I was at a sidewalk sale in East Boston years back. Not many people have yards there so they put stuff on the walls and concrete. It was mostly children’s clothes, low end crap, music and one large 22K gold bangle bracelet priced at one dollar. How did this end up in a lowly sidewalk sale in East Boston?

Not having any high-end gold buyers, I couldn’t sell it to anyone for more than the gold was worth so, I brought it to my scrap guy. As so much of this type of jewelry is plated, he said he’d have to cut it in half to see if it was solid and not plated. I said go ahead and he brought out his bolt cutters and clipped it in two. It was real. I got about $800 for it. Gold wasn’t as high as it is today but, it was long ago and that was real money.

Another time, I was on Highland Ave. in Somerville and these kids were having a sale. I drove up and all I could see was young people stuff (DVDs, Ikea stuff, text books, clothes, etc.). I stopped and got out of my vehicle and there, lying flat, unseen from the road, was an antique banjo clock hidden by all the stuff. I’ll bet every other dealer saw the junky stuff, didn’t see the clock and kept driving. The clock cost me $25. I considered putting it on eBay, but remembered how much of a pain eBay was and decided to give it to an auction house. Well, the clock did $1200, which was a shock to me. A pleasant shock.

As I write this, it’s Friday night. Tomorrow is yard sale day. Rain isn’t in the forecast, so I’ve got to get a good night’s sleep. Who knows what I’ll find.

Bob Adams has been in Somerville 27 years but was a frequent visitor prior to moving here. He worked as a jeweler in a few shops in his younger years, owned his own shop for a bit, sold real estate for 10 years and is always hunting for his next treasure. He has been an antique and collectibles dealer for 30 years. He can be reached at 27winter@gmail.com. Visit his website at www.Somerville.com.