You’re thinking about it now aren’t you?
What’s in your attic (or basement, or garage, shed, outhouse…)?
Is there a treasure waiting to be uncovered?
If that’s just the excuse you need to do a proper clear-out, here are 12 items you might want to keep your eyes peeled for.
And some good general advice on finding treasure among the out-of-date clothes, unused camping gear, and rusted batteries.
1 - An old stamp collection
Stamp collecting has somewhat fallen out of favour in recent decades.
Time was when no self-respecting English school boy wouldn’t be steaming colourful and interesting stamps off their Christmas cards (irreparably reducing their value in the process).
But, many stamp albums end up in attics. Lovingly collected, and handed down to people who have little knowledge of what they are.
The bad news is that the vast majority of stamps - everyday items produced in their millions and billions - are worth very little. Even the oldest: you can buy a Penny Black for around a tenner today.
But, some are worth fortunes large and small.
These include errors, good-quality and good-condition rarities, and other oddities.
It’s not always apparent to a non-expert eye what might be valuable. Some modern items designed for collectors like first-day covers are very beautiful to look at, but rarely have much value. But, very humble looking items can be worth huge amounts.
In 2015, a collection of Chinese stamps found in a British attic were listed for auction with an estimate of under £1,000. But, they sold for nearly £80,000. To a dealer, who knew that just one item - a block of 5 candarin Imperial Dragon stamps - could be worth $500,000. In the end, three blocks of stamps from the find were sold for nearly $1 million in total.
That's why you need to check.
If you find an album you should certainly examine it more closely to see if it warrants a professional once over.
An early Chinese stamp of the type that made up perhaps the biggest and best attic find in philatelic history, the Lady Costwolds Missionary Find. Click the image to explore this stamp.
2 - Valuable old coins
Another needle-in-the-haystack search, but one that’s worth doing.
It’s not hard to find lists of the standout historical coins that do have extra value online.
We’ve done a couple ourselves: here, and here.
Coins last well if cared for, and if they’re old enough you might even find something with precious metal value. Some pre-1920 British coins were almost pure silver, all sovereigns are gold (and were circulating coins until 1914).
Of more modern coins, 50 pence pieces and £2 pound coins are the best bet for British collectors to check more closely.
In America, everyone is on the lookout for 1943 Lincoln cents accidentally struck in copper.
3 - Military memorabilia
I went to a costume party last Christmas. I’m not a costume-owning sort of person, so I asked a friend with theatrical leanings. In the end, I was offered a 1950s US Navy uniform he’d inherited from his father’s service in the Korean War.
War is always with us it seems. And in the 20th century it was a business of mass, often conscripted, armies. Many, many families have the artefacts of these histories in their homes.
As with all of these items, most have little monetary value - though all have personal and sentimental value to someone.
Some will be worth selling as vintage clothing perhaps. Almost all military gear is robustly made and long-lasting. And you can find yourself riding a fashion wave like the late 60s fancy for British military coats, the more colourful the better.
This banner is from Wellington's funeral. Military items can end up in the strangest of places. War is chaotic and military events often involve huge numbers of people. Tap this item to explore it.
Medals can be valuable, certainly. The higher the award and the more vivid the story the better. Around 2 million Purple Heart medals have been awarded to injured (and deceased) US servicemen, but they can still make towards $1,000 for the right decoration in the right condition.
Weapons and other kit too. If you chance upon an Enigma Machine in the loft, call an insurer immediately, one of those just sold for £300,000 at auction, a fairly average price for the best quality machines.
4 - Video games
Video gaming is coming of age as far as collecting is concerned - and you can expand this to other electronics devices and computing more generally.
The most expensive console at auction was a prototype, a Nintendo PlayStation Super NES CD-ROM made between Sony and Nintendo in 1992. That made $360,000 (£275,807) in March 2020. But, more run-of-the-mill machines can make hundreds of pounds. Boxed is best, and special editions with extras like games or equipment and special packaging are better still.
