Instead of purchasing these items, some of the most unique treasures can be passed down through the family, or keepsakes from various life circumstances.
Having something that no one else might have makes it priceless.
It also makes for good stories.
Curious to hear about the precious belongings from strangers on the internet, Redditor Prestigious_Pass9599 asked:
"What is something you have, that your pretty sure no one else has?"
Items passed down from generation to generation can make the most unique treasures.
A Royal Mark
"I have my great-great grandparents passports. They're handwritten on a single piece of paper and signed by Queen Victoria."
– LeC*ntyChiot
A Sailor's Book
"My grandfather was on the USS Indianapolis during WWII and was transferred off of it before they delivered the bombs and it sank … he happened to take a book from the ship's library and never returned it. I inherited all of his books and happened to stumble across it while going through them… it's stamped with the ship's library stamp. So unless any other sailor took a book from the library of the USS Indianapolis before it sank and then held onto it all these years, this may be the only one in the world."
–alicat9713
A Lead Engineer's Proof Of Concept
"My grandfather was one of the lead engineers on the Oxcart/Blackbird project for Lockheed. He engineered the pressure lock system for the cabin for high altitudes. I'm in possession of a miniature proof-of-concept he made for the lock!​"
– anothergothchick
Adrift At Sea
"My grandfather's diary when he was lost at sea during ww2. Records deaths and a few comments about raging hunger. 6 weeks adrift."
"Heres the backstory, he was serving in the merchant navy on a ship in the south Atlantic, they got torpedoed by a u boat and came under fire, his cousin took a shell to the chest, killing him instantly in front of him, they scrambled to the lifeboats and got into one."
"The ship went down."
"After all the commotion the u-boat resurfaced and the german captain spoke to them, the merchants were unarmed. He explained that they were at war and attempted to give the sailors bread and potatoes, fearful that they were poisoned the food was thrown overboard."
"They were adrift miles from land, unable to see the shore or any landmarks to navigate to. Over the coming weeks they collected rainwater and tried to fish as best they could but they were starving."
"The entries in the diary are brief but concise, people were dying of their injuries and dehydration."
"After roughly six weeks they were spotted by another merchant ship and rescued."
"When they returned to the uk they were awarded medals but they refused them, turning their merchant navy pins upside down (MN to NW) to represent NOT WANTED."
"He never spoke about this to me directly as after the war he did not want to relive the experience."
"He had 2 children and 5 grandchildren and passed away in 1995."
"Vivian (Ted) Fowler."
"Rip."
"Nb: other family members have requested reading it but its in such bad condition, 77 years old, that i refuse to let it out of my sight. Its kept in a plastic bag in a drawer away from harm."
– South5
It doesn't get more unique than these items personalized with an autograph.
Autographed Run-And-Shooter Game
"A 'Contra' NES cartridge autographed by Billy Dee Williams."
Phantom Masters & A Personally Engraved Silver Cup
"The master recording of the Phantom of the Opera (or, part of it, anyway). My dad was the recording engineer so he had the tape from when they made an album of the show with the original cast."
"Edit: bonus item… a silver Tiffany's cup and spoon that was given to me when I was born by Phyllis Diller. She also had it engraved 'love, Phyllis Diller.'"
"Edit 2: My parents were friends with her, so she gave them an engraved silver Tiffany's cup and spoon when I was born. She was in no way involved in the birth."
– hotarume
Not all possessions can be bought. Sometimes we simply acquire things under various circumstances.
Saving A Bone
"A human atlas bone from the site of a medieval prison. 25yrs ago my then bf was working as the lowest ranked barrow pusher on a building site. Foreman knew that ancient bones may turn up and knew he was supposed to send for the archaeologists if so. Bones turned up, foreman said f'k that, we're filling in, not getting behind schedule for some old sh**ty prisoner bones. BF tried to say something but would have been fired if he pushed it. He was pretty horrified but couldn't lose his job, and crept back to take a bone after the site closed. In his mind it was a way of saying we'll remember you, even if you're under concrete. We were only teenagers, so didn't really know what to do with it for the best. I have kept it in a box ever since. I know I should do something with it."
– alancake
Conductive Retainer
"Up until a week ago, a mouth that picked up radio stations."
"I play in bands, and for years couldn't figure out why whenever I would get close to the microphone, the PA system would pick up local radio stations. I always assumed it was due to crappy unshielded mic cables."
"Well, I went to the dentist and decided to get my permanent retainer removed. I scheduled an appointment and that night had band practice. I got close to the mic and picked up a radio station."
"It occurred to me that my retainer (if you're unfamiliar, a permanent one is basically just a steel wire glued in your mouth) was slightly bent and conductive."
"Sure enough, the next week I got it removed and now I don't pick up radio stations anymore near microphones. 😟"
– ProbablySlacking
Key To The Past
"A key to unlock the B6 level on an elevator in the World Trade Center along with a matching Port Authority issued ID card."
