The Most Valuable Items People Found at Yard Sales and Thrift Stores

From original comic book art to a king’s bed, from the Declaration of Independence to another copy of the Declaration of Independence, weirdly valuable things often get sold for cheap. Here are some of the most incredible finds ever to be discovered at yard sales and thrift stores.

Andy Warhol Sketch

In 2012, businessman Andy Fields came across a collections of paintings at a garage sale in Las Vegas, which he bought for $5.

When he went to reframe one of these paintings, he discovered a small sketch by legendary pop artist Andy Warhol hidden inside, which has been valued at over $1.5 million.

Unreleased Velvet Underground Album

Back in 2002, record collector Warren Hill bought a nondescript record with a handwritten label for the princely sum of 75 cents.

This turned out to be an extremely rare copy of the Velvet Underground’s unreleased debut album, and ultimately sold at auction for $155,000.

Developer NES Game Cartridge

Gaming enthusiast Rob Walter purchased an old box of Nintendo Entertainment System cartridges from a garage sale in 2006 for $40. He got a bargain, as the box’s contents proved to be worth a combined $50,000.

It included a rare developer cartridge used for the 1991 Nintendo Campus Challenge, in which the game toured the U.S. as part of a promotion. This cartridge alone sold for over $20,000 on eBay.

The Declaration of Independence

Somewhere out there in the world (presumably mostly in the U.S.) there were once 500 copies of the original printing of the Declaration of Independence.

Only 23 copies have ever been found, and one turned up in a flea market in Adamstown, Pennsylvania. A financial analyst purchased an unassuming oil painting for $4, only later to learn that an original copy of the Declaration of Independence was hiding inside.

When this was sold at auction in 1991, and went for an eye-watering $2.42 million.