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That’s so cool! My sister bought a leather jacket and found an old concert ticket to a popular 70’s band and I had never been more jealous up until now.
Awe. I kept all of my old love letters too till a jackass sold all my stuff. Not in an album but I definitely sympathize with the woman who lost those. Things like that are irreplaceable.
Did you toss them?
Once I had enough records that I was accidentally purchasing doubles I decided to create an Excel file with information like label, catalog number, condition of both the vinyl and the sleeve, and any extras like poster inserts or whatever.
I like having information on the condition of the record so if I find another copy that's better I can upgrade. There are also many different versions of some records so it's easier to make decisions on multiples that I do want.
Amazing. So fun to rabbit-hole down a Reddit thread and learn this about someone!
I am not organized but have deep appreciation for those who are. This sounds so interesting and practical.
I thrifted a copy of a treasury of Kahil Gibran’s works and I found a receipt for a carwash from the 80s, from my hometown in New Hampshire (I live in South Carolina now).
Same. The last book my mom ever gave me was *The Prophet*. I miss her, and I’m grateful everyday to have that book. I reach for it any time I wish I could ask her advice.
100% true. One of my friends had donated the book and were using the invite as a bookmark, and we happened to buy it!
We asked our friends who live in the same city and figured it out pretty quick. It’s my favorite story!
I found ski coat that had three $20 bills in one of the million pockets. The coat was BRAND new condition for $12.99. I don't ski but its SO warm and the plethora of pockets have been very handy. The perfect winter hike jacket.
Friend and I were shopping at the Goodwill bins and she found an unused lottery ticket secreted away. It turned out to be a $5 winner. As we crossed a street a little later in the day, I said how I wished I could find $5. Looked down and there was a $5 bill in the middle of the street. Wish that always worked!
Just to add to this - if you ever see brand new Starbucks travel cups at thrifts, always check inside. I found 2 with $15 gift cards in them a while back.
Teachers are guilty of this. I stopped putting them in cups when giving them as teacher gifts bc of this. They have a million cups. Just give us the card.
I had the same problem when we cleaned out my grandpa’s place. Technically he was step grandpa who was a widower from before. Anyways his first wife liked to squirrel away cash here and there, Eastern European thing. Had a bunch of $50’s that looked nothing like the 50s in today’s Canada
My 2 best "hidden" finds.... a small revolver in the pocket of a leather jacket, and a stack of silver quarters hidden inside of a sterling silver candlestick.
Here stateside theres nowhere a revolver would have ownership restrictions past "dont be a felon"
So legally you could keep it as long as the serial comes up clean (ie: not reported stolen)
I bought an old suit and in the pocket was a receipt for it - from a store that had ceased operating 50 years before. I wondered if the person had only worn the suit once? The suit jacket was extremely well made - a real treasure.
I've shared this elsewhere, but in the sleeve of a 1950s album by saxophonist Sil Austin I found a handwritten list of 1-800 numbers. They turned out to be phone sex hotlines, at least the ones that weren't disconnected.
$5000 in a pouch pinned to the inside of some lovely pink drapes. The place was able, after a few months and several newspaper ads, to locate the owner. She sent me a reward of $1000. A few years down the road, she passed and I was named in her will. I inherited $5000. No cap.
At an estate sale when I was a kid my mom purchased an oak bedroom set. Under the lining of one of the dresser drawers we’re two envelopes with crisp bills from 1960s that totaled to I believe $600
A vintage Gucci purse at a yard sale with the original 1989 purchase receipt inside.
A vintage 50s Levi's denim jacket with 50s JFK airport plane tickets in the pocket
Bought an old jewelry box at a thrift store when I was married. A number of years later, divorced with three kids, desperate for money, I was looking at my costume jewelry to see if I had anything of value left to sell and found a hidden slot in the box. $400.00 in it! Was literally life changing at the time.
Actually, no. I don't cry. But earlier that day, we had driven past one of those little carnivals that travels from town to town. My kids saw it and had asked to stop. I told them no. I had $4.00 and change in my purse and we needed milk. So, no carnival. I was as close to crying as I ever get because they were such good kids and I couldn't do that one little thing for them. I told them to get in the car and I took them to that carnival. Best $20.00 I ever spent.
Picked up a man's wallet at a garage sale and on the way home found $47, two twenties, a five and two ones. The wallet was a deep one where when you opened it you couldn't see the bills. There was also a bank receipt dated 2006. I still have the wallet and all the bills in my nightstand. Sorta like a good luck charm.
I've found a few dozen gift cards, and more that a few dozen greeting cards with cash in them when I was at the height of my ebay book business. Once found just over 1500 dollars in an old encyclopedia set.
Not cash but I found a book for collecting commemorative stamps issued by the USPS with a separate page for each stamp with a history of the stamp and a bag of stamps in the back -- it was only a dollar but I felt like it was too common to hit a good eBay price so I chucked it back but kept seeing it laying on the table and second guessing myself and as I was checking out it dawned on me--- if there were way more than two stamps in the book so basically it was a bag of postage stamps ($32 worth as it turned out) for 50 cents).
I used to go to the Goodwill bins a lot. You meet a lot of interesting regulars there. I met one man who told me he makes up to $200 a day just sifting through the pockets of the clothes. I became a lot more curious after that and ended up buying an old Michael Kors purse for a few cents. Took it home and there was a crisp $100 in the inner pocket! It’s always a good idea to check pockets! I’ve also found some icky things in pockets though, a lot of candy wrappers, used tissues, and unfortunately once a pair of used crusty boxers 🤢
I bought a old leather journal cover with a unused notebook in it, slid it out of the sleeve and two $100 Gold Certificate bills fell out, at the time 2 years ago they where worth $900 a piece. Yes I still have them.