Some games can be worth a huge amount. A sealed Super Mario 64 with a third-party condition rating of Wata 9.8 A++' has sold for over $1.5 million. A similarly good condition of The Legend of Zelda from 1996 made $870,000.
If you've got a gamer in the family, it's certainly worth checking. And if they've left home for college, I'm not sure it's quite right to claim the cash as back rent on their room.
5 - A Star Wars figure
If you’re the age I am, you probably wanted a Star Wars toy of some sort back in the late 1970s.
I was lucky. And I owned a few. And, I played with them, fought battles with them, broke anything breakable on them…
This is the fate of most such toys. Survivals in great condition are rare.
And they can be valuable. Very valuable.
The headline-grabbing items have tended to be prototypes, like the legendary Boba Fett rocket-firing toy that made $1.34 million in 2024.
But, general release pieces can also be worth cash. A figure called Yak Face made over $90,000 at auction. It was one of the final figures made by Kenner, the main Star Wars toy maker, and as a result had limited availability, especially in the US.
Toys generally have lots of potential value. Condition is very important though. People want their nostalgia in good nick.
The Boba Fett toy that was withdrawn because its rocket was a child-choking hazard is the most valuable Star Wars action figure.
6 - A signed record
Most records are not very valuable at all. By their very nature they are mass-produced items.
A very few tick all the boxes of rarity, condition, desirability to hit the jackpot.
Signed ones are perhaps the best, because they have value beyond the fragile disc inside the sleeve.
The most valuable Beatles signatures are those on records. For example, the copy of Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band that sold for $290,500 (£191,000) in 2013.
That’s the top of the pile, but signed albums (particularly if signed in one fell swoop by all members of a band) are perhaps the Rolls Royce of music collectibles.
For example, a quick search brings up a copy of U2’s Joshua Tree LP (vinyl) for sale for over $1,500, a great price for a music collectible of this vintage.
7 - A first edition book
More needles with haystacks in.
Any fan of an author is likely to buy books as soon as they hit the shops.
And, they may end up with a first edition.
Unfortunately, it’s not a very well defined term in the publishing industry and there’s no recognised way - or even need to - mark the fact on a copy.
To take the most famous example: Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, first edition, first printing, paperback with a dust cover: £18,500.
That book has become a really exceptional example for lots of reasons: most famously because so few were printed.
And by no means all of those 5,000 or so copies have been found.
Away from that magical, publishing miracle, older books are more likely to be valuable: the best copies of 1984, first edition, first printing, can be worth up to £80,000.
And, yes, signed copies are likely to be worth even more.
This Winnie the Pooh first edition has lots of special features, but its the nostalgic magic of books for children that drives value too. Click the image to explore this item.
8 - Sports or trading cards
If you follow collecting news you’ll have seen a slew of headlines about records in the sports trading card field.
It’s been a good year for card collectors. And for attic adventurers there’s always hope. Because these items were produced in huge numbers. They’re exactly the sort of thing that might get tucked away somewhere.
What are you looking for?
Old, good-condition cards that people want to buy. And that means rarities for real value.
The US has a more developed card collecting scene than the UK. That’s where the likes of the Mickey Mantle Topps 1952 made $12.6 million, the Babe Ruth Baltimore News 1014 card sold for $7.2 million, and the recent record-breaking Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant dual, signed card hit its $12.9 million mark.
These take in three eras of card production.
The Babe Ruth card was printed by the newspaper company and stuffed into copies of their title as a potentially tempting added extra. They were so little regarded that very few survive.
A freak in production stopped the Mickey Mantle card being yet another huge print run. The cards were sold in packs costing 5 cents with gum. They were aimed at kids and were an established collecting and trading product, produced with some care, and with a dedicated fan base who cared more about the cards than the chew.
The Jordan/Bryant card was a premium quality rarity - including swatches of match-used jerseys and autographs - from the moment it was produced in 2007 - 08. Boxes of such cards are sold with the promise that one might contain a priceless rarity like this card.
The best bet for most people is that middle group - mass produced cards from the collecting era of good quality that might contain a rarity.
