Lookey Loos Part 10.....October, 2011

Ah - I wondered if that was it.  I have my first silent auction Saturday morning.  Should be an interesting day.

Today was nice.  Took a long lunch to hit a auction.  Glad I did.  Had 22 units listed in paper and 18 up for bid.  Compared to yesterday the crowed was AWSOME.  Only 5 of us to start with and then a 6th person showed up 1/3 of the way in.  So we had 3 regulars, then myself, and a lady from california.  The sixth person I've seen around so not sure if he is a regular or noob like myself.  I think the lady is the same one the regulars were just talking about that dropped a grand on a locker to buy it, then rented it for a month, and is just going to cherry pick it and leave everything else.  We all pitched in to squeeze her out.  Don't think she won anything.

This place is rumored to cherry pick items.  All the units but the first two already had locks cut off and no tabs or anything on them.  So I looked at everything with caution.  Since the crowd was small the prices were small also.  A number of units went for $150 - $200, with a number going for under $100.  I purchased a unit for $70 that has some paintings in it, two dryers, weights, and a few odds and ends.  Had it at $35 till the lady jumped in.  Really wanted the painting as years ago I paid $65 for a smaller painting and know my wife will love it.  Plus I "offered" to clean out the unit next to it that no one wanted.  It had a metal shelf (which I wanted), some bags of prob trash, and 4-5 couch type cushions.  All in all a productive afternoon.

Went to one auction today; 8 lkrs, 35 people (5 of whom I recognized...including me....the rest I had never seen before, and they were something to behold, old, lame, under-educated, looking to strike it rich !).

Only note-worthy was one regular who got 2 of the 8 x 10s; one at $250 (partially full, nothing special) and the other for $550 with two futons (mattresses in plastic) other big stuff, a few boxes. The final 10 x 10 looked pretty good and I would have gone $500 but it went for $750 to a new guy I have seen before but who never won one.

Oh well, there are always more lkrs. 

Went to an auction on Thursday and saw two die-hard regulars in a bidding war over a full locker 10x30. It got to 4900.00 until one backed off. That was my highest auction bid to date. The winner couldn't lose on this one. It was packed with great looking furniture, alcohol (boxes), tools and lots more. That was just at the first 5 or 10 feet that we could see. Hope the back 20 feet was as good. I think it was :-)

Well my first silent auction is now logged in the books.  Two different places had silent auctions starting at 10am.  So saw only a few regulars at my location but still a large crowd.  This one had the most units as of Thursday but most people paid friday.  Crowd was about 50 people with I'd say 30 bidders.  Two heavy hitting regulars, another regular that deals in smalls, two of us "noobie" regulars, a few non-regulars in my area but you do see them at auctions, and a bunch of noobies.  I'd say 1/2 the crowd was new people.  I expected this with a saturday auction.  However, most all of the units went to people I either know by name or sight.  I picked up two units for $128 ($27 and $101).  I really didn't want the $101 unit but I got stuck with it.  May be kicking myself in the butt later for putting such a bid down on the last unit of the day.

Today was my 3 facility caravan day.  18 units up for sale between the 3 places.  Was heavy on the regulars today.  Of the 30 people (12-15 bidders) we had 3 noobies.  Think they more watched then do anything.  All of the units went to regulars.  Nothing of great interest this run.

Tomorrow is going to be interesting. Long day for auctions and it's supposed to rain with a little thunder. Maybe it will keep a lot of people away.. 

Maybe it will keep a lot of people away.. 

Won't happen. Everyone thinks the same thing and then everyone comes.

Went to two auctions today....same auctioneer.

First one had 4 and crowd and prices were good.

I bought a 10 x 10 about 4' deep but  full all the way up to that height; paid $475. Good stuff showing and later panned out well.

A Nishiki Japanese bike (maybe worth $200). Fifty or so DVDs including big box sets of LOST. Many PS2 games and the console, etc.