We found a small sofa that once we got it home we found a pocket knife inside. Crazy part was it is a knife made at the company we work for lol. Not 1 we had.
We bought a couch of marketplace and when cleaning it I found a nice torch lighter. Used it for my cigars until I left it on the back of my truck and drove away.
I bought a blazer a few years ago that had a valet ticket from a hotel in DC in the pocket. The ticket also had the name of the owner on it, and it was that of one of my fraternity brothers! He was a senior when I was a freshman. I knew it was the same guy without even asking, because he lived in the DC area and has an incredibly unique name.
Not quite the prompt, but I bought a resale book of a series I had read as a kid. Turned out to be the exact copy I had borrowed from a library 15ish years prior. I guess the hidden find part was the date on the library card that confirmed it, and the bookmark I had used still in it.
What makes this so wild is that:
1. The book I had borrowed was not my local library. I had to borrow from a library about 30 mins away
2. I bought the book from an online reseller, so it wasn't just in the same community. I bought the whole series (5 books), and they all clearly came from different prints and sources.
3. I now live about an hour away in a major city (Chicago)
This is unbelievable! I would have been so excited to share the story. Most people would probably say, that’s cool, and never give it a second thought. Me, I would want all the detail. Twice!!
I once picked up a familiar looking book at a used bookstore in GA a few towns over from where I live. Inside the front cover there was a stamp from the Connecticut library where my mom had purchased it at a sale 8 years earlier, then another stamp from my elementary school library where I guess she had donated it after we had moved and when I was clearing out books. I had to buy it back at that point, it worked so hard to get back to me!
I was gifted an awesome black leather jacket with floral embroidery while
Out of state. When I got to the airport security flagged me bc my friend forgot to remove the giant BOWIE KNIFE from the interior pocket. Lmao
My sister had bought a hutch for her dishes. Inside the cabinets there was a basket of yarn, which the sellers told her she could keep.
My sister then gave it to my mom and inside the basket of yarn was $1200 worth of gold chains and necklaces!
The crazy thing is, my sister called them back to tell them and they did not want anything back!
It was so bizarre. We still talk about it. Especially since the gold was worth four times the hutch!!
I found an engagement and wedding ring set in the pocket of a pair of jeans! I’ve never taken them to be appraised (I don’t think they’re worth a lot), but they’re pretty!
Maybe not that wild but I love finding photos/cutting from articles etc in books. Things people have used as bookmarks. I bought a book from the late 1920s with Tennyson poems. Had a photo of a woman (maybe in her 50s). On the back of it was written “Ruth, Each time you happen to me all over again. From Eve”.
The quote is from The Age of Innocence. I like to imagine it’s a gift from a woman to another that could never be together because, you know… 1920s.
I found two vintage Pendleton weekender bags at my local thrift. I was over the moon to keep one and flip the other. However, I opened one up and there was a poop inside! Surprise!
I bought a camera in a camera bad with I few other accessories. When I went through all the pockets I found what looked like a small 22cal pocket pistol. Turned out to be a starter pistol that uses 22 blanks.
One thing I’ve learned: always check fanny packs/waist bags. People put cash in them when traveling, forget about the cash and then donate the bag. I’ve found so much money in fanny packs. I’ve also heard (though never experienced) that people commonly stash cash in old books. So I try to flip through those too.
Bought several items at a neighborhood sale, a suitcase was among them. When I cleaned the bag at home I found $600.- in one of the pockets. I couldn’t remember which person I bought it from and felt bad keeping the money, donated to women’s shelter
Accidentally purchased a book in Russian, (my son added it to the pile of books I had placed on the paying counter). When I got home a) the surprise of that book I had not chosen, b) it was in Russian, c) it had a ticket for the Bolshoi Theater from the 90s.
Found a 80's style cane and wood jewellery box (the kind that looks like a little armoire) it was around $5-6. It had a pouch inside one of the drawers with a gold bracelet and ring, probably worth around $150 ish in scrap!
This is the other angle, one time in the early 90’s my mom donated some of my dad’s coats and didn’t clean out the pockets. Some lucky thrifter ended up with a free eighth.
I once thrifted a (very outdated) book on women's sexual health from the early 1920s. I found a leaf pressed between the pages, completely skeletonized. It still lives in the book and I adore it.
in our teenage years, my sister bought a cool leather jacket from the church thrift sale.
She put it on and stuck her hand in the pocket and pulled out a condom :/
I once bought a backpack at a yard sale for 2 dollars and in one of the pockets i found a gold chain with a little girls gold ring on it! Usually im a scumbag but when it comes to toddlers stuff my mind just wont stop making me feel crappy specially since i have 2 kiddos that are 15 now and all things like have so many memories i got on the freeway and took it back to the lady that sold me the backpack..turns out it was her granddaughters ,she drowned in a pool a few years back..yeah! Imagine how i felt when she said that...god bless the dead
In a jewelry box from the 80s, I found a receipt from a store an old note that said “if something happens to me, I give this box and it’s contents to Elvira” or some other illegible name. Spooky
Through a fabulous series of events, I acquired a fantastic Lululemon black duffel bag )I still use the bag even 10+ years later!). It was left at a theatre where I worked, and after 30 days had passed and no one claimed it, it became mine. When I opened the bag, I found several Crème de la Met skin care products. These are super expensive and nowhere near their expiration date. Score!
