Flea Market Treasures: How to Find Your Treasure at a Flea Market

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Nowadays, it is not at all necessary to go on a long journey to distant continents for treasures, it is enough just to come to the local flea market. That's where the real Eldorado and Klondike are in one bottle. You just walk through the rows with junk and look for your treasure, because it lies literally under your feet - the main thing is not to pass by.

In this collection you will not find fairy tales about artifacts bought for one hundred rubles and sold for millions of dollars. Such stories, of course, do happen, but they are extremely rare. We will only talk about real finds at a flea market, which until recently were on the shelves of sellers.

It is important that all these are absolutely legal and not prohibited by law things, on the purchase of which you can honestly make a profit. The main thing is to constantly develop, learn new things and believe in your luck.

Diploma of the Trade Union Festival of Physical Education (USSR, 1925)

Acquisition price: 6,000 rubles Market value: 40,000-60,000 rubles

Scientists say intuition is a sublimated experience, and most likely they are right. Sometimes the gaze clings to some object, and you don't even really understand what it is, but you already clearly know that you have to take it.

As soon as the glance fell on this diploma, my heart skipped a beat - IT. It struck my eye that this was not a typographic print, but a handicraft, and of decent quality. This means that the document is clearly from the early Soviet period, because it was then that there were not enough printed diplomas and letters, and therefore, award papers were often ordered from local artists. By the way, many young artists of that time, who later became widely known, did not disdain such work. And the size of the diploma is A3, which is very unusual for this kind of documents!

So what do we have. Diploma for the first place in the shooting competition at the First Trade Union Physical Education Festival of the USSR in 1925. (It's almost 100 years ago!) The seller started with ten thousand rubles, but after a short bargaining they agreed on six. In addition to this amount, I managed to get a couple of rare Soviet letters of 1940 in the Ukrainian language - specific items, but a couple of thousand each cost in any case.

Then the second, no less interesting part of the process, related to identification, began. There is no point in running through the library archives, the Internet is enough. After a short search, I found an old issue of the newspaper "SMENA" for October 1925 (thanks to the kind people who put old newspapers and magazines into the open access), in which a whole page tells about the trade union holiday of physical education. And, bingo! One of the paragraphs of the article turned out to be devoted to shooting competitions, in particular, to the Sormov metalworker comrade Bobrishcheva, who won the women's championship.

Usually, digging up information about the acquisition, you come across a lot of various interesting information. This case is no exception. It turns out that at this sporting event, for the first time in the USSR, a game of "live chess" took place, in which the roles of figures were played by people in colorful costumes. In addition, the main chess pieces changed their names: kings became workers, queens were members of the Komsomol, elephants turned into painters, horses became riders on horses, rooks became warriors, and pawns were transformed into athletes. These are the original fun our ancestors had almost 100 years ago.

So it all came together! Now we have before us not just an incomprehensible diploma, but an important document that has not only artistic but also historical value. Collectors take great pleasure in purchasing such items. But, by the way, about the artistic value. In the lower right corner of the diploma there is an author's signature, if it suddenly turns out that the artist who painted the diploma has become famous, the price of the diploma can have six or more zeros.

But even while the artist has not been determined, the cost of such a diploma from collectors will be in the range of 40-60 thousand rubles. A truly lucky purchase!

Toy car Cadillac Eldorado (USSR, 1979)

Acquisition price: 3,000 rubles Market value: 10,000 rubles

Tell me, was it possible to safely pass by this, albeit a toy, but still a car? Of course not! After all, this is a model of the legendary American Cadillac Eldorado 1959, and released in Soviet Leningrad in 1979. But I found out about this later, but for now I just hovered, looking at the ideal beauty of the lines of a small elegant little car.

Rare Soviet toys are in great demand both among Russian collectors and all over the world. The ideal condition of the car directly screams that there will always be demand for it. It turns out a kind of "time capsule" in a toy version.

The seller started with five thousand, quickly dropped to four and a half, but then the process went very slowly. In the end, they still agreed on three thousand. An important argument when bargaining was the lack of an attached wire to control the machine. But it doesn't matter. Such a wire can be found and fully equipped with a car.

