Treasure hunting has been my life for decades now. Of course, I do not mean treasure hunting like Indiana Jones or some pirate’s hidden chest of gold. I hunt for antiques and artifacts and while my search does not take me to faraway exotic lands, I do find myself in some interesting places. And while I have not gotten rich, I have found many valuable items.
In the beginning, my treasure hunting started at local antique shops. One thing I quickly discovered is that antiquing is a world all to itself. First off, I soon realized that I needed a tremendous amount of knowledge to know what was valuable and what was simply old junk. Numerous online resources can educate you on the most sought after items and make you more informed as to what is really collectible. Of course, no one is going to become an expert at all of the myriad categories and individual items that people collect, but good resources will give you at least a broad idea of what to look for when searching for antiques and artifacts.
The next thing I discovered is that antique dealers do not like to be treated as though they are running a big yard sale. These people spend a great deal of time filling their shops with what they consider to be valuable and worthy items. If you walk in and offer a couple dollars for something that is obviously valuable, you may find yourself unable to buy anything. Antique dealers are serious about their things and do not like to be insulted. Negotiation is common and totally acceptable, but try to do so from a win-win perspective.
Antiquing is fun and very interesting, but it certainly does require a depth of knowledge to have real success. So I do some hunting for real buried treasure pretty regularly. Like I said, I do not go into the jungles or ancient ruins hunting for valuables – I just go to my garage, grab my metal detector, and simply choose a spot to scan. I have found old Civil War artifacts like bullets and buttons and of course lots of change and jewelry. Often though, I use nothing but my eyes to hunt for artifacts like arrowheads, pottery shards, and uniform badges. All it generally takes is a bit of research on historical sites and of course, a lot of patience. You would be surprised at how valuable something as simple as a piece of Native American pottery can be to a museum.
