Category: Treasure Hunt

Dear Donna,

I have a tin full of assorted mostly damaged pieces of old jewelry. I don’t want to throw it away if someone can find a use for it. Can you help me with any information on where to take it? Sell or donate, what’s best? Thank you for any help.

Deb

Dear Deb,

I think before I did anything with it I would go through it. Bring it to a local store you can trust. What to look for would be pieces of gold or silver. Or any signed jewelry, watches etc. that stand out.

After that I would feel safe to either sell it as a lot or even possibly donate it. Crafters love jewelry fragments to remake into new pieces etc.

Wherever you bring it to for help, they might even be interested in purchasing it — an antique collectible shop, jeweler. Even if you don’t find any hidden valuable pieces, the tin lot should be worth at least $25. Cross your fingers! Maybe a tiny treasure is there.

Dear Donna,

Does anybody buy and use Depression glass anymore? When cleaning out my mom’s home I accumulated quite a few pieces. I brought them to a consignment store and got most of them back. Things have changed so much. I never thought I would get them back again. Any advice on what to do now?

Thanks, Donna.

Ellen

Dear Ellen,

First let me say you are right.

Things have changed a lot in the past years. Items that were popular for collecting and displaying are being unloaded as people want simplicity and less clutter now. I do think that some Depression glass is wanted; I also think that as always the best, rarest pieces, and those in the best condition, will always hold high value in the collectors market.

During the Depression era lots of glassware was made. So much of it is still around today. Common pieces seem to now get pushed back.

I think now I would donate it to a fundraising sale or possibly a yard sale yourself. But for value I don’t think I would price it more than $1 or $2 apiece. If there was any more value to them I think that would have been the pieces you didn’t get back.

Good luck, Ellen. Thanks for sharing with us.

Donna

Note: Ellen, if any of the glass is chipped or heavily scratched, toss it!

Dear Donna,

This small vase has been in my family for years. My parents got it for a wedding present back in the 1940s. They were both antique collectors so we have a few different pieces from them. It always sat on our dining room server. In the spring my mom would get flowers for it. Now it is mine and I have all the memories that come with it.

Can you give me any information on it? I will pass this on to my son and hopefully give it a new home.

Thank you.

Heidi

Dear Heidi,

First I want to say thank you for all the photos and information.

Your lovely Arts and Crafts Era vase is a Rookwood pottery piece. It dates back to 1912. All this information is imprinted in the bottom of the vase.

Rookwood is an American company out of Ohio. It has an interesting story (worth researching)and some extremely talented artist pieces. It was so popular for its Arts and Crafts matte finishes and patterns.

Rookwood values are based on condition, age, size, artist, and rarity of pieces. Your vase is 5” and a pea pod pattern in good condition with no damage. It’s in the range of $150+.

Heidi, I just want to say I think your memories of it are so important in passing it on. Just a tiny piece of paper inside will go a long way. Making family pieces important is all in memories!

Thank you for sharing with us and putting a smile on my face.

Hello, Donna,

I have several boxes of old bottles. They are dirty but otherwise in good condition. I think my uncle and dad dug them up years ago. Can you tell me what to do with them? Thank you.

Christine

Dear Christine,

First thing I would do is soak them in the sink with dish detergent. Don’t scrub. Just get the dust and debris off. Letting them sit overnight sometimes helps with this. Bottle collectors will do the rest of the cleaning if deemed appropriate.

Old and antique bottles are in a field of their own. There are plenty of experts out there. They can help in the determination of values. Lots of the items have just a decorative value but some can be rare and in the thousands for resale. So before you just toss them it’s a good idea to have someone look at them.

Send group pictures to a bottle expert online. They can spot valuable ones even this way. Or bring them to your local antique shop and ask if they could peek at them. Either way, Christine, a quick check is always advisable with anything you have questions with. Thanks for sharing with us. I hope you found a treasure!

Dear Donna,

I found this nest blowing around in my front yard over this past month. It was like a dried grass ball. I brought it inside and it actually was, I believe, a bird’s nest.

I was going to toss it and thought maybe I would run it by you first. Is there any value to this? It’s a big one and very full.

Thank you in advance.

Coreen

Dear Coreen,

I’m willing to bet lots of nests didn’t make it in trees. This year was so windy.

Birds’ nests and wasps’ nests are collected for interior decorative reasons. The bigger and cleaner, the better. I have seen huge wasp nests go for a couple hundred in great shape.

As for a bird’s nest I would say the value is in the $20 range. I think if you brought it even to an antique shop you could get half that.

I hope this was helpful, Coreen. Good luck finding a new home.

Hello, Donna,

I recently saw your info on a New England Patriots shirt in the Hippo. Figured I would ask about these two items. Just curious. Thank you in advance,

Emily

Dear Emily,

Thanks for reaching out. Both your items would be collectible to a collector of baseball-themed items. The pricing is tough, though. These types of articles were made en masse. Many can be found unframed. Any collector at the time would probably have saved the papers themselves. But purchasing them framed would have been costly, so I would think they have to be worth in the range of $100+ each.

Emily, I did research and found some out there but not selling for prices they were asking, which are much higher than I feel comfortable with. I think the price I gave you is a fair market value.

Thanks again for sharing and I hope this was helpful.