June 3rd, 2013

House of Treasure will be closed on Monday June 10th and Thursday June 13th.  We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.  Please check with us during our other normally scheduled days or leave a message at 608.757.2866.

May 22nd, 2013

2013 Bargain Treasure Hunter has arrived…  the most up to date issue has just arrived hot off the presses. Your Guide to Resale, Antiques and More in WI, IL, IN and MI. Stop in and pick one up today, plus pick one up for a friend.  Can’t make it in, no problem, go to the web at http://BargainTreasureHunter.com for a complete interactive experience.

May 16th, 2013

Becoming complacent with product identification can be costly..

This week I learned again just how complacency when identifying items can be very costly to your business and reputation.   A consignor that I have been working with for several years was product sourcing one morning.  He brought into me a number of items that he had found that he thought might be worth selling.  In particular he handed me a very nice metal serving bowl with lattice metalwork.  Immediately the tarnish and hue indicated that this was a silver piece, but the question was sterling or just another silver plate piece to add to the scrap pile?

Well first off, even if it is silver plate, there are some very unique and collectible pieces that will sell, so it should not be an immediate write off.  However in this case I was busy checking some other things and dealing with some issues.  So I turn it over and check for any identification or hallmarks, seeing nothing I was ready to write it off this time. In retrospect I am regretting that hasty decision because even if it were silver plate this is a well made artistic piece and would have been worth further investigation.  However that morning with other things on my mind, I missed its beauty and handed it back with a quick response that it was not worth the effort.  Thankfully the consignor took another quick look at it and said to me, ‘these marks don’t make it worth anything?’

Now I am intrigued, what marks did I miss?  Sure enough there were the the hallmarks. Indicating this is not only .800 Silver, but made in Germany, probably in the early 1900′s.  With just the silver content this bowl is worth approximately $350 for melt, but it far more than that as a gorgeous piece made by a great craftsman many years ago.  International bidding has already driven our auction above this value, watch it sell or join in the bidding this evening on eBay.  http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=161026284905&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT#ht_1917wt_910

April 23rd, 2013

We have a client very interested in acquiring relics from the War of 1812, Light Artillery U.S. 1st Regiment.  In particular they are seeking a mint condition button, it will have a script capital letter LA on top with a oval of stars with a number 1 inside on the bottom.

They are also interested in purchasing a Cap Plate and Belt Buckle from same Light Artillery.

If you have any of these items to sell or information on where they may be available, please contact mike@houseoftreasure.net.

October 5th, 2012

I want to give a shout out and recommendation to Elite Detail owned by Tim Everson in Janesville, WI. They did an absolutely awesome job providing us an excellent set of used tires for our truck. Besides doing the work cost efficiently and quickly, they provided excellent customer service through the whole process. They picked the truck up while I was at House of Treasure working and installed the tires and brought the truck back to the store when done. Oh by the way, they detailed the dash, put my best tire on the spare rim and reinstalled it in the truck all for no additional charge. Oh by the way, they made one little mistake, they forgot to put the tire iron back in my truck. However, they did not call me to come and get it, Tim and Lori personally brought it back to the store and shopped. Great Job Elite Detail, Thank You and you’ll see our truck again for more service.

Thanks so much for checking in with House of Treasure! We'll be posting updates and announcements to this page. For wanted items, please check out our Wanted Items page.