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From Disney scripts and other Hollywood memorabilia to rare cars, guns and Civil War antiques, we take a look at the items found in abandoned storage units that sold for a fortune. 1. FACELESS CASH A storage unit that was purchased for just $400 (£309) was found to contain a whopping $24,000 (£19,000) in cash. Unfortunately for the owner, each bill in the locker had the face cut out. However, as it turns out, the US Treasury is willing to accept faceless bills as long as their serial numbers are intact. Shutterstock 2. Original Amelia Earhart photos Diane Brown of Tracy, California, was casually cleaning out the storage unit she’d purchased when she stumbled across an envelope. What could have been mistaken for cash turned out to contain some pretty priceless photographs of female pilot Amelia Earhart, who died while attempting to fly around the world in 1937. Each photo was expected to fetch a staggering $1,000 (£772). Flickr 3. Abandoned gold mines From Disney scripts and other Hollywood memorabilia to rare cars, guns and Civil War antiques, we take a look at the items found in abandoned storage units that sold for a fortune. Evening Gazette 4. Grand piano Former Storage Wars star Barry Weiss got a big hit early on in his appearance on the show after bidding $275 (£212) on a unit filled with salon supplies. What at first appeared to be a total flop turned into a huge win when Weiss managed to dig out a grand piano from the rubble. The instrument landed him with a hefty $11,625 (£9,000) profit. Pixarbay 5. Guns As featured on the TV show Auction Hunters, one bidder traveled to Texas and walked away with thousands of dollars’ worth of antiques. The most notable antiques were a range of guns, including a Winchester buffalo rifle, and antique slot cars. The unit was estimated to be worth around $20,000 (£15,000). Wikimedia Commons 6. Michael Jordan recruitment letter A storage locker bought by a man in North Carolina seemed unassuming at first until he found some unique documents related to basketball legend Michael Jordan hiding in its contents. The locker was playing home to two of Jordan’s recruitment letters, including one from assistant Bill Guthridge and another from coach Dean Smith. The documents were later auctioned off and sold for more than $50,000 (£39,000). Shutterstock 7. Classic video games A Storage Wars bidder in Southern California landed an incredible deal on a locker that was bursting with vintage videos and game hardware and cartridges. For this lucky buyer, the games were valued at $50,000 (£39,000) – just enough for the buyer to call it one of his “best ever” buys. We can only imagine what his other best buys are worth. pixabay 8. Rare Burton skateboard: $30,100 (£24k) In early 2015, eBay user Vermontgirl77 came across two vintage Burton skateboards in a storage unit she had acquired. Suspecting they may be of value, she posted one of the boards on eBay in September 2015 and sparked a bidding war. The rare skateboard ended up fetching $30,100 (£23k). Courtesy eBay 9. Elvis Presley newspapers In 2010, during a memorable episode of TV show Storage Wars, a large cache of newspapers dating back to the day Elvis Presley died (16 August 1977) were found in a storage unit. The papers were all in excellent condition and offered a flashback to the day the world lost ‘The King’. What originally looked like a regular stash of papers were eventually valued at an almighty $90,000 (£70,000). Pinterest 10. Discarded valuables left to gather dust and rust This 1966 Ford Mustang that had lain forgotten in a Massachusetts storage facility for almost 40 years recently sold at a Bonhams auction in Greenwich, Connecticut for $159,500 (£115k). Bonhams 11. Civil War antiques An auctioned storage unit, bought by a lucky bidder in Virginia, was formerly owned by a World War II general and contained a number of priceless military-related antiques, many of which dated all the way back to the Civil War. Among them were multiple documents signed by U.S. presidents, hiking the total value of the contents up to somewhere around $200,000 (£154,400). Shutterstock 12. 1956 Ford Thunderbird: $27,100 (£21k) This 1956 Ford Thunderbird is one of 50 classic cars from the mid 20th century that had been stored in a Grand Rapids storage space for decades. The late owner's family called in the valuers and the collection, which included a fleet of 28 Thunderbirds, was sold for $300,000 (£232k) by Repocast auctioneers. Courtesy Repocast 13. Frank Gutierrez Storage Wars star Darrell Sheets, also known as “The Gambler”, took a huge gamble on a locker priced at $3,600 (£3,000). But his punt paid off when he found the storage unit was full of original art by Frank Gutierrez. The collection of art was estimated to be worth $300,000 (£232,000). Artslant.com 14. 1927 Harley-Davidson 8-valve motorcycle: $424,000 (£332k) This 1927 Harley-Davidson 8-valve racer with sidecar had been languishing in a Melbourne, Australia storage unit for 50 years before it was rediscovered in the spring of 2015. The antique Harley went on to sell for an impressive $424,000 (£327k) when it came up for auction later that year. Shannons 15. Pirate chest stuffed with 16th century gold coins: $500,000 (£392k) Storage Wars TV stars Dan and Laura Dotson hit the headlines in 2011 when they sold a storage unit for $1,000 (£772) with no idea of its contents. The container turned out to contain an antique pirate chest stuffed with antique Spanish pieces of eight worth $500,000 (£386k). Shutterstock 16. James Bond's 'Wet Nellie' Lotus Esprit submarine: $700,000 (£550k) This custom Lotus Esprit submarine, which featured in the 1977 James Bond movie The Spy Who Loved Me, was dumped in a Long Island storage unit and remained there for years. It was snapped up in 1989 for just $100 (£77) but it wasn't until 2013 that the owner realized its true value and significance. The unique vehicle was bought by billionaire Elon Musk for $700,000 (£540k) later that year. Wikipedia CC 17. Hollywood memorabilia Back in 2011, 40,000 pieces of Hollywood memorabilia were found in an abandoned storage locker, including Disney film cells, publicity photographs and autographed work. The collection, which was kept in a neat box and also contained costumes, posters, scripts and Tim Burton art, was valued at more than $1 million (£770,000). Walt Disney 18. Comics In 2011, the winner of a storage auction in California lucked in when the locker was found to contain a near-mint condition copy of Action Comics #1. The comic book, which was formerly owned by Hollywood star Nicolas Cage, went on to sell for a whopping $2 million (£1.5m). Wikimedia Commons 19. Beach Boys memorabilia When a Florida radio station purchased a locker containing “documents and paper” for around $300 (£232), it had no idea what was in store. Said “documents and paper” turned out to be photographs, handwritten lyric sheets, musical arrangements and even royalty cheques belonging to The Beach Boys. After a lengthy court battle, which involved the band members trying to reclaim the material, it was eventually sold through a sealed bid auction for somewhere around $6 million (£5m). Wikimedia Commons Credits: msn.com Share this story on Facebook with your friends.

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