I got a great present from a fellow coworker today. He's a history buff, and a walking encyclopedia type.
He presented me with several old newspapers from the early-mid 1800's. Perfect shape. He handed them over with little concern and told me he had piles of them and that this type of stuff wasn't worth much. I was amazed though. Mint condition, pieces of history. Since I was from Richmond, he got me a Richmond paper.
I just got home with them tonight, and haven't even read them yet, but he says they have ads for slaves, which in today's dollars he stated would cost about $150k.
I just love this kind of stuff, and even if it is commonplace in the collector's world, it is amazing to me.
What kind of old stuff do you have?