I’ve been pretty busy lately. There’s been plenty of interesting garbage (and free pre-garbage), many organization and reorganization sessions, and lots of springtime chores to do including yard work, bringing the car to the garage, and finishing my taxes.
As such I’ve had a hard time staying on top of my picture-taking and garbage documentation. One thing that would help is getting my garage photo studio going again – it’s been out of commission since my light bulbs were stolen at that chaotic garage sale last year.
Oh well, I should be able to figure it out soon. In the meantime, here are some of my great post-horseshoe finds from around a month ago. This jewelry box came from the same spot that tossed a different noteworthy jewelry box around a month prior. They’ve tossed some other quality stuff too, but that’ll have to wait for another post. I found this box in the recycling bin.
I was excited when I picked it out because I could hear that there were things inside. Plus, after the last jewelry box these folks tossed I knew they weren’t afraid to throw out a little gold. A few pieces were corroded or junk, but several were very nice.
You might have spotted the bills tucked in behind the tie bar holder. They were all Mexican pesos from the 70s, a few of which are sequential. They’re not worth much, but it should make a fun auction lot.
Here’s the jewelry that was worth keeping. There’s a silver St Francis Xavier University pin, a silver tie bar, a 14k gold Rotary Club pin, a 14k gold golfer pendant, and a nice Elgin watch. But the pieces that stood out most were the rings on the bottom.
On the left is a pretty standard 14k band made by Birks. The ring on the right is a little less familiar, I’ve never found anything styled quite like it before. It’s hallmarked 750 (18k gold), which from my experience means that it was probably made in Europe, and also looks to be stamped “427AL.” I have no idea what that one means. The stone is a very dark green with a few red specks. The design on the sides is pretty ornate, I wish I had a better close up but the picture above will have to do for now.
It’s a pretty big ring. It only fits on one of my middle fingers (seems like one is a bit smaller than the other) and weighs about 14.22 grams. That means it’s worth several hundred dollars just for scrap, but I’m sure it’s worth more as a ring. I don’t know much about the design, so fill me in if you happen to know something I don’t!
I’ve had a lot of luck finding jewelry lately so expect more of that in my coming posts. The local university move-out day came and went. I didn’t try particularly hard this year – my normal routes are producing enough quality stuff as it is – but it was fun walking around and seeing the sights. It seems that McGill in particular is trying harder to curb move-out related waste, but there’s still good stuff to be found.
The weather’s looking pretty good for this Sunday so I think I’ll do my first yard sale of the year. It won’t be a huge one, but I hope to unload some of the stuff that’s accumulated around the house and in my basement. If you’re interested check out this post again on Saturday after 6pm, I’ll post an edit below this paragraph with the status & location. Otherwise you can also keep an eye on my Instagram where I’ll post an update in the stories. Regardless, it’ll be in the Mile End.
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Hello Martin,
Good for you that you can earn money doing what you do. What leaves me speechless is when people throw out real gold jeweller, It obviously is going to someone who deserves it more. 🙂
I have a question Martin can could you tell me which scrap yard you visited please?
I which you much sucess for now and in the future!
Cheers
Caterina,
Yes, it always surprises me when people throw away gold, but some people are just too rich to care. (Others are just ignorant of its value, I expect that was the case in the Rosemont gold haul in my last post).
I went to Recyclage Miller in Montreal North just off Industrial. I know there’s one in Lachine as well, which might be bigger. There’s others elsewhere, but those are the closest to home for me.
I can’t believe someone would steal your light bulbs. Geez.
That stamp mark sounds like an Italian one, where we use the letters for the city where the company making it is registered and the number being the registration number – although usually the letters would come before the numbers
AL could be for Alessandria (an Italian city)
Last comment 😉 maybe my hypothesis is incorrect because there should also be some other mark or sign together in the hallmark, if I remember well. Hope you’ll find out more, it’s a nice ring
I thought it might be Italian as well. However, I didn’t see many Italian bloodstone rings in my Google search, and the marks don’t quite match like you say… In the end I’m not sure it matters much in terms of value, but it’d be nice to know.
African bloodstone
Yes, the green stone with red flecks would be a bloodstone. It is found in a number if countries and is the original birthstone for the Month of March.
Yard sale—yay! 😃 I hope to see some of that jewelry there!
Interesting, thanks for the info. I guess it is my birthstone then!
I won’t be selling any gold at my yard sale, but I might have some nicer costume stuff out.
Hi Marty – 18k Bloodstone rings like yours sell with multiple bids in the $600 – $800 range. Hope you can fix your bulb problem and take great pics for ebay and us soon!
US dollars? Sounds like it should be me some decent money!
You are right—so right.Your blog is so enlightening.I study at McGill and yes I notice that McGill has ramped up efforts in the last year or two to reduce curbside waste at the end of student semesters.A lot of sites where reusable and unwanted stuff can be dropped off have been set up near the campus.I think these efforts are beginning to pay off.There is less student waste being generated around McGill.But I cannot speak about university students who rent apartments in far-off boroughs.Please confirm this after doing your scavenging and field research.
But garbage is only garbage until someone sees value.
Mcgill end of term July 1, more people come out, somtimes a bustling activity, people looking for different things.
I’m not hardcore, but findind CD’s or DVD’s is a perk of going out. I know less electronics is appearing, but that’s what interests me, and I don’t trust ” recycling” to get it back into use. I fear the most recent gets harvested, the rest broken down, while some older stuff is still useful.
Groups that usef to have rummage sales, to at least try to find a home, a fewer, for their own reasons.
Michael
I’m late with my comment (I’ve never missed making a comment on a post)! But on the plus side … I was in Montreal and got to see some of these gems (and many others) first hand. I had a great time at your yard sale, and enjoyed going on a trash run with you the next day. Woot – life is good!
Hope Karma bites those *^%$* losers who stole your photo studio light bulbs a while back. 🙂