It’s Amazing What You’ll Find in Storage Units Near New York City
Blind auctions of abandoned storage units are a thing, and while the majority of people may find nothing more than old clothes and dated magazines for some, it could mean hitting the jackpot. Blind auctions are so popular that there are even shows about it. Shows like “Storage Wars’ follow storage bounty hunters whose goal is to mainly find treasures similar to the ones we’ve listed below.
Take a look at what they found in storage units near New York City!
A Comic Book Collection Worth Millions
Darrel Sheets stumbled upon what was later found out to be a collection of first edition comic books after he bid $2700 on a storage unit. The near mint copies of iconic comics like Spiderman #1, X-Men #1, and thousands of various others were found and valued at $130,000. It is rumored than Nicholas Cage purchased one of the comic books for over $150,000, later that was reported stolen. Those comics were then sold for over $2 million on a website dedicated to comic book collectors.
2. Faceless Dollar Bills
Back in 2011, over $20k in cold hard cash was found in a storage unit. The owner bid just $400, and when he opened the unit found $24000, but they were faceless. Apparently, the owner cut the face out of the bills for some reason. The good news is that the US Treasury accepts these bills as long as the serial numbers are intact.
3. Pirate treasure
Storage Wars chronicled auctioneers Dan and Laura Dotson who had auctioned what seemed to be a regular foreclosed locker. Upon closer inspection, it contained a large treasure chest filled with gold bars and coins. The bidder had purchased the locker for a winning bid of just $1000, and now it was worth over $500,000. Some coins date back to the 16th century, making them immensely valuable.
4. A 1937 Bugatti 57S
A young man opened up his uncle’s storage unit only to find a brand new 1937 Bugatti 57S staring him in the face. The English man discovered the car back in 2009 only after his uncle had passed away. Apparently the car was forgotten about but now joins the ranks of the very few originals left in brand new conditions.
5. Antiques from the Civil War Era
A storage unit was found with belongings of what is assumed to be a former World War II general. The unit itself contained a load of antiques dating back to the Civil War era. Estimated to be worth over $200,000, the mainly military-related antiques also include documents signed by US presidents.
6. The James Bond Car
A man from New York purchased a storage unit back in 1989 for just $100 which turned out to be the resting place for an original submarine Lotus sports car, the same car featured in the James Bond film “The Spy Who Love Me.” It is rumored that the unit was the property of Metro-Goldwyn Mayer and was later abandoned. Interestingly the car itself sold at auction in 2013 for $865,000.
7. The Whopping $34000 stamp
A woman sorting through a recently purchased storage unit purchased from an unknown buyer found a stamp. The 12 pence Canadian stamp dates back to 1851, and she almost threw it out. Lucky for her she didn’t and that recently sold for an eye-watering $34k
8. A Collection of Unreleased Michael Jackson Songs
A storage unit owned previously by Joe Jackson was purchased by a person who found 250 original songs, never heard before. The songs were recorded with Tina Turner. Now because the songs were recorded out of contract, no recording label could lay claim to them. However, there were still unresolved lawsuits over these songs after the Jackson family filed their lawsuit.
9 The Forgotten Beach Boys’ Archive
What seemed to be a regular blind auction in 2013 turned into a lengthy court battle ending eight years later with the sealed bid auction valued at over $10 million. The buyer apparently found numerous boxes of Beach Boys memorabilia and literally hundreds of documents mainly of handwritten lyrics of popular songs from the 60s. That led to the Beach Boys filing a lawsuit claim that it was theirs after which it was sold at auction.
10. President Lincoln’s Letter
Darrel Sheets of Storage Wars in 2010 found letters written by former US president Abraham Lincoln. He later had them authenticated. Those letters were later sold for $15k.