Author - Naomi Luc

Auction Hunters: Season 2, Episode 15: “The Dallas Mavericks.”

The Haff-Ton team drove to Dallas, TX. The locals were serious players. The storage facility in a nice area = good merchandise. Duo had to bring their a-game.

Fact: The world’s largest convenience store chain, 7-Eleven, started in Dallas in 1927.

Military Box Unit

An air compressor, work bench, chair, old electronics, military case, and lots of boxes. Duo won the unit for $200.

Ton found a pair of welding goggles and a complete set of tools worth. Allen found a pair of dolly tires.

Ton opened the military case. Inside was a turbine engine. The engine was too small for a jet or a tank. Ton was clueless to its use.

The Haff-Ton team took the engine to Terry, an engineer. He stated that it was a military motor used for a cruise missile.

If the engine worked, appraisal value between $12,000-$15,000. To make sure it worked, Terry would have to take it apart. He would have it modified with his own tech people.

When the Haff-Ton team returned, they saw that Terry had the engine plugged into a computer. If the motor didn’t work, it would probably explode. Yikes!

Fact: The max RPM on this turbine engine is 10 times that of a Ford Mustang GT.

Terry flipped a switch. Everyone held their breath. No explosion. It worked! They sold it to the expert for $8,500.

Trailer Unit

Barbeque, small trailer, bed, mattress, old TV, bike, stove, doors, papers, and boxes. The Haff-Ton team won at $1,950.

The commercial barbeque grill was long, about 36 inches. Ton found a nice 60’s teak desk in good condition.

Fact: The largest grill in Texas is 40 ft. long and can cook 1,000 hot dogs at a time.

Ton pulled the trailer out of the locker. They opened the doors to discover it was a concession trailer.

Fact: New mobile food trailers can retail for $20,000 – $35,000 each.

Haff-Ton team found a pair of vintage saddles inside the concession trailer. What exactly were saddles doing inside a trailer?

Duo took the saddles to a cowboy and old west memorabilia expert named Hoot. One saddle had no value because of its condition. The second saddle was kept in good condition with Lanolin.

Fact: ‘Lanolin’ is a wax secreted by sheep and often used as a skin protectant.

The saddle was not made by a well-known manufacturer like C.P. Shipley; but still of good quality.

Fact: The C.P. Shipley Company custom made saddles for Gene Autry and Will Rogers.

Back in the day, the saddle would have cost $100 to $250. Present day retail value at $2,500. Hoot paid $1,250 for the pair.

Between barbeques, saddles and trailers… it was a very TEXAS day. Allen and Ton rode horses into the sunset. Yee haw!

Auction Total:

Paid $2,150
Sold: $12,125
Profit: $9,975

Please post your insightful and thoughtful opinions in the comment box below.

Auction Hunters: Smash Up

August 2, 2011

Auction Hunters: Season 2, Episode 14: “Diesel Digs.”

Ton and Allen drove to the heart of Industrial LA for nine units that were up for auction. Industrial LA makes everything from clothes to car parts.

Fact: Industrial LA extends 20 miles from downtown to the ports of Long Beach.

The auctioneer announced that the auction was now down to only one unit. The Haff-Ton disappointed, but the locker was well worth the trouble.

Fact: During the industrial revolution, L.A.’s population grew from 5,000 to 2 million.

As the duo paid for the unit at the office there was announcement that another storage unit was available for auction. Half the crowd had left. Easy buy for the Haff-Ton team.

Heavy Equipment Unit

Allen and Ton paid $1,200. Fork lift tires and some heavy industrial equipment. The tires were worth $1000. Also found an old heavy duty welder. It was twenty or thirty years old, but was still worth about a grand.

Fact: Forklift tires are solid robber and will never go flat.

They found four sheets of diamond plate worth $600. Ton made the big discovery. In the back of unit he found a Bobcat. It’s a construction vehicle that can do just about anything. Brand new the Bobcats are worth about $40,000.

They took the Bobcat and welder to Oscar and Paul, junk yard owners. They were impressed with the shape the Bobcat. They needed to see it in action first.

Fact: The Bobcat can lift 2,500 lbs. without tipping over.

Ton got into the Bobcat. Aimed for a car in the junkyard. Smash and crash, baby!

Oscar and Paul bought the Bobcat and welder for $6500.

Fact: Metal Inert Gas [MIG] welders produce temps hotter than the surface of the sun.