$12 in quarters in one of the states, blue folders. Maybe a couple of hundred pennies individually shown in those white wrappers with the cellophane window and then a couple of hundred more in binder sheets in a binder with the individual white wrappers in the sheets.

Sony receiver; Panasonic 15" flat screen tv; Sony 25" (old style) tv; army gear; Bear Compound Bow and arrows; Ibanez guitar and 3 lesser guitars, Fender amp, pedal stuff, Estes rocket models, diecast cars, 10 fishing reels, 4 tackle boxes, partioned box (20 sections) of bigger lures, 2 signed white footballs in boxes, big keyboard and stand, boogie board, skateboard.....  etc, etc and the usual pots, pans, microwave, yada, yada.

Anyway, looks at the moment like it might make a grand profit....I know there was other better quality stuff I haven't listed here. Found gun cleaning stuff in an ammo can, but no weapons and sure there won't be any. Some boxes had been rummaged through and I think the owner got some of the good stuff out (frm lkr owner, not prop mgr).

******

At 2nd auction a locker I would have paid $500 for went for $1125, but looks really good; I went in with my friend who took a chance on it and it will pay off nicely....may make $3k profit on it. Five feet in he found 5 or 6 items that will go for around $500 easy.

Maybe a couple of hundred pennies individually shown in those white wrappers with the cellophane window and then a couple of hundred more in binder sheets in a binder with the individual white wrappers in the sheets.

What's the story on those pennies exactly? I can't imagine someone would take the time to put them in holders if they're worthless common pennies. Are they at least wheat cents?

What's the story on those pennies exactly? I can't imagine someone would take the time to put them in holders if they're worthless common pennies. Are they at least wheat cents?

Haven't really looked at them yet, but will take the whole batch to my coin collecting friend (he's 65 and has collected since he was a teen). If anyone will know about them, he will.

Meanwhile, 4 coins made it into the house with me. Let me know what you think of these:

1) Penny...1943 S (wheat) (no quality ranking on white sleeve)
2) Nickel...1964 (Jefferson, marked VF on white sleeve)
3) Nickel...1958 (Jefferson, marked EF on white sleeve)
4) Nickel...1964 (Jefferson, marked F/EF on white sleeve)

If those ring any bells with you, please let me know. Coin and stamp collecting were never my thing, but I know both can be rewarding in more ways than one. Now where did I put that stamp that had the plane flying upside down?  

P.S. There is a box with hundreds of empty coin sleeves. What can I get for batches of say 25  or 50 or 100 ?

The 1943 S is worth a few bucks depending on the condition. The nickels aren't really worth anything based on those grades. Unfortunately nickels were only silver during WWII.

The 1943 S is worth a few bucks depending on the condition. The nickels aren't really worth anything based on those grades. Unfortunately nickels were only silver during WWII.

Given your "few bucks" comment you can bet I will be looking at all those pennies with a magnifying glass...just one more "job" to take on, but a buck or so each for maybe a few of them, would be worth the time I guess.

The information you seek should be here:
bestcoin.com/jefferson-nickels-38-64.htm
bestcoin.com/1943-steel-cent.htm

The information you seek should be here:
bestcoin.com/jefferson-nickels-38-64.htm
bestcoin.com/1943-steel-cent.htm

Thanks alloro... I'll check them out. I have several coin value books (including one from this new lkr) but they always seem to be a couple of years out of date (though I suspect the value of a coin wouldn't change much).

When I look through pennies, I basically do this:

- 1959 Lincoln Memorial reverse - don't bother even though there are a few double die types out there.
- Wheaties - 1944-1958 - check for 1955 double die, maybe 1944 d/s error, don't worry about rest
- 1943 steel cents - worth 2-5 depending on condition
- Anything pre-1934 is worth at least a buck
- Big ticket wheaties - 1909 VBD (particularly S mint), 1909-1915-S mints, 1914-D, 1924-D, 1926-S

As for the rest, if you feel like being a bit of a dick, get the remaining wheat cents rolled and trying selling them as unsearched wheat rolls. They're pretty popular these days even though most of them are really searched.