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Lost By The Public => Success Stories => Topic started by: Dale on April 28, 2014, 07:24:33 PM



Title: Eyes only car boot sale
Post by: Dale on April 28, 2014, 07:24:33 PM
I spotted this item on eBay, the cut and paste below, is a link the seller added...The article was published back in 2003.......



£25 car boot brooch could fetch £20,000

A SILVER brooch picked up for £25 at a car boot sale could be worth nearly 1,000 times that amount after its South Derbyshire owner discovered it dated back to Viking times.

 When bargain hunter Keith Parker spotted the brooch at a car boot sale at Measham Showground, he was told by the seller that it had come from a house clearance and was probably Victorian.
 However, Mr Parker, of James Street, Midway, suspected the brooch was much older than that because it did not carry a hallmark characteristic of Victorian jewellery. He thought at first it might have been a Scottish kilt pin.
 The 42-year-old was originally offered the item for £40, but managed to bring the seller down to £25.
 After reading in a book that it could be Viking in origin, he took the brooch to Derby Museum, where it was sent on to the British Museum in London.
 The British Museum held on to the brooch for two months before returning it, saying it was of Irish origin, but without giving a value.
 He then sent it to the National Museum of Ireland, which confirmed it was a silver ficial terminal penannular thistle brooch dating back to the late ninth or early 10th century, although the pin may have been replaced at a later date.
 Mr Parker first picked up the brooch at the beginning of June, but he only received confirmation of its origin this week.
 He said: "I was at the stall quite late, about 11.30am or noon, so a lot of people must have seen the brooch but not bought it because it didn’t have a hallmark and the seller didn't really know anything about it.
 "I normally do metal detecting, but the ground is too dry in summer, which means I have to do my treasure hunting at car boot sales." Mr Parker has since consulted collectors and dealers who have told him the brooch could fetch as much as £20,000 at auction, with some dealers telling him they could never afford to buy such an item from him.
 He said: "I am trying not to get too excited about it because it’s still sinking in.
 "The more research I did into it and the more people I talked to, I discovered that things like this just don’t come up at auctions.
 "When I went back to the car boot sale the following week, the man who sold it me asked me if I still had it because he wanted to buy it back – I asked him if he’d got a spare 20 grand."





Title: Re: Eyes only car boot sale
Post by: celticspikey on April 28, 2014, 07:59:42 PM
I spotted this item on eBay, the cut and paste below, is a link the seller added...The article was published back in 2003.......



£25 car boot brooch could fetch £20,000

A SILVER brooch picked up for £25 at a car boot sale could be worth nearly 1,000 times that amount after its South Derbyshire owner discovered it dated back to Viking times.

 When bargain hunter Keith Parker spotted the brooch at a car boot sale at Measham Showground, he was told by the seller that it had come from a house clearance and was probably Victorian.
 However, Mr Parker, of James Street, Midway, suspected the brooch was much older than that because it did not carry a hallmark characteristic of Victorian jewellery. He thought at first it might have been a Scottish kilt pin.
 The 42-year-old was originally offered the item for £40, but managed to bring the seller down to £25.
 After reading in a book that it could be Viking in origin, he took the brooch to Derby Museum, where it was sent on to the British Museum in London.
 The British Museum held on to the brooch for two months before returning it, saying it was of Irish origin, but without giving a value.
 He then sent it to the National Museum of Ireland, which confirmed it was a silver ficial terminal penannular thistle brooch dating back to the late ninth or early 10th century, although the pin may have been replaced at a later date.
 Mr Parker first picked up the brooch at the beginning of June, but he only received confirmation of its origin this week.
 He said: "I was at the stall quite late, about 11.30am or noon, so a lot of people must have seen the brooch but not bought it because it didn’t have a hallmark and the seller didn't really know anything about it.
 "I normally do metal detecting, but the ground is too dry in summer, which means I have to do my treasure hunting at car boot sales." Mr Parker has since consulted collectors and dealers who have told him the brooch could fetch as much as £20,000 at auction, with some dealers telling him they could never afford to buy such an item from him.
 He said: "I am trying not to get too excited about it because it’s still sinking in.
 "The more research I did into it and the more people I talked to, I discovered that things like this just don’t come up at auctions.
 "When I went back to the car boot sale the following week, the man who sold it me asked me if I still had it because he wanted to buy it back – I asked him if he’d got a spare 20 grand."




