Have you ever bought something cheap and found out it was worth a lot more? (Or vice versa).

[Drago]

Bought some nackernoculars at a car boot sale. Don't recall if they were a fiver or a tenner.

Anyway, I was intrigued by the Deutsche name written inside the case and it turned out there were issues to a U boat commander in WWII. Apparently the U boat issue binos sell for £100-£200, but with the provenance of the Oberleitnant to whom they were issued I shifted them on eBay for £402.

 

[presta]

A book by T E Lawrence

Did you know that the house where he was born is an independent youth hostel:
https://snowdonlodge.co.uk/

 

[Lightning CycleQueen]

Bought some nackernoculars at a car boot sale. Don't recall if they were a fiver or a tenner.

Anyway, I was intrigued by the Deutsche name written inside the case and it turned out there were issues to a U boat commander in WWII. Apparently the U boat issue binos sell for £100-£200, but with the provenance of the Oberleitnant to whom they were issued I shifted them on eBay for £402.

Wow, i need to get down to a car boot and start looking or hidden gems

 

[Profpointy]

My son picked up a Colnago book at a car boot sale for 50p and it was signed by Ernesto Colnago, he got over £100 for it.

An ex-cabinet minister saw a couple of copies of his memoirs in a secondhand shop, and noticed that the signed copy was actually cheaper. He commented to the bookseller who dryly explained "the unsigned ones are rarer"

 

[Reynard]

Nothing spectacular of late - there's far less stuff slipping through the net in charity shops and on boot sales / jumble sales / bric-a-brac stalls as people get far more savvy thanks to all the antiques and collectables programmes on TV. Although I did pick up a brand new ferplast "Mika" corner litter tray at the tip for a tenner last week, that normally retails for around £45.

My best buys however were:

£2.99 in a charity shop for a "costume jewellery" bracelet that was actually 18ct white gold set with blue topaz. The hallmarks were Italian, which is why it went under the radar.

50p on a jumble sale for a stainless steel Omega Geneve ladies tank watch

50p on a jumble sale for a stainless steel Omega "saphette" watch (the crystal is actually a faceted white sapphire)

£1.99 in a charity shop for a colonial (Indian) silver repousse sugar bowl. Indian silver of that era wasn't hallmarked and it's usually lower 800 grade, but it' still a very pretty thing. I keep sweets in it

£4 in a charity shop for a 10-inch tall African ivory statuette. I suspect they assumed it was resin, but it's easy enough to tell the difference if you know how

20p on a jumble sale for an autographed copy of Chuck Yeager's autobiography

£4 on a bric-a-brac stall for a large Beswick figurine of a seated white Persian cat.