Thrift Store Bargain Worth $250,000!by Mary Ann Romans | More from this Blogger 24 Feb 2007 08:43 AM Here is a definite case where being frugal and shopping at a thrift store can really pay off! Bargain hunter Michael Sparks picked up a rare copy of the Declaration of Independence in a Nashville, Tennessee thrift shop. The document turned out to be an official copy, originally commissioned by John Quincy Adams himself, back in 1820. Experts are putting a value of about $250,000 on the document. Sparks himself didn't realize the value of what he had found until almost a year later, while he was doing some research online. This copy of the Declaration of Independence will be going up for auction on March 22nd. The opening bid will start at $125,000, but the experts are sure it will go for at least that $250,000 price. How much did Sparks pay for the find? Exactly $2.48. Can you imagine having a find like that? it makes me want to run out now to my local thrift store for some bargain hunting. although, knowing me, I would have probably looked at the old, yellowed and shellacked paper and thought "what an eyesore." I'm much too cynical to have believed that the document might have been an original. I do wonder, however, about an old dresser that we once had. It had been handed down to my husband through his grandmother and no one really knew how old it was. It sat in our garage for the longest time. One Saturday, we were cleaning out our household in preparation for our town's bulk trash day, a day when the town carts away all sorts of treasures to the dump. I had no idea the dresser would fall victim on this day. I went out in the backyard looking for my husband and found him out in the driveway hacking the thing to death in preparation of putting it out to the curb. He was in an organizing fit and decided the dresser needed to go in that instant. Of course I cringed. That was not very frugal. Even if we didn't want the dresser, I was sure there was someone out there who might like it. But probably not in the dozen or so pieces it was in. I noticed the crafters mark on an inside drawer. To this day, we still wonder if that dresser would have paid for our mortgage, or at least for a little vacation. So you just never know. Maybe someone was cleaning out their own house when they came across that copy of the Declaration of Independence and decided it wasn't worth much. So keep on thrift shopping and let let me know what you find. Related Articles: Thrift Store Find: Archbishop's Stolen Cross for $6 Creative Uses for Thrift Store Finds Learn more about Mary Ann Romans  Mary Ann Romans is a freelance writer, wife and mother of three children. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, the kids and a 16-pound cat. Relevantfrugal tags User Comments  Abi H (105) 06 Mar 2007 07:09 AMI am moving soon, I will make sure my husband isnt let loose with the sledge hammer!  Mary Ann Romans (26876) 06 Mar 2007 11:47 AMIt is funny, because we are moving, too. I cringe whenever I hear him putter in the basement! FinanciallyIrresponsible (5) 07 Jan 2008 10:22 AMMy wife is a hero at this kind of thing, but not to the quarter million dollar degree yet. We live in a nice neighborhood and she goes to the Goodwill, finds great stuff, walks up the street to the trading/exchange type store and has made 100's of dollars. She even found thrown out christmas gifts and went to the store since it had the return tag and collected the money. Last week she picked up a $120 video picture frame for $10, went to Macy's and collected the cash! http://financialirresponsibility.blogspot.com/ Mary Ann Romans (26876) 07 Jan 2008 10:36 AMWow, that is amazing! I don't know that I would return a thrift store purchase to the original store, though, what do you think? Community Tags bargain, frugal, thrift store Discuss this article
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