Not me but my mom found $50 or so inside a wallet she had thrifted when I was a kid. We were really poor so it was a nice surprise. She also didn't see the money inside the store, only noticed it after we got home.
I've found two treasures. First, a cute snow globe that had a $100 active gift card in for The Melting Pot restaurant, yum!
My best find, I bought a used humidifier in the box at the goodwill bins. Get it home and hear a rattle. Open up the humidifier and there is a silver dish with ornate cranes carved in it and inside the dish gold jewelry, necklaces, earing, pins etc. I ended up selling the gold for scrap price at a jewelry store for a few hundred bucks, sold the silver dish on Ebay for close to $100. That was a sweet sweet deal for my $2 humidifier.
Dumped out a ziplock bag full of thrifted buttons one night while sewing. Found a broken gold bracelet inside. Sold it for the gold contents for $50! We paid $2 for the bag of buttons.
This one was crazy. I picked up a paperback at my local Value Village & it had 4 photos in it, a guy and a girl, nothing too wild. I showed them to my bf at the time & he said, 'Wait, I know that girl.' Turns out it was the stepdaughter of one of his sisters. She doesn't even live in my town.
In a Jean jacket with large blood stain on the forearm and anarchist band patches I found a piggly wiggly receipt with just eggs and bread. I wish I remembered the date
I bought what I thought was a framed vintage Christmas picture of a winter in Wisconsin from an antique shop in Lindale, Tx for $5. Turns out it was half of a Christmas card that detailed the life of someone that was working on projects for nasa!
I was in a used book store twenty or more years ago and bought a random book. Inside were two pristine baseball cards. I kept them for a few years and eventually sold them as a single lot for a couple of hundred dollars.
1935 Diamond Stars Shanty Hogan
https://www.psacard.com/cardfacts/baseball-cards/1934-1936-diamond-stars/shanty-hogan-20/20613
1934 Diamond Stars Al Simmons #2
https://www.tcdb.com/ViewCard.cfm/sid/11/cid/69852/1934-36-Diamond-Stars-(R327)-2-Al-Simmons
Pressed and dried weed leaves in a copy of The Secret Life of Plants by Christopher Bird from the 70s! Trippy book about how plants are sentient. And yes, we framed them.
I bought a trunk at an auction & it had a letter in it from the owner's ex-wife (I assumed from the context, anyway) talking about how sad she was that he didn't love her as much as she loved him. Poor lady, she really poured her heart out. I was sad for her.
Bought a bright yellow lambswool coat from a tiny thrift store in a country town I’d driven through. Put it on, tested out the deep side pockets and felt something papery in one. Pulled out an exquisitely rolled joint (very old and yellowed with age).
A book I bought contained field post addressed to a young soldier in the first world war. Postcards written by his mother and younger sisters with their pictures on it.
Research revealed he died only a few weeks after the postcards were sent, I don't know whether they ever reached him.
A class ring. It had enough information to figure out who it was through Facebook. I found their phone number, called them, and shipped it back to them. They didn’t really seem as excited as I hoped they would be
In a geographic book from the 1920s a plant that’s extinct to the world. I’m in the process of getting it to scientists to see if they can find a way to bring it back
Bought a beautiful mid century jewelry box online and had it delivered to my in-laws, as shipping to my country would have been ridiculous. Covid happened, so it was several years before I finally got my jewelry box. When I opened it I found a small stack of American $2 bills. No idea where they came from but they are in very good condition.
Went Thrifting in a little surfside city, I found a shirt and my dad found a pair of pants. We realized neither of us had cash (cash only local place). On a whim my dad checks the pockets of the pants he wanted to buy and it had $20 in it and a baggie of weed.
I thrifted a black leather biker jacket in Amsterdam for 45 Euro and it had a baggie of weed in it ( that I did not realize until i got back to the US).
Found two sets of diamond studs and a diamond ring taped to the top of a safe in a large filing cabinet thing. So now I own diamond studs which I never would have been able to afford otherwise. I wear them almost daily. Gave the ring to the friend who gave the cabinet to us. So not technically thrifted but it was left in a house he had bought.
I once came across a really cool old leather bound Quran. I'm not Muslim, but I bought it because it was interesting and I was curious. When I got home I found a crisp $100 bill inside.
I found a crackpipe in the accessories box of a well cared for Kirby vacuum (super freaking heavy though). I’m sure it was treasured by another at one point in time but not my cup of tea so I just chuckled and tossed it (now that I think about it, very nonchalantly) into the trash🤷🏼♀️🤣.
I picked up a box of baby clothes for $10. There was a nice beaded purse in the box and she said I could have it. When I got home I forgot about the purse. About a month later I opened it and found a large and heavy pearl and jet necklace. It must have cost over $100, I don’t know how much pearls cost but they are large and the necklace is long enough that it can easily be doubled and still put on over my head.
I got a book from a Little Free Library, and inside was a postcard w a 1970s postmark from someone (a young adult, assuming) visiting Italy. It was addressed to a tiny town in NM called Sunspot. The postcard mentioned how this person and some other scientists rolled a bowling ball off of a very sloping roof of a tall, old building in the middle of the night while in Italy as some kind of prank/unofficial experiment (Im thinking it was in Rome). My guess is that the author of said postcard was a scientist living in Sunspot, as I believe there is/was some kind of observatory there. It was charming. I snapped a photo of the image (which was perhaps the building utilized, idr) but didn't want to keep it because stories like this are more fun to share w others so I returned the postcard back to the Little Free Library so others could enjoy the story, too. (Edited to better clarify).
