WorthPoint’s Great Finds Contest

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Congratulations to our Grand Prize Winner, Gloria Burleson from Dallas, Texas!

Gloria has won a Free Lifetime WorthPoint Membership – valued well into the thousands of dollars – plus this Great Find: A 1914 U.S. $10 gold coin – valued at over $500! Below is her Great Find entry and her amazing story.

Gloria’s Great Find entry:
• Suitcase of Letters found in at a flea market in Manhattan NY.
• Original Letters with envelopes from Bing Crosby, Johnny Mercer, Oscar Hammerstein II and Jeanette MacDonald, Charles Boyer, Damon Runyon, Walter Huston, Peggy Lee
• Suitcase full of letters to one woman Marie Manovill.
• All letters were written in the 30′s & 40′s.

Gloria’s Story:
I was in Manhattan with my sister and we decided to go to a flea market in Chelsea neighborhood. I decided to buy a suitcase for $5.00 to carry all my purchases home. When I picked up the suitcase it was so heavy and found a bunch of paper inside. I asked the seller if I could dump the contents there he replied, sorry your stuck with it. Halfway to a street-corner trash can where we planned to dump the suitcase’s contents the handle broke and everything spilled out and while I was picking the contents up I noticed a letter from Bing Crosby! Then I opened up another one and I go “Johnny Mercer!

One of Johnny Mercers letters was quite neat..”Marie, sweetie…Nothin new with me except talk, talk about this show and maybe that show, etc but I’ve got no definite project as yet. “A song I wrote with Hank Mancini looks like a hit and a possible Oscar winner come sweepstake time. It’s called Moon River in case you should hear it or see the picture. See it if you can it’s funny, called Breakfast at Tiffany’s.

I found this in 98 and have kept all these letters since. I knew they were very special since I did quite a bit of research and found Marie’s sister in Manhattan and called the Dallas Morning News.

They were so fascinated by the letters that it made front page. Soon the Associated Press picked it up and I was hearing from long lost friends that read the story. The Smoking Gun has letters on their website. And a book written about Bing Crosby quoted my letters. But the story about the woman that all these letters were written to if so fascinating you must read more. Just google “Gloria Burleson Suitcase” and read more!

I was lucky to attend the “Antique Roadshow” June of last year and they estimated it’s worth at over $20,000.00. Great buy for $5.00.

Do you own an antique or collectible that turned out to be worth much more than you thought?
Maybe it’s that modern art painting your neighbor didn’t want any more; or that grandfather clock you bought at an estate sale; or maybe the old Christmas card collection you thought looked artsy and picked up on the cheap from a flea market. Now you can get rewarded for your Great Find – without selling anything! WorthPoint is hosting a contest to give you a chance for showcasing your item and how you discovered it.

Playing is simple. Lookup your Great Find item in our Worthopedia to get its established value (use our Free Trial if you are not already a WorthPoint member); complete/send the submission form below including a link to a digital image of your Great Find antique or collectible. We will collect entries for 2 weeks from September 23rd through the October 7th. At the end of the contest, we will select one Grand Prize, three 2nd prize and six 3rd prize winners – see details below. Winners will be contacted via email and their item will be posted with full credits on www.WorthPoint.com.

Contest Dates:

September 23rd – October 7th

Prizes:

- Grand Prize – Free Lifetime WorthPoint Membership – valued well into the thousands of dollars – plus this Great Find: 1914 U.S. $10 gold coin – valued at over $500

- 2nd Prize (3 awarded) – Free Annual WorthPoint Membership plus 3 Free “Ask a Worthologist” evaluations with each membership; $159.75 value per prize.

- 3rd Prize (6 awarded) Free Annual WorthPoint Membership – $99.90 value per prize

How to play:

1. You must have a WorthPoint subscription to play – either as a paying or Free Trial member. If you do not have an account, click here to sign up. No purchase is required; if you prefer you may cancel your trial subscription before billing occurs and still enter your Great Find.

2. Complete the submission form below – be sure to include a link (where indicated) to an original photograph of your Great Find.
3. You can follow contest updates, questions and answers on Twitter and Facebook – just sign up as a WorthPoint Follower on Twitter or Fan on Facebook. You will find links on the WorthPoint web site.

Tip

If you do not have a site to host your photos, you can use a free image hosting service like http://tinypic.com/

How to play:
1. You must have a WorthPoint subscription to play – either as a paying or Free Trial member. If you do not have an account, click here to sign up. No purchase is required; if you prefer you may cancel your trial subscription before billing occurs and still enter your Great Find.

2. Complete the submission form below – be sure to include a link (where indicated) to an original photograph of your Great Find. If you do not have a site to host your photos, you can use a free image hosting service like http://tinypic.com/
3. You can follow contest updates, questions and answers on Twitter and Facebook – just sign up as a WorthPoint Follower on Twitter or Fan on Facebook. You will find links on the WorthPoint web site.

Sample Description: The E.B. Cosby Flat Iron – a very rare figural locomotive shaped iron

Sample Why Great Find: I found the iron while out shopping with my mother years ago. It sold at auction this summer for $15,000 – more than I ever would have imagined and well above its estimate of $10,000. I now have an empty space on the hearth of my fireplace where this amazing iron took center stage for years. That empty spot is just waiting for my next Great Find.

Disclosure: WorthPoint reserves the right to post images and descriptions of winning items – including full attribution to the owner – on its web site and other marketing communications.

Entry Form