Extra Unit

The second unit was packed with boxes, plastic bags, lots of furniture, old clothes, and old electronics. Ton thought the unit would be more trouble than it was worth. Allen however was intrigued and bought the locker for $150.

Allen dug a bunch of comic books out of a box that were worth about $125. They also found a guitar, but it was broken, so Ton had some fun playing rock star and smashing it.

Fact: The Who’s Pete Townshend was the first to popularize guitar smashing on stage.

Ton found a flail, a modern reproduction in bad condition, with little to no value.

Fact: “Mace” and “flail” are often incorrectly used as interchangeable terms.

Ton used the flail to smash and trash old furniture.

Fact: The “flail” was prized for its ability to strike around an opponent’s shield.

Haff-Ton team found two old military phones. They were broken and fairly common. Valued at $80.

Duo also discovered a WWI French Helmet as well as a mace. They took the items to Joe, a weapons expert. The helmet was in horrible condition. Worthless.

Fact: The first steel military helmets appeared in WWI.

The mace however was a WWI German trench mace. Joe bought it from them for $375.

Fact: Maces originated in ancient times, but reappeared in the trenches in WWI.

Ton regretted he didn’t get to smash and trash anything with the mace. Joe set up a watermelon. Ton put the French Helmet on top of it. Smash and trash, baby!

Fact: A mace swing to a human skull exerts twice the force of a dead fall from standing.

Smash and trash day for Ton.

Auction Total:

Paid $1350
Sold: $8575
Profit: $7225

Please post your insightful and thoughtful opinions in the comment box below.

Auction Hunters: Whale of a Time

July 26, 2011

Auction Hunters: Season 2, Episode 13: “Beantown Bidders.”

The Haff-Ton team headed to Boston. The city is home to one of the country’s oldest storage units, which has been in business since 1886, and that’s exactly where the guys were headed.

Fact: Boston is the birthplace of the American Revolution.

They were impressed by the very building itself, Allen calling it an antique. Sorry guys, the building’s not actually up for auction.

There were only a few units up for auction and the competition was intense, but the guys won two.

Polo Stick Unit

They paid $200 for this unit, after spotting some polo sticks. There were filing boxes inside, a 1940’s stand, Christmas wrapping paper and a couple of garbage bags.

Most of the boxes had nothing but trash inside, but they did find an antique sewing stand worth $100 and the two polo mallets themselves were worth $200.

Fact: Polo, a sport played on horseback, is derived from Persian military training circa 500 B.C.

Allen then uncovered a bucket full of vintage bike parts and a Schwinn vintage Tandem bike.

Fact: Founded in Chicago in 1895, Schwinn was the 20 century’s largest bike manufacturer.

They took the bike things to Vinnie, a vintage and retro bike expert. He was quite pleased with the bike parts, saying some of the pieces were worth as much as $800.

The bike itself was from late 40’s or early 50’s and it was still in pretty good condition.

Fact: Today Schwinn makes adult tricycles under the Town and Country name.

He told them that it was a very difficult bike to ride and that it was a great way to get in a fight with a friend. Good thing Allen and Ton didn’t insist on trying it out for a change.

Fact: “Tandem” refers to the arrangement of the riders one behind the other.

Vinnie bought the bike and all the parts for $1750.

Fragile Box Unit

Allen and Ton paid $775 for a unit full of boxes marked fragile. The only other things they could see inside the unit were trash bags and an old leather suitcase.

The suitcase was unfortunately damaged but they found a replica Gadsden flag inside.

Fact: The Gadsden was the first battle flag used by the US Marine Corps in the American Revolution.

Also inside the case they found a thirteen colonies flag. Allen could tell from the stitching however that it was replica. Still, it was worth $300.

Fact: The first sewing machine was patented by inventor Thomas Saint in 1791.

The trash bags and boxes turned out to be full of a lot of trash and old newspapers, but they did find an antique nautical compass, valued at $100.

Fact: Before it was a navigational tool, the compass was used by the Chinese for fortune telling.

Things got exciting when they found a long thin case and opened it to find a solid iron, whaling gun, very clean and in great condition. They also found a bomb lance with the gun.

They took the gun to Peter, a nautical antique collector. He said it was a CC Brand gun. He said the find of the bomb lance with it was actually very rare and that the gun worked similarly to a grenade launcher.

Fact: Swede Sven Foyn invented the heavy explosive harpoon in 1864.

Since the gun would be worth more working, Peter brought along a reproduction bomb lance for the guys to fire.