British cards aren’t in this price bracket, but they are still collectible and can have value. A Panini World Cup sticker album sold for over £10,000 in 2017. Prices seem likely to rise.
9 - A movie poster
Here, we’re really looking for the posters that went up in cinemas and on walls rather than retailed versions for fans.
What movies?
Hits with an enduring appeal. For example, Star Wars.
Cult hits are great too, particularly in horror or sci fi genres. Freaks is a notorious favourite.
And, some posters are beloved for the quality of their art work: Metropolis, the Saul Bass posters of the 1950s like Vertigo or The Man with the Golden Arm are much loved and valued.
To take just one recent example, a poster for the 1964 James Bond film From Russia With Love just made around $10,000 at auction.
It's still controversial to this day, and posters for Freaks are rare and highly desirable.
10 - Trainers
What’s on your feet right now?
It’s quite likely to be a pair of trainers, sneakers, runners… or whatever you call the footwear that has become a ubiquitous utility and fashion item.
And some of these shoes are highly collectible.
We’ll assume that the really valuable shoes remain in the hands of their elite athlete owners before flying off auction blocks for big money: in 2024 a set of six unpaired Michael Jordan shoes sold for $8 million.
But even mass produced and mass released shoes have value to collectors.
Often that means premium, luxury special editions like the Dior x Air Jordan 1 Pack that has a $10,000 price tag at resale.
A regulation issue off-white x Air Jordan 1 high Chicago can also be worth thousands in the right condition.
Recently, Adidas partnered with rapper Kanye West on a series of shoes called Yeezy. Then West went seriously off the rails and started praising Hitler. Adidas ditched the deal, and now some of these shoes are highly collectible - if ethically dubious you might argue. Almost all of them sell for more than their retail price on the secondary market, and they can go into the thousands.
11 - Sports shirts
Matchworn, signed shirts from great occasions - that gets you the £7.14 million of the Hand of God Maradona shirt or the record-breaking $24.1 million of Babe Ruth’s Called Shot jersey.
But more run-of-the-mill shirts can be valuable too.
Anything linked to a popular player and signed will have value to their fans and might well go for hundreds of pounds.
Even standard-issue replica shirts can be valuable if they are old, in good condition, and happen to be in fashion with buyers.
It’s a market that’s pretty similar to the online trainers resale scene and very accessible to all and sundry.
And, if your granddad played for the local football team, you should see if you can link the shirts definitively to his career.
12 - Event tickets
I keep my concert and sports tickets as mementoes.
It’s unlikely that my tastes will ever generate big money, but perhaps yours will.
What works?
If you can get a ticket signed that’s wonderful - at the event itself is best.
If you have tickets for an event that gets cancelled then hold onto them.
A quick search tells me that the most valuable concert tickets come from shows by: The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, The Rolling Stones and The Ramones.
Early shows before these gigantic acts broke through are gold dust - a 1964 Rolling Stones stub from Oxford Town Hall made over £400. As are significant shows like The Beatles famous Shea Stadium gig, tickets for which have sold for thousands of dollars.
Tickets can be attractive buys, particularly sets like this, celebrating a national triumph. Click the item to explore it.
Some general tips for looking for hidden treasures
A lot of the items here are “insider” things in a sense. And that’s a really good route into collectibles.
The things that make it past the factory or office door and into markets are almost by definition common. And rarity is still the biggest and best guarantor of value for collectibles.
So, if you have a friend or relative who works in a cinema, or a toy company, or is somehow linked to popular culture then you should be looking around their castoffs particularly closely.
There are general rules that apply across the board that will make memorabilia really valuable: rarity, good condition, desirability, high demand. They apply in your attic just as they do in a top auction room.
And, while we’re all dreaming of discovering really high-value items, it’s never been easier to trade at all levels and to find a buyer for, well, pretty much anything.
So, if you’re decluttering - and putting items back into sale is a great, sustainable thing to do - it’s worth doing an early sort to see if you have items that might be worth expert appraisal. There’s so much information online, and most collecting communities have forums that are welcoming to respectful and curious newcomers.
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