When my dad came home from the war, he liked to attend auctions whenever he could. My town had a sale barn where auctions were held every Saturday. There also were household and farm auctions, sometimes on weekends and sometimes during the week. Some farm auctions lasted several days. This auction interest rubbed off on me. As a teen and an adult, I loved auctions. One Saturday there was a household auction, and dad attended. When he came home, he had an old steamer trunk on the back of his old Ford "A" truck. He drug it into the house, to the middle of the living room floor. There, he explained that there was two trunks, both locked and no key could be found. No one knew what was in them, so one was bid on. Dad got it for less than two dollars. The other trunk was then sold for the same amount to another guy. The lock was pried open and dad and mom eagerly began removing the contents. They consisted of bedding. Folded sheets, pillow cases, blankets and some towels. In the very bottom was a cigar box full of Indian head pennies, still somewhat common then yet. Later, dad saw the guy who bought the other trunk, and asked him what was in his. The man told him just some old kitchen utensils and an old revolver, still loaded. He showed dad the gun. It was a Savage .36 cap and ball figure 8 revolver. They were issued during the Civil war but not many were built. So, dad just missed the buy of the decade. Below is a photo of a Savage fig. 8.
Still got a good deal on sheets, towels, etc. Do you know how much that gun would be worth today, Ike?
Great story Ike....yep I'm wondering the same as Chrissy about the worth of that gun today...and what about the indian headed coins..are they worth anything?
The gun could bring as much as $2200 dollars. The pennies today from $1 to $3000 dollars apiece, depending on date and condition. This was in 1946 though, and those pennies were not worth so much then.
WOW....yep it was their worth today that I was wondering about Ike.. what happened to the pennies do you know?
Well, I don't know what dad did with the pennies, but I know my dad. Everything he ever got was for sale, for a profit. He was a picker before Mike and Frank and the show "American pickers" was ever thought of. Dad and his pal, also named Frank, bought-sold-traded away everything they got their hands on.