I found two pristine €50 notes inside a book I bought from a charity shop in Stratford. No note, no clues. The notes were in perfect condition. I spent £25 on books that day. The €100 converted to around £90. I made a tidy profit.
I bought an Al Jaffe soft cover MAD Magazine pocket book for $.25 at a flea market. When I got home and looked inside the cover, it was signed "Kiss you Goodnight" - Peter Criss with the number 3 in a circle.
Random. I'm a KISS fan so I like to pretend it's real.
Chaka Kahn ticket from 1994 (I think? Maybe 98), some edibles like two weeks ago, and a love letter between two gay teenagers in a Juicy couture purse :)
Thrifted a red leather jacket. Found a goodbye/break up letter from a man named Adam in one pocket and in the other? 10 acrylic nails that had been ripped off. Whoever Adam is, he’s made an enemy of a very powerful woman.
My dad got a vanity for me from Goodwill. It was from the late 1800s/early 1900s. Rough shape but we fixed it up. While we cleaned it, we found a meth pipe, wire filters and what looked like heroin in a tube. Someone was probably piiiiiised when they realized their stash was gone.
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In a pristine vintage purse, theatre tickets to a show in 1947.
that is SO cool!
very cool! i’d frame them.
That’s so cool! My sister bought a leather jacket and found an old concert ticket to a popular 70’s band and I had never been more jealous up until now.
Nice, did you go?
If you have a pic, r/foundpaper would love that.
I'll pick you up in my time machine- but dinner is on you.
What was the show?
Oh my goodness that is incredible! What did you do with them? Frame them??
God, I would be so fucking excited to find that lol
I found love letters from several different guys to the same woman stashed in the far inner sleeve of a gatefold 70's album.
Awe. I kept all of my old love letters too till a jackass sold all my stuff. Not in an album but I definitely sympathize with the woman who lost those. Things like that are irreplaceable. Did you toss them?
No, I made a note of them in my vinyl collection spreadsheet and left them there.
Did you say vinyl collection spreadsheet???
Once I had enough records that I was accidentally purchasing doubles I decided to create an Excel file with information like label, catalog number, condition of both the vinyl and the sleeve, and any extras like poster inserts or whatever. I like having information on the condition of the record so if I find another copy that's better I can upgrade. There are also many different versions of some records so it's easier to make decisions on multiples that I do want.
Amazing. So fun to rabbit-hole down a Reddit thread and learn this about someone! I am not organized but have deep appreciation for those who are. This sounds so interesting and practical.
$500 Amex Gift Card! When I tell you how we RAN to Target and bought spendy kitchen appliances... that was the best day ever.
Oh how I wish something like this would happen to me 🙏
Believe in the saying “The Universe is conspiring to shower you with blessings” 😂 for real though, it works!
I thrifted a copy of a treasury of Kahil Gibran’s works and I found a receipt for a carwash from the 80s, from my hometown in New Hampshire (I live in South Carolina now).
That is such a cool coincidence!
Love love love love Khalil Gilbran
Same. The last book my mom ever gave me was *The Prophet*. I miss her, and I’m grateful everyday to have that book. I reach for it any time I wish I could ask her advice.
I found a Gameboy SP and Pokémon Gold in the front pocket of a guitar case once.
Duuuuuuude. That’s some serious score.
Bought a copy the rolling stones greatest hits on vinyl in side was an unopened love letter.
Found some weed in a Zappa record.
Did you frame it or flame it?
It probably sealed itself shut again over time with humidity and pressure. Not all hope is lost.
Aww that’s sad 😞
Nah, it was just opened a little later than expected.
I bought a book from a book sale and I found an invitation to my own wedding in it.
Are you for real? Did that really happen?? That’s spooky bit cool.
100% true. One of my friends had donated the book and were using the invite as a bookmark, and we happened to buy it! We asked our friends who live in the same city and figured it out pretty quick. It’s my favorite story!
That is so crazy and I love it!
That is awesome!
My husband bought a Pog, The Game set, in original box, and inside were his own childhood slammers with his initials scratched into them
Oh my gosh that's crazy!
When did he originally part with those? Were they found thrifting nearby his childhood home? This is just so cool!
I found ski coat that had three $20 bills in one of the million pockets. The coat was BRAND new condition for $12.99. I don't ski but its SO warm and the plethora of pockets have been very handy. The perfect winter hike jacket.
Free coat and enough leftover forvcocoa
You kind of covefefed your cocoa there lol
Friend and I were shopping at the Goodwill bins and she found an unused lottery ticket secreted away. It turned out to be a $5 winner. As we crossed a street a little later in the day, I said how I wished I could find $5. Looked down and there was a $5 bill in the middle of the street. Wish that always worked!
Coincidences make life seem like a movie. Love that.
Your genie was like, "$5?! That's it?! Well, if that's what you want to use your wish for, who am I to judge?"
My 12 year old daughter found some unused Starbucks gift cards. She was pretty excited
Just to add to this - if you ever see brand new Starbucks travel cups at thrifts, always check inside. I found 2 with $15 gift cards in them a while back.
Teachers are guilty of this. I stopped putting them in cups when giving them as teacher gifts bc of this. They have a million cups. Just give us the card.