Ton used a watermelon for target practice and well in love with whaling gun as soon as he saw the melon explode into pieces. He had to say goodbye to it though, when Peter offered $4400 and a pitcher of beer.

Ton may have had to give up the whaling gun, but a nice healthy profit and a pitcher of beer, would definitely cheer him up.

Auction Total:

Paid $975
Sold: $7300
Profit: $6325

Please post your insightful and thoughtful opinions in the comment box below.

Auction Hunters: Crash and Burn!

July 19, 2011

Auction Hunters: Season 2, Episode 12: “Top Gun Ton.”

Allen and Ton drove to Ontario California. The storage facility there were headed to only holds one auction a year, so there were 26 units up for sale and a lot of people.

The Haff-Ton team jumped right into the bidding and won the first unit. After that, Allen and Ton held off, not seeing anything they wanted right up until the final unit. Since they hadn’t bid on anything else, they still had plenty of money and were able to go higher than the others who’d been bidding all day, and they won the last unit.

Dusty Unit

The guys paid $450 for a large unit full of dusty old boxes. Dust promised old and old usually means good money.

They found one of the first army cellphones, called a Handie Talkie, worth $80 as well as two clock radios from the 1950’s worth $60.

Fact: “Handie Talkies” were developed in WWII replaced the back mounted “Walkie Talkies”

After Allen took a leaf blower to the dust to clear things up, they found more antiques: an old box camera worth $30 and an early Polaroid camera with a value of $60.

Fact: The first permanent photograph was made in 1827 using a sliding wooden box camera.

Then they uncovered a 100 year old studio camera.

They took all the cameras to Eric, a camera expert. While he wasn’t very interested by the others, he was impressed by the studio camera. He said it was an old Korona, made by Gundlach and had all the original pieces.

Fact: Gundlach made lenses before acquiring the Milburn Korona camera company in 1896.

The light grey green color of the bellows was also very rare, as most of them were black or red. He dated the camera between 1910 and 1930, and said it was also the kind press photographers would use.

To test if the shutter would still work, Allen and Ton did a little modeling and the pictures came out great.

Since the camera was still working, Eric paid them $525 for the all the whole lot.

R.C. Unit

Ton got excited at the last unit, when he spotted what looked like remote control car parts. The guys paid $1300 for the unit and then started digging through all the boxes. At first the contents all seemed pretty worthless, until Ton found an R.C. car worth $200.

Then they found a small remote controlled yellow jet.

After reaching the back of the unit Ton found a tarp covered item. He lifted it and found an even larger R.C. jet.

They took the two jets to Billy, an R.C. jet expert. He wasn’t interested in the yellow one, saying it was just a toy, but the bigger one really impressed him.

Fact: Some R.C. jet motors run on the same jet fuel as commercial airliners.

He said it was a Sky Master Fighter Jet, an actual scale model of a real Viper Jet. He checked the motor and found there was a $4000 piece of equipment inside.

Fact: The real Viper Jet can be purchased by civilians and costs over $2.5 million.

It was still no guarantee that it would fly though, and it wouldn’t be worth anything grounded. They had to try it out and Ton wanted to give it a spin. Billy definitely wasn’t so sure that was a good idea and started him out on the yellow jet first.

Fact: Beginner R.C. jets can fly as fast as 120 MPH.

Billy turned out to be right when the plane crashed and burned under Ton’s watch. Crashing that plane lost the Haff-Ton team $600.

Billy wisely took over the flying for the Viper Jet. It flew beautifully and landed without a hitch.

Billy bought the jet from them for $9000.

Ton might have crashed and burn one plane that day, but the guys were soaring high after two great units!

Auction Total:

Paid $1750
Sold: $10825
Profit: $8475

Please post your insightful and thoughtful opinions in the comment box below.

Auction Hunters: Tanked!

July 17, 2011

Auction Hunters: Season 2, Episode 11: “The Smoking Ton.”

Allen and Ton went down to Worcester, MA, a city with a rich historical background and a history of some great storage finds.

Fact: Worcester is 40 miles west of Boston and is the second largest city in New England.

Auctions only occur every few months, so the Haff-Ton team knew they had to make this one count, and they certainly did. Of the four units up for auction, the guys won three of them.

Fact: In 2010 antique pottery found at a Worcester storage auction sold for over $30,000.

Funky Smelling Unit

None of the other bidders were too interested in bidding on a unit that had a definite odor, but Allen and Ton decided to step up to the plate and won it for only $275.

