Funny the shit you hang on to all your life because “one day” it’s gonna be rare or worth a lot of money.
Just finished going through the bottom of my gun cabinet (that thing made of wood with glass doors that we all used before somebody told us we needed safes) for the first time in almost 20 years.
It is of course where I stashed things I don’t need on a regular basis. It is also where I put some of the things I’ve had longer than many of my other possessions.
So what was in the crown jewel collection?
Well for starters about a dozen 1973 Canadian $1 and $5 bills in generally “circulated” condition. Just like this one but not nearly as crisp.
The important thing is I got my hands on these probably around 1975 and have held onto them ever since. So what are they worth after almost 40 years? Pretty much face value IF I can find a buyer.
When one factors in inflation I’d have been a LOT better off taking them to the bank in 1975 and getting the current exchange and then taking that $20 and buying a couple pizzas.
Well we know coins are where it’s really at right? Well every year I got a proof set, most of them are priced at $9-$11 and were purchased from Kmart so I got the best possible price.
So what are those 1970s vintage proof sets worth today? About $5-7 on Amazon. The ones from the 80s, 90s, etc. increased in price paid, but are still pretty much worth about $5-7 on Amazon.
Seems I wasn’t the only kid collecting proof sets back then.
Ok so let’s talk about something a bit more rare. In the late 1970s I was into diving. And all the “real deal” divers had jewelry made from “black coral” (that is those who weren’t really “real deal” with a solid gold Spanish coin around their neck). But it was rare and expensive and I was just a kid.
But I managed to get ahold of a 70s style necklace similar to this one (like everyone in the 70s had only theirs was made from regular coral) without the medallion.
Also had a nice 3" wishbone of black coral. We used to call this stuff “black gold” because one day we KNEW it was gonna be worth money. So what’s it all worth today? Maybe $30 for everything.
I don’t know what I ever did with my pet rock, Rubiks cube or mood ring, but I should have done the same thing with my black coral. Really wish I had traded it all for that collection of 1960s Playboys (about 24 issues in excellent condition) when it was offered to me back then. Those at least have some value.
And of course I already had lots of other useless shit from my childhood.
I still have my beer can collection. Another hobby from my childhood in the 1970s. And this wasn’t any goober collection, I had some serious shit starting with the first 1930s flat tops, cone tops and even WWII “olive drab” super rares. Pretty much the only significant thing I didn’t have was the James Bond set but those were like $1,000 for the set even back then.
Today most beer cans, with the exception of the James Bond set, are worth slightly more than their recycling value. I have about 1,000 cans and except for a few notables I’d have a hard time selling the entire collection for a $1 a can. Of course I’ve kept them for 40 years so there is no way I’d sell them off that cheap so now they are essentially wall paper.
Moving on, I knew Star Wars was the unifying event of my childhood in 1977. So I paid big bucks (I think $75.00) for an official Fox Corp. Darth Vader helmet. You can now find them on ebay for $39.00. I don’t even want to talk about my complete collection of Star Wars (Series I & II) cards that I collected thinking they would be like rare baseball cards when I became an adult or my “firing” Battlestar Galactica toys that I kept because they were “discontinued” and were sure to be rare.
I should have thumb tacked the cards to my wall and spent 35 years enjoying the opportunity to look at them and given my BG toys to some kid and let him have fun playing with them based upon their current actual values.
Oh well, at least I didn’t buy a shitload of HK-91 magazines at $20 each back in 1984.
I guess the funny part is a kid will place value in almost anything. Especially if some adult who had his 1940s Superman comics thrown away by his Mom comes along and tells you that your crap is gonna be worth something one day.
But it wasn’t all bad. Among the stuff was US military manual on “VC Improvised Explosives and Booby Traps” given to me by a Marine I knew. At least that is still cool, not really worth much money…but still cool. And at least it all came with the memories.