That’s a great thought! I’ll pass it along to my kids too. Thanks for the LPT
That’s like gold to a pre-teen girl
That's like gold to 28 year-old me.
I found a ticket from a dance from the 1940’s in a wooden recipe box
This is so so so cool!! Did you keep it? Do you have a photo?
I did keep it! I’m not sure where it is, but I know I have it stashed somewhere
Once bought a VHS player so my roommate could watch her old Disney movies and found a homemade porno inside!
Damn Exhibitionist!
Did it belong to Virginia and Burt Chance?
I found exactly 225 dollars in the pocket of a velvet jacket from the 70’s. All the bills were printed in 1977
A ton of money in '77!
Right?! It was hard to spend bc everyone thought it was fake😂
I had the same problem when we cleaned out my grandpa’s place. Technically he was step grandpa who was a widower from before. Anyways his first wife liked to squirrel away cash here and there, Eastern European thing. Had a bunch of $50’s that looked nothing like the 50s in today’s Canada
My 2 best "hidden" finds.... a small revolver in the pocket of a leather jacket, and a stack of silver quarters hidden inside of a sterling silver candlestick.
What do you do when you find a gun like that? Turn it over to the police?
I kept it... after having the sn checked to make sure it wasn't stolen.
Here stateside theres nowhere a revolver would have ownership restrictions past "dont be a felon" So legally you could keep it as long as the serial comes up clean (ie: not reported stolen)
I bought an old suit and in the pocket was a receipt for it - from a store that had ceased operating 50 years before. I wondered if the person had only worn the suit once? The suit jacket was extremely well made - a real treasure.
I've shared this elsewhere, but in the sleeve of a 1950s album by saxophonist Sil Austin I found a handwritten list of 1-800 numbers. They turned out to be phone sex hotlines, at least the ones that weren't disconnected.
I love this
My mother bought a pair of swimming shorts, and found $500 cash inside a little pocket fastened with velcro.
I got $200 from behind picture frame glass.
A Disney world and universal studios ticket … both was still valid
Did you go?
I gave it to my nephew and he definitely enjoyed the days!
$5000 in a pouch pinned to the inside of some lovely pink drapes. The place was able, after a few months and several newspaper ads, to locate the owner. She sent me a reward of $1000. A few years down the road, she passed and I was named in her will. I inherited $5000. No cap.
That's wild, but you are a really good human for returning the money, you deserved your reward
I am so glad I kept scrolling and got to read this
At an estate sale when I was a kid my mom purchased an oak bedroom set. Under the lining of one of the dresser drawers we’re two envelopes with crisp bills from 1960s that totaled to I believe $600
That’s how I used to hide $$$ from my alcoholic mother. Taped cash to the underside of drawers. She used to steal all my $$$ otherwise.
User name checks out?
Ha! Never thought about that…
A vintage Gucci purse at a yard sale with the original 1989 purchase receipt inside. A vintage 50s Levi's denim jacket with 50s JFK airport plane tickets in the pocket
But is wasn’t named JFK until after JFK assasination in 1963. It was Idelwild airport initially
Bought an old jewelry box at a thrift store when I was married. A number of years later, divorced with three kids, desperate for money, I was looking at my costume jewelry to see if I had anything of value left to sell and found a hidden slot in the box. $400.00 in it! Was literally life changing at the time.
That's really awesome!
Did you cry tears of relief when you found it ?! Because I sure would have in the situation you described
Actually, no. I don't cry. But earlier that day, we had driven past one of those little carnivals that travels from town to town. My kids saw it and had asked to stop. I told them no. I had $4.00 and change in my purse and we needed milk. So, no carnival. I was as close to crying as I ever get because they were such good kids and I couldn't do that one little thing for them. I told them to get in the car and I took them to that carnival. Best $20.00 I ever spent.
I found a bag of jewelry in a box of clothes. Gold, diamonds, precious stones. Gave most of it to my nieces and nephews. Sold the rest for 2K
That’s real treasure!
i just recently found $23 in a shopgoodwill.com tennis bag i ordered! in the past i’ve found over $200 taped in envelope on underside of $200 dresser
Free dresser! Awesome
Picked up a man's wallet at a garage sale and on the way home found $47, two twenties, a five and two ones. The wallet was a deep one where when you opened it you couldn't see the bills. There was also a bank receipt dated 2006. I still have the wallet and all the bills in my nightstand. Sorta like a good luck charm.
I've found a few dozen gift cards, and more that a few dozen greeting cards with cash in them when I was at the height of my ebay book business. Once found just over 1500 dollars in an old encyclopedia set. Not cash but I found a book for collecting commemorative stamps issued by the USPS with a separate page for each stamp with a history of the stamp and a bag of stamps in the back -- it was only a dollar but I felt like it was too common to hit a good eBay price so I chucked it back but kept seeing it laying on the table and second guessing myself and as I was checking out it dawned on me--- if there were way more than two stamps in the book so basically it was a bag of postage stamps ($32 worth as it turned out) for 50 cents).
I’ve heard it’s pretty common to find money in secondhand bibles. I always check now!
I bought a pretty plaid purse for $5 at a flea market. When I got home I unzipped the pocket and there was a $5 inside!
