Featured Only 22 others of this exist...take a look

i have to share this with you guys cause I can’t keep my mouth shut I’m about to bust..
I was watching a local auctioneers Facebook page and looking over pictures and I saw something that looked unusual. I knew it was old and it was in a small town estate sale. I had to wait three days nervously waiting on the item. Finally the sale day came. I went and sat back and watched people. It was clear that no one knew what it was. A couple of people thought it was a good item but they hadn’t done research and trying to do it on sale day is difficult. The item wasn’t even on the main antique table. Finally my time came. Bidding started a little high but no one was biting. I picked it up for a very reasonable price. I scooped it up and paid and got out of there.

Now here’s the meat of the story: the item was a surveyor compass made by Goldsmith Chandlee around 1808. There are some only 22 known examples, one of which is in the Smithsonian, the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley, Colnial Jamestown...

One of the finest examples of surveyor equipment ever made. Also it was in the original box. It has the original label which is usually missing. It has two hand made brass protractors and a hand made ivory ruler with surveyor measurements also.

Estimates are $13,000 to 18,000 and may go higher; Antiques Roadshow valued one in 2008 at $20,000 to $25,000.

Remember- there are diamonds out there in the rough! I made a nice once in a lifetime find by looking through pictures and doing research. You can do it too!

 

What a fantastic find, and just beautiful!

 

great score 7539 I bet you were on pins and needles waiting until you had it in hand!

 

The Picker's Dream come true. Knowing more than other people has enabled me to scoop up some cameos signed by well known 19th century engravers at silly prices. Good on you.

 

Thanks everybody. I literally was a nervous wreck until I had it in hand. I was trying to decide how far over 2000 I was going to go but I ended up at a fraction of that...

 

Bet everyone else was thinking: I've got GPS. What do I need with a compass?

 

Hah! If you do a quick search for the maker the prices are so high that you are afraid you’re wrong. I want to encourage people to study their interests, especially what’s valuable and what isn’t.

 

From something that just turned up in my inbox:

If a golden truth of collecting is to buy something because you love it, then the silver rule of collecting may be to continually seek knowledge. An informed decision is not only immediately beneficial, but also may lead to gains in the future.

 

Congratulations, well spotted, and a real beauty!

Most of my fields of interest are so 'obscure' that most people don't know the value of items I bid on.

 

Fantastic find!

We have never had a big monetary win, most tend to be £500 max, but the feeling of backing your instinct on an unidentified piece and getting it right, or spotting a gem that others haven't, is priceless.

 

Great find!

 

Congratulations! That's a wonderful story.

I had the honors of a "once in a lifetime"too.....a painting.

Only I didn't know ahead of time that it was quite so special, as it came from a house lot I had purchased.

Something about it though that drew me to it. Contacted ARS after I did a bit of research of the artist, and brought the painting to them for auction.

I enjoyed it though for several years before I gave it up.

I needed a new van.

Reached $75,000 at Skinner's auction, 12 years ago. It bought me a new Transit plus money to put in the bank.

 

Wow, so nice to read these happy and lucrative stories.

 

Wow! Judy! Even I am here, across the pond, doing a little happy dance for you.

 

Very nice compass, made in my area, I would have bid too!

 

Absolutely lovely and congrats on a great find!

 

Nice score on the compass. My biggest haven't compared to that, yet. The one I wish I would have held on to though was a rare set of WW1 aviator wings made by Shreve & Co. The Shreve & Co wing is considered by many collectors to be the epitome of wing makers art.

 

Love reading about these kinds of finds. A big congrats to Judy and 7539!

 

Thank you so much!

I always have to search my memory for the artist's name.....Julian Onderdonk. He painted Texas Bluebells.

It needed restoration, and was a rather small painting.

 

Thank you so much!!