Treasure Hidden in the Trash?

We've all heard it before--the old saying, "One man's trash is another man's treasure." Have you ever stopped to think about treasure hidden in the trash? The fact that people have found things from antiques worth hundreds of thousands of dollars in the trash to art work that is worth in excess of a thousand dollars to simple artifacts that were once considered trash to somebody that are now seen as treasure to even a group of people. It's actually quite amazing some of the treasure hidden in the trash. Here is a look at some treasures that have been found in the trash over the years.

Treasure Hidden in the Trash, Antiques from the Mayans: The Mayans date back as far as 300 B.C. and yet somebody was lucky enough to find artifacts from these times in an old wooden barrel that was to be thrown away as trash. An article in the New York Daily News that was written by Nicholas Hershon told the story of a NY City professional mover who found these antiques in the trash--valued at more than $16,000!

Treasure Hidden in the Trash, Baseball Card from the 1800's: Then there was the California woman who found the antique baseball card that was from 1869. Although this wasn't found in the trash so to speak, the woman found the card in her collection of antiques at an antique shop that she owned and nearly sold the card on eBay for an asking price of $10 as reported by USA Today reporter Brent Jones. The card was later valued at more than $40,000!

Treasure Hidden in the Trash, Mexican Painting from 1970: Not all trash finds are an old and rare antique. A woman in New York found a Mexican painting by artist Rufino Tamayo that had been stolen more than 20 years prior as reported by the Associated Press. Once returned to the original purchasers of the art work who had paid $55,000 for it 20 years before the piece was put on auction for an expected 1 Million Dollars!

Treasure Hidden in the Trash, Checks Totaling Over $100,000: Finally, there is the story of a woman who inadvertently threw away some company checks that were ready to be cashed. After realizing that she had tossed the checks into the trash (and that the trash man had already taken them) she chased him down and as reported by KSL Television reporters Randall Jeppesen and Keith McCord gathered friends and neighbors to assist in digging through the trucks 10,000 pound contents at the local dump! Luckily for her and the friends, it reportedly only took looking through 3 bags of trash to find the treasure--checks valued at $188,000!

Sources:

USA Today, California Woman Finds Baseball Card from 1869, www.USAToday.com

New York Daily News, Professional Mover Finds $16, 500 in Rare Antiquities in the Trash, www.nydailynews.com

Associated Press, Stolen Painting Worth $1 Million Found in Trash, www.ap.org

KSL Television, Woman finds Money She Threw Away in the Trash, www.ksl.com