (1925 and 1929) rolled up in the stock bolt hole of an 1897 Winchester shotgun we bought;



I've found old money, other hunting licenses, a note in a Krag rifle where it was used by a cadet sergeant in the ROTC at Missouri state in 1912! My coworker found a cache of federal duck stamps covering 30 years in the buttstock of an old double barrel shotgun!

I suggest if any of you out there have gramps old gun hanging on the wall unscrew the buttplate and see what you might find!!!!

 

[magnolia76]

Great thread! Looking forward to hearing other's stories. I often wonder what is hidden within the walls of my 1802 farmhouse. The basement too!

 

[Horace Debussy Jones]

I recently purchased a 150 year old painting that I'm fairly certain is a Eugene Isabey. A common occurrence with oils painted on canvas supports, is that the canvas deteriorates after roughly 50 years or so, and it then needs to be relined. This was done to my painting about 100 years ago using primitive animal skin glue of the era. The painting is coming loose from the "new" support it was given which at first I thought was a blank piece of canvas which is standard procedure for relining. Turns out however that there is another painting underneath! I'm not quite ready to remove the image completely to reveal what is underneath as I have several other projects in the works, but I'm dying to see just exactly what it is. So far, from looking under the edges that I have loosened somewhat, it appears to be a painting of a woman. If the artist himself relined his own work, then I've got maybe 2 paintings by his hand for the price of one. A nice bonus indeed.

 

[magnolia76]

Coincidentally, yesterday's article from one of my favorite websites:
10 Weird And Wonderful Discoveries Made During Construction

 

[Atticus Finch]

When I was a kid I found a Minnie ball in Devil's Den at Gettysburg. I wasn't looking for relics...I was way too young for that. When I looked down it was just there at my feet in the dirt.

AF

 

[LizzieMaine]

I've found a lot of interesting things used as bookmarks -- newspaper clippings are the most common, but I've also found a label from a pair of cotton stockings, an undertaker's business card, a "National Book Week" flyer, several pressed leaves, and once, in a Bible (Moffat translation, I believe) a one dollar silver certificate.

The most unique such item that's come up in a book for me is the wax-paper pouch that contained the cheese powder from a box of Kraft Dinner circa 1938.

 

[scotrace]

Posted elsewhere last year:

Recently, due to an extremely fortuitous set of circumstances, I got my hands on something long-coveted: A Morris chair. It is in great condition, except for the upholstery and stuffing, which were still as from the factory. Patent numbers place it anywhere from 1918-1925 or so. It had to be stripped to the frame, which revealed a fragment of a newspaper from the 1930's - classifieds. Ads for late 20's-early 30's cars. There was also a mouse nst, made up of shredded Corning pink insulation.
But the cool thing was on the fabric covering the outside back. It looked like leather, but was an offering called "Imitation spanish leather." Basically a rubberized and colored heavy muslin. It has survived well. But still, there were holes and stink.

Written on the inside of the fanbric was this:



It appears to say "Jazz Baby for a time [? kicker? killer?]."

Again, this is a mass-produced, factory chair, in its original covering.

 

[magnolia76]

Posted elsewhere last year:

Recently, due to an extremely fortuitous set of circumstances, I got my hands on something long-coveted: A Morris chair. It is in great condition, except for the upholstery and stuffing, which were still as from the factory. Patent numbers place it anywhere from 1918-1925 or so. It had to be stripped to the frame, which revealed a fragment of a newspaper from the 1930's - classifieds. Ads for late 20's-early 30's cars. There was also a mouse nst, made up of shredded Corning pink insulation.
But the cool thing was on the fabric covering the outside back. It looked like leather, but was an offering called "Imitation spanish leather." Basically a rubberized and colored heavy muslin. It has survived well. But still, there were holes and stink.

Written on the inside of the fanbric was this:



It appears to say "Jazz Baby for a time [? kicker? killer?]."

Again, this is a mass-produced, factory chair, in its original covering.

I see "#8" and possibly a "9" in there next to "Jaz". I've been spending a little time trying to decipher the bottom half of it. Kilber?

 

[GHT]

That Morris chair is amazing.

My home was built in 1953, the first owner constructed a garden fence, and in doing so, left a time capsule, stating that his name was Grosvenor, he was married with three children, and went on with lots of trivial details.

I know this because the third owner found the time capsule in 1968 when he replaced the fence with a brick built wall. The third owner, a Mr. Drusscott, added all his details, that he was a retired civil servant, aged 64, and so on, and so on.

Two years ago, a car driver came off worse after an altercation with the wall Mr. Drusscott had built, but the wall, too weakened by the collision had to be replaced. That's when the builder, erecting the new fence, came across the time capsule. We had a wonderful afternoon, reading the trivia of previous occupants, before adding our own with a copy of the local newspaper.

How stupid of me not to have photocopied all the previous comments before committing them to future generations. Sometimes I just totally lose the plot!

 

[Edm1]

I recently bought a house built in 1955. During a quick search of the backyard with a metal detector found a 1942 and 1951 penny. Neat to me and my 12 yo. In my previous house I found an all brass shotgun shell from the 1880s... Best finds value wise are from banks. Once had a friendly teller who knew I liked old coins call and say they had some for me. I ended up paying $60 for $50 in walking liberty halfs Franklin halfs and $10 in Kennedy 1964 halfs. Someone's grandma must have died...

 

[MikeBravo]

I bought a book at an op shop some time age. When I got home I found as a bookmark this "Travellers' Guide to Britain", printed July 1950



I like the bit about petrol no longer being rationed (5 years after the war)

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

Found this photo of Nixon, dated July 1979, stuck between the pages of a book.

 

[jkingrph]

Not a real treasure, but a nice find. I got married in 1972 and later that year the USAF sent my new bride and myself to Turkey for two years . In the spring of 1974 we took a base chapel tour to Israel. While there we had the opportunity to go "swimming" in the Dead Sea. While wading in the shallows my wife felt something and reached down and picked up a wrist watch, a rather simple manual wind model , from the muck on the bottom of the sea. No one around claimed it so we washed it off and found it could still run. I just recently put a new leather band on it and occasionally wear my "Dead Sea watch"