There was a file cabinet inside, an old air conditioner and boxes. They found some vintage restaurant chairs worth $240 and a professional kitchen knife set with a value of $275. Chop, chop!

Packed in a box they found an industrial meat slicer worth $850. Since startup restaurants are always looking for secondhand equipment, this unit ended up being a winner.

The source of the smell was discovered in a box full of very, rotten cheese.

Safe Unit

They guys paid $1000 for this unit after spotting an old antique safe inside. The rest of the unit wasn’t worth much, just an old couch, a broken player piano and a toy penguin.

The safe itself was from the early 1900’s and they sold it for $2000.

But inside the safe they also found a humidor from 1890. It still had its original key which made it even more valuable.

Fact: A humidor contains a wet sponge to maintain the humidity inside.

They also found a lighter and a Red Snaper Cigar Box inside worth $125 to $150.

They took all the cigar collectibles to David, a cigar expert, who bought everything from them for $1900 and threw in a cigar for Ton.

Fact: Tobacciana refers to vintage collectibles like ashtrays, lighters and humidors.

Air Hockey Unit

Allen and Ton paid $600 for a unit after spotting an original air hockey table inside from 1975 that was worth $300.

There was a lot of worthless furniture they had to dig through but they did find $50 worth of antique tools and as well as 10 World War II officer jackets worth $500 and some 1960’s Gas Masks with a value of $40.

Ton was quite excited to uncover some mini tank treads and oddly enough, that wasn’t the only piece of a tank they found. They also discovered a solid steel tank barrel. It was a first, even for the Haff-Ton.

Fact: Tank treads are made of a manganese alloy and cannot be punctured.

They took the tank equipment to Andy, a military expert. He said the tracks were from a M24 tank and that their five blocks were worth about two to three hundred.

Fact: The M24 was a fast, light-armored tank that delivered large caliber fire.

The barrel was a 27 millimeter World War II barrel from a M3 Stuart.

Fact: The M3 Stuarts were the first American-manned U.S. tanks used in WWII combat.

He explained that if someone had used a torch to prevent it from firing it would be worth $1200. If it was still operational it’d be worth between five to seven thousand.

After checking it out Andy confirmed it was a live barrel.

Andy paid Allen and Ton $5000 for the barrel and the treads as well as letting them fire one his tanks.

Fact: The largest shells ever fired in WWII were 31.5″ in diameter.

Ton took charge of the guns and had a tank-filled field day!

A nice healthy profit and a ride in a tank, Ton and Allen definitely came out on top!

Auction Total:

Paid $1875
Sold: $10450
Profit: $8575

Please post your insightful and thoughtful opinions in the comment box below.

Auction Hunters: It’s Raining Guns!

May 31, 2011

Auction Hunters: Season 2, Episode 10: “Everything’s Bigger in Texas.”

The Haff-Ton team drove to North Texas and the biggest auction in the country where a major worldwide shipping hub was auctioning off 800 containers.

Fact: Some ranches in Texas are bigger than Rhode Island.

Since there were so many containers to get through, the process was a little different. Units were opened twenty at a time, everyone had ten minutes to look at them before the bidding started, and then bidding moved on to the next twenty.

Fact: North Texas has over 6 million residents, the 4th largest metro area in the US.

The guys ended up buying eleven units. Nine of them turned out to be duds but inside two of them, they made some great finds.

China and Glass Unit

Allen and Ton paid $575 for a unit filled with boxes marked glass and crystal. They could tell the boxes were quite old since the tape keeping them shut was degrading.

When they got inside the unit they were alarmed to find the boxes felt heavier than they should for crystal but when they opened them up they discovered they had six boxes of lead crystal glasses worth $60 a glass, which meant they had $4,320 worth of crystal.

Fact: Lead in crystal increases value by adding weight and “sparkle”.

They also found some vintage slot cars in the back of the unit.

Fact: Slot cars contain an electric motor and are powered by an electrified track.

They took them down to Jay, a slot car expert who was definitely excited about their finds.

Fact: Servicemen returning from the UK after WWII introduced the hobby to the US.

One of them was even a Jim Hall car, which he said was very fair.

Fact: Jim Hall is a 2-time Indy 500 winner and a racing car design innovator.

The Jim Hall car originally came with a miniature driver. After rooting around in the box, Allen found it, and Jay looked like Christmas had just come early. It definitely had for the Haff-Ton team!

