What is a monkeybox?

When I was a little girl, we had a pet monkey named Amanda. My Dad worked in the produce business, so each night he brought home that days culls in a big box - spotty cucumbers, pithy apples, limp celery, moldy oranges and the like. We called it a monkeybox. It was really just trash, but my Mom would take each piece of fruit and trim it, pare it and cut it up to make a beautiful fruit platter for Amanda. Even though it was deemed trash by one, it still had life left in it and was good for the purpose we needed it. That's how I live my life - thrifting, yard saling, looking for another's trash to be my treasure.

Tuesday, March 08, 2011

Gold & Silver

I'm not talking about Pawn Stars.  I'm talking about real gold and silver.  Has anyone taken in any "junk" gold and silver to sell?  I was inspired by Sue who told me that she had sold a couple yard sale find rings for scrap.  So, yesterday, I gathered up all the gold and silver I could find.  I have shoe boxes full of things I have bought at yard sales - Years of Service pins, Military Shooting Awards, Medals, tie tacks, earrings, rings, etc.  I buy baggies of stuff at yard sales and thrifts all the time just to root through them and see what's in there. 

I found a very small palmful of gold - a teeny tiny chain, one earring, three years of service pins and a couple other random items and a small amount of sterling silver - some shooting medals, earrings, a ring, a silver trash can (the jeweler liked it and planned to keep it) and one silver candlestick.  I also had a gold and diamond ankle bracelet that I had won in a contest about 25 years ago to add to the mix. 

I could hold all of this in the palm of one hand except for the candlestick.  I wasn't expecting much, since it hardly amounted to anything and weighed very little.  So, I was very, very happy when the man said he would pay me $345.00 for that little pile of JUNK!  Yippee!  All of it came from yard sales and junk grab bags.  I bet I didn't have $2.00 in the whole pile.

After we went to the Jewelers, we went to the Flea Market and the Thrift Store.  I saw The Bean picking up every single shiny thing he saw, turning it over and looking for marks.  Finally - something he can look for when we thrift! 

So, have YOU sold any gold and silver?????  Do it NOW while the price is HIGH!

9 comments:

  1. Yes, I have, thank you very much. Our church had one of those "gold parties" where you bring in all your junk gold. I had to be at work, but my girlfriend had my baggie. When she called to tell me they would pay me over $300, I shouted "whoppee." Since then, I went through my jewels more carefully and sold another $300 plus. I know a lady who hits all the local yard sales looking for gold to scrap out! You're right, now is the time!

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  2. I by and sell gold...when I can find it. Silver just doesn't bring any money and isn't worth the effort.

    The thrift shop where I work got a doantion of a gold charm bracelet. It was in the bottom of a garbage bag full of clothes. We took it to the local market-stall-buyer-of-gold (they call him Eggey)and he gave us £400! that is after the local jeweler offered us £300.

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  3. While it is great that you made that money from yardsale finds. Because of the prices a very close friend of mine had jewelery stolen from her home that her decesed husband had bought her and that was her mothers. The police told her that they send it away to get the money so it can not be found. We live in a very small town that is very safe. But this gold and silver thing is making it easy money for people with a drug problem.
    Cathy

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  4. I purchased an unsorted bag of junk jewelry from shopgoodwill a couple of years ago. It was like 30 lbs. of jewelry. I found several gold charms, earrings that I used for some craft projects. There were several gold chains and one gold and pearl ring that I sold for $45 and a gold and pearl brooch that I sold on ebay. It "pays" to look at the junk because sometimes it ain't!!!

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  5. Holy cow, maybe I should go through my small collection of crap. And keep my eye out from now on!

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  7. I don't buy much jewelry at thrifts or yard sales, but I did inherit several gold pieces from a family member. Lots of rings that I would never wear so I sold them and made over $700...my family member would be happy for me! I did save several pieces that mean a lot to me! hugs, Linda

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  8. I have a bunch of oddball small pieces collected over the years that I believe are gold...have thought about going in to see if I could make some money...after your post, perhaps I will. Good job!

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