Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.
What would you pay for the jug shown here? How much do you think it is worth?
Here are a few details that might help you. It is a five gallon jug made in Alabama in the 1870s. Did that help?
Here is some more help.
It was by the made by John Lehman and purchased in a junk shop for $12 dollars about 40 years ago.
Here is the link to the story with the photo.
http://mail.aol.com/38430-111/aol-6/en-us/Lite/MsgRead.aspx?folder=OldMail&uid=28895881&seq=1&searchIn=none&searchQuery=&start=0&sort=received&sortDir=descending#aolmail_L
A museum paid $100,000 for this jug.
The lesson is that it can really pay to do some research to find out what you have.
Another lesson is that if you want to sell something, finding the person that will most appreciate it can make a huge difference.
Talking about auctions, an auction was halted when the auctioneer announced, “Someone in the room has lost his wallet containing $2,000. He is offering a reward of $500.00 for its immediate return.” After a moment of silence, there was a call from the back of the room, “$550.00”
Just a joke. But maybe I should remind you that sometimes people will attempt to claim a lost item when it is never belonged to them. That is why you should not show finds before a claimant can prove that he is actually the owner.
I recently mentioned that Odyssey Marine Explorations got a contract to work the SS Central America shipwreck site. In the last month their common stock has gone from under $2.00 to over $2.25.
Here are coin molds and crucibles found at what appears to be an 8th Century AD mint in India.
Here is the link.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/salvage-operation-brings-to-light-1000yearold-mint-in-haryana/article5740619.ece
I've shown a few common tokens you can find. Here are a couple more.
The one on the left says on one side, A Friend Doesn't Sell You Drugs and the other side has the skull and cross bones and says, Say No To Drugs, Crack Kills.
I associate the first with Nancy Reagan and the eighties, but don't know if it is from then or later.
The other is a token for an ice machine. I don't know where it was or is used.
On the Treasure Coast the tides have smoothed out a little. High tide is round mid day.
The surf is running around four feet with no significant change in he immediate forecast.
Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net