Fact: By 1968, there were 20,000 slot car tracks in the US, outnumbering bowling alleys.

They took the cars for a test race, and Allen won twice over: he won the race, and made $2000 selling the cars to Jay.

Fact: Elvis had a giant 155 foot slot car track at Graceland.

Shotgun Unit

They won this unit for $1200. It had been one half of two units, but they lost the other one to a man they dubbed ‘W’, after he looked striking similar to a certain President of United States.

W’s unit included a Grandfather clock, but it was missing its pendulum, which the Haff-Ton team just happened to find in their unit. They swapped it with him for two revolvers he had found in his unit. His clock was now worth thousands and they sold the guns for $2100.

What had really interested them about the unit to begin with were two gun boxes. Inside they found a 1970’s Browning Shotgun worth $2000 and a Browning .20 gauge Automatic worth $3000.

Fact: High-end Browning Shotguns sport real gold-plated triggers.

Ton had a field day when they also found three revolvers, a .357 Magnum worth $1000, a Diamondback .38 Special worth $1200 and a Coly Python worth $1600. All the guns were in mint condition and brand new.

Fact: Dirty Harry’s gun was a Smith and Wesson Model 29 Revolver with a .44 Magnum cartridge.

They also found one antique gun, a Winchester Lever Action Repeater. They took it Mama Jeanie, a gun expert. Ton tried out the gun to show it could still shoot and Mama Jeanie valued it at $5000. After some haggling she paid them $3350 and a home cooked lunched for it.

Fact: Winchester rifles are commonly known as “the guns that won the west”.

Even with nine dud units, two great ones made the whole trip worth it, and a home cooked meal just brightened their mood.

Auction Total:

Paid $2975
Sold: $20570
Profit: $17595 (and one home cooked meal)

Please post your insightful and thoughtful opinions in the comment box below.

Auction Hunters: The Most Dangerous Game

May 24, 2011

Auction Hunters: Season 2, Episode 9: “Animal Instincts.”

Allen and Ton drove down to Orange County, California. What used to be all orange groves is now a very wealthy neighborhood where storage auctions promise big ticket items and a large crowd of bidders.

Fact: Orange County is 35 miles south of Los Angeles.

There were only three units up for auction, and so many people that during one bidding the auctioneer couldn’t even see Allen. But Ton and Allen won the third and finale unit and hoped to find some exiting things inside.

Fact: Over 115,000 millionaires live in Orange County, one of the riches places in the US.

Seized Gun Unit

When the third unit was up for auction, the Haff-Ton team spotted a shotgun inside. Unfortunately so did the auctioneer who removed it from the unit, meaning all the other bidders knew it was there. When an auctioneer sees a firearm in a unit it’s his responsibility to confiscate it until it can go through a dealer, if it’s not stolen it’ll go back to whoever buys the unit.

Allen and Ton paid $2200 for the unit, hoping where there’s one gun there’ll be more.

There were lots of Rubbermaid totes inside the unit, many of them filled with old costumes and some stuffed animals. There were boxes of old computer parts and some toys. Ton took a skeleton motion sensor for his front yard.

They found a vintage dining set, but it wasn’t of the highest quality and only worth about $40.

Then Allen found a Hoof Lamp worth $75. He was definitely disturbed. The hunting theme continued when Ton pulled out some bow hunting gear from a box worth $180.

Afterwards they found a second shotgun, a 16 gauge. Inside a box they found even more guns; two Benelli shotguns, which are some of the best hunting shotguns money can buy.

Fact: Uniquely, Benelli shotguns break down into 3 parts.

Things took a turn for the bizarre when they pulled off a tarp and found a full sized stuffed mule deer and ram.

Fact: An average mule deer can weigh up to 500lbs.

While they’d made some big finds in the unit, they weren’t sure if they’d be able to sell either the guns or the animals.

Fact: Taxidermy laws vary by state but can carry six-figure fines and extended jail terms.

Since they’d have to spend money to get the guns checked out, they could easily end up losing a lot of money on this unit.

Fact: Gun registration fees and mandatory background checks average $65 per gun.

With the auctioneer, they took the seized gun to a dealer who ran the number and said the gun checked out. It was a 1967 Canadian Centennial Gun and never fired. The dealer was a fan of the gun and so bought it from Allen and Ton for $500.

They took the other three guns to Tim, a gun expert.

The 16 gauge shot gun was a Winchester Model 1897 and made in the early 1900’s. The fact that it was a 16 gauge made it a collectable.