Nice story Dale, just goes to show mate still get bargains at booties ;D however. £20 k !!  ??? What do you reckon.


Title: Re: Eyes only car boot sale
Post by: Dryland on April 28, 2014, 08:04:55 PM
What a find, although it does sound a bit suspect, maybe i'm being cynical but, could this just be a detecting find that he didn't want
to declare  ??? ???


Title: Re: Eyes only car boot sale
Post by: Dale on April 28, 2014, 08:12:57 PM
Hi Paul, its listed @ £3,500 ono... you know what the papers are like.... ;)

Dylan you could be right mate you never know


Title: Re: Eyes only car boot sale
Post by: Pon on April 28, 2014, 08:24:14 PM
What a find, although it does sound a bit suspect, maybe i'm being cynical but, could this just be a detecting find that he didn't want
to declare  ??? ???
I was just in the process of writing the same thing..then noticed your post.   ;D ;D ;D


Title: Re: Eyes only car boot sale
Post by: Chef Geoff on April 28, 2014, 09:18:27 PM
Something wrong there somewhere ??? the seller is, given his other items, a detectorist but there is no recorded find of this sort on PAS and why has he contacted the National Museum of Ireland for an id? If it was found here then he would by law have to hand it in as treasure if found in Ireland then he would also loose it but by finding it in the UK but get an id from Dublin then your pretty safe.....or so he thinks ;D
Also there are a number of replica brooches of this sort made by John hunt back in the 1940's which are worth a lot of money if you can pick one up but obviously modern.
Sorry to be a kill joy but I will be notifying the PAS and BM tomorrow about the sale and let them deal with it. ;)


Title: Re: Eyes only car boot sale
Post by: Chef Geoff on April 28, 2014, 09:25:25 PM
Oh I see the BM has already shown interest :o


Title: Re: Eyes only car boot sale
Post by: jcb (THE THIMBLE) jones on April 29, 2014, 07:27:53 AM
something very fishy about this  ??? :o ???


Title: Re: Eyes only car boot sale
Post by: troutmasterfunk on April 29, 2014, 08:49:59 AM
Ooooerrrr  ;)


Title: Re: Eyes only car boot sale
Post by: Dale on April 29, 2014, 05:13:53 PM
Oh I see the BM has already shown interest :o

I also spotted the BM got in contact with the seller about the item, you see that a lot with eBay and treasure items, but in the end there always sold never pulled and feedback is given ???

Reading the article again about the thistle brooch, it was sent to the BM, they held onto it for 2 months returning it saying its of Irish origin....it looks like the item was returned and free to sale :)


Title: Re: Eyes only car boot sale
Post by: Chef Geoff on April 29, 2014, 05:33:52 PM
Yes but does that article refers to the same brooch?. It would be free to sell if it was bought not found.


Title: Re: Eyes only car boot sale
Post by: Dale on April 29, 2014, 05:39:54 PM
Yes but does that article refers to the same brooch?. It would be free to sell if it was bought not found.

Geoff look at the first photo, the news paper cut out is just in view to the left of photo, with the owner holding the brooch in hand.


Title: Re: Eyes only car boot sale
Post by: Chef Geoff on April 29, 2014, 05:44:34 PM
Yes a "brooch" this brooch isn't unique by any means, I just find it hard to believe that this guy, who is selling off Roman coins in lots by the ton, has sat on this brooch for 11 years ???


Title: Re: Eyes only car boot sale
Post by: Dale on April 29, 2014, 05:50:05 PM
Yes a "brooch" this brooch isn't unique by any means, I just find it hard to believe that this guy, who is selling off Roman coins in lots by the ton, has sat on this brooch for 11 years ???

I bet he wishes he hasn't sat on it for 11 years now as its dropped 17 grand  :D that's why he's selling all the romans ;)


Title: Re: Eyes only car boot sale
Post by: dances with badgers on April 29, 2014, 06:45:07 PM
mad in cowloon bay hong kong an bought on alibaba site,blacberry phones are 60 quid lol


Title: Re: Eyes only car boot sale
Post by: Dryland on April 29, 2014, 08:08:31 PM
It must have been very painful sitting on a broach for 11 years. Maybe thats where the saying "pain in the ass comes from "


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