Cleared out my grandpa's garage last Saturday and found a coffee can full of rusty fishing lures from the 1970s

My grandpa passed away about 5 years ago and my dad finally got around to cleaning his garage in Phoenix. I was helping haul junk to the curb when I found this old Folgers coffee can tucked behind a workbench. Inside were maybe 30 fishing lures, all rusted and tangled together. Some of them still had the little paper tags on them from Kmart, like $1.49 each. I thought about tossing them but my neighbor collects old tackle and said some of the surface lures might be worth $10-20 each if I clean them up. Has anyone else found old hobby stuff buried in a garage that turned out to be worth something?

2 comments

2 Comments

martin.jamie18d ago

Those $1.49 Kmart tags might actually add value since collectors love original price stickers.

abby_palmer18d ago

Ngl you probably just found a box of rusted metal junk. Those old lures are usually only worth something if they're in mint condition with original packaging, not tangled up and sitting in a can for 40 years. Cleaning them up might just rub off whatever paint and value they had left. Tbh your neighbor might be trying to get first dibs on them before you realize they're basically trash.