Fact: The Winchester Model 1897 is one of the first pump-action shotguns and was used in WWI.

It was a little loose inside so it would be a little more dangerous to shoot, but if it fired it would mean more money, so Allen cheerfully volunteered Ton. Nice.

The gun shot great, and Tim bought all three weapons for $2000.

Next the Haff-Ton team took the two animals to Gil, a Taxidermist expert.

He told them the mule deer is a desert animal often found in Mexico.

Fact: Some desert Mule Deer go their entire lives without drinking water.

The size and points on this particularly mule deer, made it worth even more.

Fact: The outside of the spread of a Mule Deer’s antlers can reach up to 4 feet.

Gil also identified the other animal as a Desert Bighorn Sheep, also found in Mexico and costs $6500 to hunt. He explained he could tell this one was a wild animal based on the size of its err…‘private parts’.

Fact: Competitive mating causes this sheep to have larger testes then its domesticated counterpart.

Gil bought both animals for $7100.

Despite laying a lot of money on the line for what turned out to be a risky unit, the Haff-Ton team definitely made a killing!

Auction Total:

Paid $2700
Sold: $9600
Profit: $6840

Please post your insightful and thoughtful opinions in the comment box below.

Auction Hunters: Silver and Gold

May 17, 2011

Auction Hunters: Season 2, Episode 8: “Fire in the Hole.”

The Haff-Ton team headed to Rancho Cucamonga, CA, a place popular with newbie bidders and where Ton first learned the hopes of auction hunting.

Fact: Rancho Cucamonga is named after the Kucamongan Indians that settled there around 1200 A.D.

There were three units up for auction and in a place like Rancho Cucamonga, anything could be in them, so the guys were definitely excited to start the bidding.

Antique Trunk Unit

They paid $250 for a unit with an antique trunk that really grabbed Allen’s attention. The unit also had several other boxes, some art supplies, metal racks and hangers, as well as a pro speaker and equalizer set worth $500.

Allen was very impressed with the trunk, saying it was from 1800’s, and speculated that it might have been a captain’s chest.

Fact: Many crews deserted their ships to join the California Gold Rush in the mid 1800’s.

The chest even had some secret compartments and drawers, inside of which they found a 1970’s costume watch worth $60 and lots of silver jewelry.

Fact: The melting point of silver is 1763 degrees Fahrenheit.

Since the jewelry would be worth more melted down, Ton got to have a little fun with his electric melter.

Fact: Electric melters can be purchased for around $650.

They melted it, turned it into blocks and then marked them. They ended up with $600 worth of silver.

Fact: “Hallmarks” are struck into precious metals to identify the foundry of origin.

They took the trunk to Yvonne, an antiques broker. She said it was from 1890’s and was an Anglo-Indian trunk and probably used by a merchant in India. She brought it from them for $450.

Mining Unit

Allen and Ton bought their second unit for $925. There was a 1930’s dresser inside, a weight bench, boxes and containers, an old mattress and a bunch of books and trash.

They spotted a mining tray (also called a sluice box) that was worth $100, but that was only the beginning of the gold mining equipment they ended up finding.

Fact: A gold nugget weighing 160 lbs was found in Calaveras County, California in 1854.

Inside an old cedar hope chest from the 60’s that was worth about $200, they found an Austrian made scale. It was very accurate but not overly common for prospectors, who would usually just take their gold to an assay office. Often, they got cheated.

Fact: An “assay office” is where precious metals are tested for purity and certified.

They also found a mine warning horn from the 1800’s, that was used to warn miners of blasting. It had a value of $400 to $600.

Then they found something that really made Ton’s day. A blasting machine, made by the DuPont company in the early 1900’s.

Fact: The DuPont Company was founded in 1802 as a gunpowder mill.

They took all the mining equipment to Rusty, a gold mining expect who runs prospecting workshops. Of course the blasting machine would be worth more if it worked, so they hooked it up and while Allen helpfully tooted the warning horn, Ton blew up some earth.

Fact: U.S. blasters use over 6 billion pounds of explosives each year.

Rusty bought the whole collection of mining equipment for $4000.

From melting silver to prospecting for gold, the Haff-Ton team certainly had a profitable day.

Auction Total:

Paid $1175
Sold: $6150
Profit: $4975

Please post your insightful and thoughtful opinions in the comment box below.

Auction Hunters: We’re On Fire!

May 10, 2011