The market value of such a car in a complete set ranges from 10 thousand rubles and is much higher.

Globe piggy bank (USA, mid XX century)

Acquisition price: 250 rubles Market value: 8000 rubles

In our time of disposable items made of cheap Chinese plastic, you begin to truly appreciate the household items of previous generations, made of high-quality materials, which is called "for centuries." I am absolutely sure that in the coming years we will finally get bogged down in cheap consumer goods from aliexpress, and in contrast to this, the prices for high-quality vintage items of previous generations will increase significantly.

To my delight, this globe-piggy bank turned out to be completely made of metal, now you will not find anything like this in stores. The case when you take an object in your hands and understand that it is a THING that has served and will continue to serve more than one generation.

It is a pity that the production is not Soviet, but these are trifles. A good quality item will always cost money wherever it is created. Moreover, the seller put up just a ridiculous price of four hundred rubles, and after the bargaining, he generally agreed to give the globe-piggy bank for two hundred and fifty! Of course, I take it without any doubts.

Already at home I googled this piggy bank globe and unearthed some information about it. Such globes were produced in the USA in the 50s of the XX century. Found one like e-bay for $ 125. With a purchase price of 250 rubles, getting a vintage item with a market price of 8 thousand rubles is very good!

Stove tile (Russia, Moscow, late 17th century)

Acquisition price: 15,000 rubles Market value: 40,000+ rubles

The case when money plays a secondary role, because this is the real history of our country and our people, which in this case can be easily held in your hands. Finds of such Russian tiles are extremely rare, and their prices are now more or less acceptable only because this trend in collecting is not widely publicized.

This stove tile was made by a Moscow craftsman in the 1670s and for a long time decorated the stove in the house of wealthy Muscovites of that time. Then the house was destroyed, and the small clay masterpiece lay in the ground for about 350 years, until it was accidentally found during the next excavation work.

The seller perfectly understood what he was trading, so there was no point in hoping for a low price. Nevertheless, personal charisma, coupled with a confident handling of historical facts, can do a lot. The price was brought down to fifteen thousand rubles! On the one hand, this is a lot - the monthly salary of an ordinary person in some disadvantaged region, on the other hand, this price is simply nothing for a unique piece of Russian decorative and applied art of the 17th century.

This stove tile will always be a great authentic piece of furniture when framed and hung on the wall or placed in a suitable place. But understanding collectors are ready to pay 2-3 times more than the purchase price for this item, just for the sake of owning it in their collection. Masterpieces do not lie on the road!

Druse androdite pomegranate with epidote on the back

Acquisition price: 300 rubles Market value: 2000-3500 rubles

At one of the stalls, a woman was probably selling someone's collection of Soviet-era minerals. Among calcite and quartz, garnet druse attracted attention. Upon closer inspection, it turned out that she also had an epidote on the back. The lady behind the counter asked only 300 rubles for the crystal. I did not bargain and immediately took the mineral. As it turned out, the instinct did not disappoint. Mineral collectors are ready to give for such druses with large grenades from two thousand rubles and more.

Successful purchase.

Elastomanometer (USSR, second half of the XX century)

Acquisition price: 500 rubles Market value: 4000-5000 rubles

The elastomanometer is used to measure intraocular pressure. In fact, this is a set of five weights and a special ruler, packed in a protective box. I have absolutely no idea how to use it, nevertheless, with a seller's price of 500 rubles, it is immediately clear that this can be a good deal.

A short search on the Internet convinced that prices for such sets start at four thousand rubles and more. Considering that this is a Soviet-made collection set, it becomes clear that its commercial potential is even greater.

Summarize

The total amount spent on six items was 25,500 rubles. At the same time, the commercial value of all acquisitions turned out to be at least 105-125 thousand rubles. Not a bad income!

If you liked the story about my searches, leave your comments and reposts on social networks. This will be an incentive for me to continue stories about cool finds from the flea market. And believe me, I still have something to tell you about!