CRACKED "UMBRELLA STAND" FOUND IN A PILE OF TRASH SELLS FOR $7,475

Steve Johnson of Circa Antiques & Historical Artifacts in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, was packing and sorting things for clients to sell. They were downsizing. There were Civil War items, good glassware, furniture, charitable donations and, in a corner, a pile of boxes and trash. Steve told us he saw the top of a crock in the trash and pulled it out. The 6-gallon stoneware crock had been used as an umbrella stand for years. It had a cobalt tulip decoration, the date 1857 on the side, and the impressed name "Jacob Swank" under the handle. The potter worked in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, and few artifacts survived the 1889 flood there, so marked pieces are rare. The owners told Johnson the crock had been in the family for years and they never noticed the name and date. Crocker Farm auctioned it on April 17, 2010.

TAKE A GOOD LOOK AT YOUR COLLECTION

Take a Good Look at your Collection

Sometimes a piece you bought years ago for very little money turns out to be valuable today. New research and new interests can change values. The Civil War and Underground Railroad Museum of Philadelphia was going through documents in storage and found a document listed as a photo reproduction. It records the terms of Gen. Robert E. Lee's surrender. It's dated 1865 and has actual signatures. The museum thinks it was probably a souvenir copy signed at the time, not the official copy. But if it turns out to be the original Confederate copy, it would be worth over $500,000.