– JimTheJerseyGuy
Salvaged From The Wreckage
"A piece of a turbine from a crashed Airbus A300."
"I was in charge of the environmental cleanup following the crash. We removed some 6,000 yards of contaminated soil. When we were loading one of the trucks the NTSB guy spotted it in the dirt and said something to the effect of 'That's a really valuable piece of metal, I wouldn't let it go to the landfill', so I grabbed it and threw it in my truck. It's fairly large. I had planned to do something cool with it, but it turns out it's too hard of a metal alloy for anyone to work with without specialized tools. So now it sits in my garage. The crash was in 2013, it was a cargo plane, the pilots died."
– Badfish1060
My unique item is a vintage steamer trunk that belonged to my great aunt and uncle who lived in a Japanese internment camp as a result of President Roosevelt's Executive Order 9066, which was issued on February 19, 1942.
But I didn't learn of the trunk's history until recently.
My great aunt and uncle brought their trunk with them when they were cruelly evicted from their home in California to live in barracks at Heart Mountain in NW Wyoming.
My father acquired the trunk after my great aunt and uncle passed away and we sold their house in Pomona, California.
It sat neglected in our garage for years, and when it was time to sell our home, my brother and I considered getting rid of it without consulting our father first. It wasn't until our neighbor saw my brother and me putting the worn and dusty trunk out on the street for people to take when he apprised us of its presumptive value.
After my dad found out what we were attempting, he told us about the trunk's history.
This led to my decision to keep the trunk, not only for its monetary value but because of its role in our family history.
I can't believe I almost willingly parted with a unique treasure.
600?! Dollars?!
Goosebumps Wow GIF by ANTIQUES ROADSHOW | PBSGiphyI found a small envelope with a few inches of wire in a junk shop. Bought it (US$2) because it had some faded penciling about troy oz. Turned out to about 1.5 troy ounces of platinum wire. Sold it for US $600!
I WIN!!
Years ago I bought a condo in foreclosure. We couldn't go inside, just look from outside and put in a bid. My bid won. When I went inside the place it was pretty trashed. I checked all the rooms, calculating the costs of getting it back into shape. At the end of my walk thru I went into the garage and saw there was a car under a tarp. Hmmm... I pulled the tarp back and saw a 1972 Barracuda in nearly mint condition.
Oregon Trails....
A first or second edition of the Oregon Trail book. It's a bit damaged, so not that valuable, but still a few hundred more than the $15 I paid for it.
The Wrist Buy
relapse records watch GIF by Red FangGiphyFound a "fake" Cartier watch in Goodwill for $10. Bought it because it still looked nice. But it's a real Cartier watch and it's worth $1000+. Keeping it because I'd never buy myself something like that.
Sunburst Ugly
Dad carried around a junk guitar for 50 years. Ugly as hell sunburst Gibson acoustic (circa 50's or 60's can't remember) that he eventually sanded down into something prettier. When I was learning he took it to be tuned up by our neighbor who owned a shop and was a collector.
Dude came back exasperated and told us that my dad had sanded about 50k off the guitar, and that it would have been totally worthless if he hadn't left the logo on.
Small Metals....
I found a very small, round piece of metal on the floor in my workplace. I couldn't figure out what the item was and knew I should just discard it, but felt compelled to keep it for some reason.
That afternoon my co-worker was distraught - the unique type of battery that her cochlear implant needed fell out, and was probably in a dumpster somewhere because the cleaners had come through. I gave her the weird piece of metal in my pocket, and she almost burst into tears from relief.
Jean Carlu
Old folded up piece of paper in the bottom of a box my dad had I found cleaning up the house, torn up and faded.
Turned out to be a 90 year old original Jean Carlu poster worth roughly $20,000 after spending $1,000 for restoration.
We have the English version of this making it worth more. Depending on the art market which is currently down it is worth less but still this range is about right. No plans on selling it yet, might go to a museum or exhibit first.
Karma Paid
Get Money Entrepreneur GIF by Smart Money MamasGiphyWell, a moron couch surfer who crashed in my guest room for a few months left behind a 1970s Fender Super Twin tube amp worth $1800 he didn't know about.
It made cleaning up his urine bottles worth it.
Dali Luck!
Typical not me but a friend - she found a copy of a Salvador Dali painting at goodwill. She loved him and it was a big print so she grabbed it for like $20. She took it home and took it out of the old junky frame and it had a stamp of authenticity on the back, and she had it assessed and it's worth 20k. Lucky B! Ha.
bidding in Texas....
A few years ago, I was looking through the goodwill website the let's you bid on stuff that you find. I stumbled across one of the Texas goodwills pages, and then saw an auction for a huge box of phone accessories, that no one was bidding on. I started looking through all the pictures, started researching some of the brands, and started realizing the whole box was worth a decent bit. I took a shot, and made my bid. Someone else saw what I saw, and started a bidding war with me, but I eventually won with a bid of $106, then $24 for shipping.