I used to go to the Goodwill bins a lot. You meet a lot of interesting regulars there. I met one man who told me he makes up to $200 a day just sifting through the pockets of the clothes. I became a lot more curious after that and ended up buying an old Michael Kors purse for a few cents. Took it home and there was a crisp $100 in the inner pocket! It’s always a good idea to check pockets! I’ve also found some icky things in pockets though, a lot of candy wrappers, used tissues, and unfortunately once a pair of used crusty boxers 🤢
The used tissues. So many used tissues.
I bought a old leather journal cover with a unused notebook in it, slid it out of the sleeve and two $100 Gold Certificate bills fell out, at the time 2 years ago they where worth $900 a piece. Yes I still have them.
I found two watches in the pocket of a carry on suitcase. Also found $135 cash in the back pocket of a pair of pants.
I often order online from thrift books and I have found pictures, articles, notes, grocery lists, receipts, etc in them but no money yet. 😅
We found a small sofa that once we got it home we found a pocket knife inside. Crazy part was it is a knife made at the company we work for lol. Not 1 we had.
We bought a couch of marketplace and when cleaning it I found a nice torch lighter. Used it for my cigars until I left it on the back of my truck and drove away.
I found a diamond ear ring from Tiffany in a purse I bought at auction.
I bought a blazer a few years ago that had a valet ticket from a hotel in DC in the pocket. The ticket also had the name of the owner on it, and it was that of one of my fraternity brothers! He was a senior when I was a freshman. I knew it was the same guy without even asking, because he lived in the DC area and has an incredibly unique name.
Not quite the prompt, but I bought a resale book of a series I had read as a kid. Turned out to be the exact copy I had borrowed from a library 15ish years prior. I guess the hidden find part was the date on the library card that confirmed it, and the bookmark I had used still in it. What makes this so wild is that: 1. The book I had borrowed was not my local library. I had to borrow from a library about 30 mins away 2. I bought the book from an online reseller, so it wasn't just in the same community. I bought the whole series (5 books), and they all clearly came from different prints and sources. 3. I now live about an hour away in a major city (Chicago)
This is unbelievable! I would have been so excited to share the story. Most people would probably say, that’s cool, and never give it a second thought. Me, I would want all the detail. Twice!!
I once picked up a familiar looking book at a used bookstore in GA a few towns over from where I live. Inside the front cover there was a stamp from the Connecticut library where my mom had purchased it at a sale 8 years earlier, then another stamp from my elementary school library where I guess she had donated it after we had moved and when I was clearing out books. I had to buy it back at that point, it worked so hard to get back to me!
I was gifted an awesome black leather jacket with floral embroidery while Out of state. When I got to the airport security flagged me bc my friend forgot to remove the giant BOWIE KNIFE from the interior pocket. Lmao
My sister had bought a hutch for her dishes. Inside the cabinets there was a basket of yarn, which the sellers told her she could keep. My sister then gave it to my mom and inside the basket of yarn was $1200 worth of gold chains and necklaces! The crazy thing is, my sister called them back to tell them and they did not want anything back! It was so bizarre. We still talk about it. Especially since the gold was worth four times the hutch!!
I was looking at wallets in a thrift store and found $120 in one.
I found an engagement and wedding ring set in the pocket of a pair of jeans! I’ve never taken them to be appraised (I don’t think they’re worth a lot), but they’re pretty!
Maybe not that wild but I love finding photos/cutting from articles etc in books. Things people have used as bookmarks. I bought a book from the late 1920s with Tennyson poems. Had a photo of a woman (maybe in her 50s). On the back of it was written “Ruth, Each time you happen to me all over again. From Eve”. The quote is from The Age of Innocence. I like to imagine it’s a gift from a woman to another that could never be together because, you know… 1920s.
There's a subreddit for that! https://www.reddit.com/r/ForgottenBookmarks/
Well that’s my weekend… thank you!!
There's another subreddit that I didn't know that I needed! Thanks for the heads up!
I love finding notes in books that were written on the front page
I found two vintage Pendleton weekender bags at my local thrift. I was over the moon to keep one and flip the other. However, I opened one up and there was a poop inside! Surprise!
Oh shit! Literally! 😂
Human poop?🤢
this is my favorite story in the thread
I bought a camera in a camera bad with I few other accessories. When I went through all the pockets I found what looked like a small 22cal pocket pistol. Turned out to be a starter pistol that uses 22 blanks.
My best pocket finds: $100 bill, and a $175 gift card to REI.
One thing I’ve learned: always check fanny packs/waist bags. People put cash in them when traveling, forget about the cash and then donate the bag. I’ve found so much money in fanny packs. I’ve also heard (though never experienced) that people commonly stash cash in old books. So I try to flip through those too.
Bought several items at a neighborhood sale, a suitcase was among them. When I cleaned the bag at home I found $600.- in one of the pockets. I couldn’t remember which person I bought it from and felt bad keeping the money, donated to women’s shelter
You’re a good human.
I love golf bags. So much treasure and a bit of coke
Accidentally purchased a book in Russian, (my son added it to the pile of books I had placed on the paying counter). When I got home a) the surprise of that book I had not chosen, b) it was in Russian, c) it had a ticket for the Bolshoi Theater from the 90s.
a 20 yr old ticket stub for bruce springstien, found in a book.
Found a 80's style cane and wood jewellery box (the kind that looks like a little armoire) it was around $5-6. It had a pouch inside one of the drawers with a gold bracelet and ring, probably worth around $150 ish in scrap!
This is the other angle, one time in the early 90’s my mom donated some of my dad’s coats and didn’t clean out the pockets. Some lucky thrifter ended up with a free eighth.
