Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com
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| Selection of Lead and Pewter Seals |
And below is another find by Bill M. Interesting looking cup. Could it be an oil lamp? The shape seems like it could be made to swirl and separate melted materials.
Not long ago I mentioned the Dixie Gun Works catalog that I picked up in a thrift store for $1. It is a handy reference for looking at old gun and weapon parts, but you can also find books that are real treasures worth hundreds of times the purchase price. Accomplish two things at once: while hunting books about treasure and treasure hunting, maybe you can find a book that is a treasure.
I've sold a few books for hundreds of times the purchase price. One that I found in a thrift store was a book on fly fishing that was signed by a famous person that collaborated on the book and one of his business cards was found inside the book.
One of my best books on Spanish colonial money was found at a thrift store for a dollar. The same book would be hard to find anywhere today, even on the internet, for any price.
The antique and collectible book market has changed dramatically in the last ten years. There was a time when any old book would easily sell for a few dollars, now that isn't the case.
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| Find and Photo by Bill M. |
Old fiction books generally aren't worth anything unless they are by a very famous author, are in good condition, and there is something special about them. Special attributes can include fancy bindings or signatures by famous people.
You can sometimes find treasures of various types between the pages of old books - sometimes old letters, photos or even money.
You can find books at thrift stores that you can buy for a dollar and resell for hundreds of dollars, although that isn't as easy to do today as it was years ago. Such books seem to disappear from the shelves more quickly now than in the past. More people are aware of the possible value of old books, I guess.
Certain categories of books tend to be valuable. For example, if you found an old original book on Lionel trains, it would certainly have some value, even it was nothing more than an instruction book of a few pages. Or a book on Coca Cola, John Deere or an old Disney book. There are a lot of collectors that would pay good money for old books on things like that. Any detectorist should be aware of the areas of high collector interest.
It's always nice to find a good old local history book.
19th Century and earlier books can be valuable, but are not easy to find in good condition. Old books on travel and Native Americans are highly collectible. Most, but not all, have been reprinted, which has reduced the price of those that have been reprinted.
My point today is, you can find good used cheap books that will help you, but you can also find books that are treasures if you know what to look for. Knowledge is key, and you can get some of that by reading.
Treasure Coast Treasure Beach Detecting Forecast and Conditions.
This weather pattern has been persistent for quite some time now. We still have flat seas and South winds.
Conditions just haven't been changing. Furthermore, it looks like we won't have any real change for over a week. Maybe something on the horizon, but predicting that far out is difficult.Happy hunting,