Few days go by, and I finally get the box, well 2 boxes, and they were both huge. Started taking inventory, and ended with 100 iPhone chargers, 100 android chargers, about 250 iPhone 8 cases in all different styles, 80 battery packs, a few iPad cases, and about 1000 screen protectors. Turned my $130 total investment into an EBay business, and made almost $8,000 in about 9 months.
Flip!
unimpressed viola davis GIFGiphySomeone gave me a hideous purse out of a box on its way to goodwill. I sold it on eBay for $1,100. I've had some good flips, but that was the best.
Paying Back the Cat
Weird painting of a cat with birds on its back no one wanted. Paid $20, worth $400. My mom thought it would be an investment. Bought a ton of stuff done by her fav artist. Kept saying she got it at a steal and it was worth way more. Artist got screwed when he got Alzheimer's and people took advantage somehow (I don't remember) but now his work isn't worth anything.
The Bracelet
My mom in college worked for a small grocery store. She was sweeping aisles one day when she found a bracelet and just threw it in the lost and found for someone to come back for later. Months went by and I guess the employees got to check the lost and found for anything they wanted if no one claimed it. She remembered the bracelet and just grabbed it. She got it home and cleaned it up. It ended up being a Tivol bracelet wrapped with real diamonds. Its since been turned into a new wedding band for her lol.
The Long Shot
My friends and I were at a concert and found this broken bracelet under a merch table as we were about to leave the venue. It had an interesting engraving on it, something about being a son and friend. Because it was broken we were thinking about just tossing it, but ended up throwing it in our backpack to bring to the office later (my friend worked at the venue so she was going to turn it in). The next week I was browsing reddit on a thread of the same kind of music we were listening to at the show and just as I was about to fall asleep, someone's post caught my eye.
It said something like "This is a long shot but I lost something..." and it piqued my interest so I clicked it. It was someone from that same show asking if anyone had found a silver bracelet. Turns out it was the same one we found and it seemed to be a special gift from the person's parent and they were looking for it. We connected and got the bracelet returned to the guy, and the whole interaction is actually in my reddit history, it's a fun (albeit quick) read!
A cheap Matin....
snoopy rock star GIFGiphyBought a cheap Martin guitar because I was broke and wanted to play. I didn't think much of it at the time, but it's worth a few grand now because it was a limited edition thing. It's still appreciating to the point where I had to insure it.
Calcium for the Win
So my family went to a nearby town's vintage sale thing. My dad found this dirty old glass milk bottle, and he got excited when he found it. I didn't know what he found so exciting since it was just a milk bottle. After we got home, he explained that it was a a milk bottle from a dairy farm. One of the cofounders of that farm was my great great grandfather (on my dad's side). When one of the world wars began, he sold it off to the other founder.
Tl;dr my dad found a glass milk bottle, and I found out I'm a descendant of wealthy dairy farmers.
All for 30....
I was at an estate sale and bought a few paintings sweet lady told me to take the last one I liked as package deal since I ran out of cash, turns out one of them is a pretty rare original print worth about 3500$ and I paid maybe 30$ for all 4 prints and paintings I wanted.
Priceless....
When I was younger, I would rummage around the drawers and cabinets in my grandmother's house, just "adventuring" and "discovering", which is what I called it. I happened to find this old folded piece of paper, but it only took three seconds for me to just disregard it and push it aside. I think I was trying to get something else that I saw.
After I finished with whatever I had, I picked up the piece of paper to throw it away. Out of childlike curiosity, I opened it up and saw the words in it. It looked like a letter. It seemed important, so I gave it to my grandmother who gave it to my mother when she came to pick me up (my grandmother is blind).
Come to find out, it was a love letter from my grandfather to my grandmother. That really made their day.
EDIT: Some of y'all need to chill. I was three-years-old. My grandmother and grandfather (who isn't blind) were fine with me doing that, as long as I cleaned up after myself. I didn't give her hell. She isn't some stereotypical "poor old blind grandma". She has the hearing of a bat and a hand of iron.
Unexpected Juice
My father in law goes junking occasionally for side cash and strange gifts. One day he shows up randomly with a 1st gen fatboy ps3 with backwards compatibility. He goes "hey I don't know if you can use this but I thought you might enjoy it. Somebody had it sitting out for garbage."
I fired it up fully expecting to have to do some repairs but it booted up and plays just fine! He refused to take any money for it. He can be a real stand up guy.
In the Bin....
Trash Bin GIF by EmmerdaleGiphyI found a book at a trash bin. The Wind in the Willows I never got to read it as a kid... after finishing it I googled the edition date turns out its a collectible worth $300...? Who knew.
Want to "know" more? Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again. Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.