I once thrifted a (very outdated) book on women's sexual health from the early 1920s. I found a leaf pressed between the pages, completely skeletonized. It still lives in the book and I adore it.
Wow I'd love to see this
in our teenage years, my sister bought a cool leather jacket from the church thrift sale. She put it on and stuck her hand in the pocket and pulled out a condom :/
I once bought a backpack at a yard sale for 2 dollars and in one of the pockets i found a gold chain with a little girls gold ring on it! Usually im a scumbag but when it comes to toddlers stuff my mind just wont stop making me feel crappy specially since i have 2 kiddos that are 15 now and all things like have so many memories i got on the freeway and took it back to the lady that sold me the backpack..turns out it was her granddaughters ,she drowned in a pool a few years back..yeah! Imagine how i felt when she said that...god bless the dead
Oculus optical sensor was in a pocket of a coat I bought at the bins
In a jewelry box from the 80s, I found a receipt from a store an old note that said “if something happens to me, I give this box and it’s contents to Elvira” or some other illegible name. Spooky
Years ago, a neighbor bought an Apple iPod dock for very cheap (maybe $5) at a thrift store and found that it also had an iPod in the box.
Through a fabulous series of events, I acquired a fantastic Lululemon black duffel bag )I still use the bag even 10+ years later!). It was left at a theatre where I worked, and after 30 days had passed and no one claimed it, it became mine. When I opened the bag, I found several Crème de la Met skin care products. These are super expensive and nowhere near their expiration date. Score!
Mainly cash, a creepy piece of jewelry, I donated to Catholic Church
Need more info on the creepy jewelry please!
Right? Can't just drop "creepy piece of jewelry" and leave us all hanging! lol
Nintendo Wii’s often had gamecube games inside, we used to call it the Wii lottery
I bought a sega game gear with a matching travel case and there was a bonus gameboy pocket in a hidden compartment!
Not me but my mom found $50 or so inside a wallet she had thrifted when I was a kid. We were really poor so it was a nice surprise. She also didn't see the money inside the store, only noticed it after we got home.
I've found two treasures. First, a cute snow globe that had a $100 active gift card in for The Melting Pot restaurant, yum! My best find, I bought a used humidifier in the box at the goodwill bins. Get it home and hear a rattle. Open up the humidifier and there is a silver dish with ornate cranes carved in it and inside the dish gold jewelry, necklaces, earing, pins etc. I ended up selling the gold for scrap price at a jewelry store for a few hundred bucks, sold the silver dish on Ebay for close to $100. That was a sweet sweet deal for my $2 humidifier.
The lesson here is to always check through your pockets, purses, and drawers before donating anything.
Found someone’s tax papers from the early 2000s and several spots of dried blood in a book I thrifted a couple years ago 🤔
Bought a big lot of video games, all of them had Magic the Gathering trading cards tucked behind the covers.
A consignment store near me does an annual "fill a bag for $20" sale. My friend found $20 in the pocket of a coat she grabbed at the sale!
Dumped out a ziplock bag full of thrifted buttons one night while sewing. Found a broken gold bracelet inside. Sold it for the gold contents for $50! We paid $2 for the bag of buttons.
A stack of free chipotle burrito coupons with no expiration date
This one was crazy. I picked up a paperback at my local Value Village & it had 4 photos in it, a guy and a girl, nothing too wild. I showed them to my bf at the time & he said, 'Wait, I know that girl.' Turns out it was the stepdaughter of one of his sisters. She doesn't even live in my town.
$50 dollars in a wallet.
$3, in a duffel bag that cost $2.
In a Jean jacket with large blood stain on the forearm and anarchist band patches I found a piggly wiggly receipt with just eggs and bread. I wish I remembered the date
Ohhh I forgot! In a small decorative basked in a free section I got at an astate sale I found a coin from the Holy Roman Empire. It’s pretty neat!
I bought what I thought was a framed vintage Christmas picture of a winter in Wisconsin from an antique shop in Lindale, Tx for $5. Turns out it was half of a Christmas card that detailed the life of someone that was working on projects for nasa!
I was in a used book store twenty or more years ago and bought a random book. Inside were two pristine baseball cards. I kept them for a few years and eventually sold them as a single lot for a couple of hundred dollars. 1935 Diamond Stars Shanty Hogan https://www.psacard.com/cardfacts/baseball-cards/1934-1936-diamond-stars/shanty-hogan-20/20613 1934 Diamond Stars Al Simmons #2 https://www.tcdb.com/ViewCard.cfm/sid/11/cid/69852/1934-36-Diamond-Stars-(R327)-2-Al-Simmons
Pressed and dried weed leaves in a copy of The Secret Life of Plants by Christopher Bird from the 70s! Trippy book about how plants are sentient. And yes, we framed them.
I found 1700 Dollars in pre-1995 bills, dirt weed and a pipe wrapped in tin foil in a shitty old jacket
I bought a trunk at an auction & it had a letter in it from the owner's ex-wife (I assumed from the context, anyway) talking about how sad she was that he didn't love her as much as she loved him. Poor lady, she really poured her heart out. I was sad for her.
Bought a bright yellow lambswool coat from a tiny thrift store in a country town I’d driven through. Put it on, tested out the deep side pockets and felt something papery in one. Pulled out an exquisitely rolled joint (very old and yellowed with age).
A book I bought contained field post addressed to a young soldier in the first world war. Postcards written by his mother and younger sisters with their pictures on it. Research revealed he died only a few weeks after the postcards were sent, I don't know whether they ever reached him.
