I think I may have mentioned it before, but I love to watch the PBS series “Antiques Roadshow.” My parents both were interested in antiques, so I guess I just naturally grew up with an appreciation for them. But, in addition to enjoying the cool things people bring in, I also love the stories on “Antiques Roadshow.” I remember one guy found some jazz singer stuff – records, press releases, etc. – in the garbage and it turned out to be worth about $30,000 because it was a comprehensive history of this singer. I also love when you see episodes where someone bought something at a garage sale for $5 and it turns out to be worth $1,000.
I have my own “great buy” story, but that will come at the end of the blog. If you did not hear it on the news, there was another story about a “great buy” recently. The buyer, Warren Hill, found a rare recording done by the Velvet Underground at a Manhattan flea market in 2002.
His friend, Eric Isaacson of Mississippi Records, told Hill just how lucky his find was after they began listening to it. The ‘Velvet Underground & Nico’ Verve LP Hill bought did not start with the song the friends expected to hear. That is because it is an in-studio recording done in 1966 at Scepter Studios. There are only two of these LPs in existence – another is in the hands of a private collector. Columbia Records rejected the album, so no more copies were made.
Hill posted the LP on eBay and was excited when the bids rose to $20,000, but had no idea it would go as high as the final selling price – $155, 401. The Velvet Underground was very popular between 1965 and 1973. It included musicians Lou Reed and John Cale.
Now for my own “Antiques Roadshow” story. My father and I were out garage saling one day when we stumbled upon a globe that looked a bit different. The oceans were gray instead of blue and the countries were black, with no names to label them. My dad recognized it was unusual and asked if we should buy it. With a price tag of $1, we could hardly go wrong. After taking it home and doing some research, we found out it was a globe used for teaching and was rather expensive and hard to find. My dad put it on eBay and it sold for $300.
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