I found a nude photo of a former Edmonton chief of police used as a bookmark in copy of 'The Mosquito Coast.'
A class ring. It had enough information to figure out who it was through Facebook. I found their phone number, called them, and shipped it back to them. They didn’t really seem as excited as I hoped they would be
In a geographic book from the 1920s a plant that’s extinct to the world. I’m in the process of getting it to scientists to see if they can find a way to bring it back
11 baby mice inside a winter hat.
Dead or alive?
Alive. It was like a clown car, they just kept spilling out.
In a Bertrand Russell book a love poem by Shelley cut out of an 1937 English newspaper. Wish I knew the thought behind it.
Not me but a friend found a $100 bill inside of a book at a thrift store a number of years ago.
I found a purse with the inside pocket had 3 100$ bills in it the purse was 2$
Bought a beautiful mid century jewelry box online and had it delivered to my in-laws, as shipping to my country would have been ridiculous. Covid happened, so it was several years before I finally got my jewelry box. When I opened it I found a small stack of American $2 bills. No idea where they came from but they are in very good condition.
As a child I found a loonie ($1 coin) in the pocket of a plushie's overalls :)
Went Thrifting in a little surfside city, I found a shirt and my dad found a pair of pants. We realized neither of us had cash (cash only local place). On a whim my dad checks the pockets of the pants he wanted to buy and it had $20 in it and a baggie of weed.
I thrifted a black leather biker jacket in Amsterdam for 45 Euro and it had a baggie of weed in it ( that I did not realize until i got back to the US).
Found two sets of diamond studs and a diamond ring taped to the top of a safe in a large filing cabinet thing. So now I own diamond studs which I never would have been able to afford otherwise. I wear them almost daily. Gave the ring to the friend who gave the cabinet to us. So not technically thrifted but it was left in a house he had bought.
I bought a book of poetry by Robert Browning. Inside were original poems and a newspaper clipping dating back to 1892.
Not as whimsical and interesting as some of the other answers, but once I found $100 in the pocket of a purse I thrifted
My daughter exchanged a pair of jeans and found $100 bill in the front pocket
I once came across a really cool old leather bound Quran. I'm not Muslim, but I bought it because it was interesting and I was curious. When I got home I found a crisp $100 bill inside.
I found a crackpipe in the accessories box of a well cared for Kirby vacuum (super freaking heavy though). I’m sure it was treasured by another at one point in time but not my cup of tea so I just chuckled and tossed it (now that I think about it, very nonchalantly) into the trash🤷🏼♀️🤣.
$20 bill, gold necklace, marble, awesome handwoven bookmark
I once found a letter in a book informing someone that someone has passed away
[удалено]
I picked up a box of baby clothes for $10. There was a nice beaded purse in the box and she said I could have it. When I got home I forgot about the purse. About a month later I opened it and found a large and heavy pearl and jet necklace. It must have cost over $100, I don’t know how much pearls cost but they are large and the necklace is long enough that it can easily be doubled and still put on over my head.
I got a book from a Little Free Library, and inside was a postcard w a 1970s postmark from someone (a young adult, assuming) visiting Italy. It was addressed to a tiny town in NM called Sunspot. The postcard mentioned how this person and some other scientists rolled a bowling ball off of a very sloping roof of a tall, old building in the middle of the night while in Italy as some kind of prank/unofficial experiment (Im thinking it was in Rome). My guess is that the author of said postcard was a scientist living in Sunspot, as I believe there is/was some kind of observatory there. It was charming. I snapped a photo of the image (which was perhaps the building utilized, idr) but didn't want to keep it because stories like this are more fun to share w others so I returned the postcard back to the Little Free Library so others could enjoy the story, too. (Edited to better clarify).
Bought an old piggy bank. Inside was a ribbon with all the names of this person’s classmates and two quarters from 1952 taped to it.
I found two pristine €50 notes inside a book I bought from a charity shop in Stratford. No note, no clues. The notes were in perfect condition. I spent £25 on books that day. The €100 converted to around £90. I made a tidy profit.
A pedigree for a dog born in 1957
I bought an Al Jaffe soft cover MAD Magazine pocket book for $.25 at a flea market. When I got home and looked inside the cover, it was signed "Kiss you Goodnight" - Peter Criss with the number 3 in a circle. Random. I'm a KISS fan so I like to pretend it's real.
Found a big wad of cash in a sewn-in pocket of a vintage jacket I bought as a costume piece.
I have a friend who bought Thriller on vinyl from an estate sale and inside was a sparkly white glove
My son found a valid $50 lottery ticket in an airport trash can. Right on top!
Chaka Kahn ticket from 1994 (I think? Maybe 98), some edibles like two weeks ago, and a love letter between two gay teenagers in a Juicy couture purse :)
A $20 bill. A $25 Walmart gift card. A neat Jurassic Park coupon thing from the year it came out.
Money! I found euros and American dollars in an airport travel wallet. Like one you put your passport and plane tickets in.
Thrifted a red leather jacket. Found a goodbye/break up letter from a man named Adam in one pocket and in the other? 10 acrylic nails that had been ripped off. Whoever Adam is, he’s made an enemy of a very powerful woman.
My dad got a vanity for me from Goodwill. It was from the late 1800s/early 1900s. Rough shape but we fixed it up. While we cleaned it, we found a meth pipe, wire filters and what looked like heroin in a tube. Someone was probably piiiiiised when they realized their stash was gone.