Scrapped some antique locks worth hundreds

I got some old locks that looked like junk, hundreds of pounds of brass is what I thought. Well I turned some of them into the scrap yard. I did look on Ebay to see if they were worth anything, but I didn't see anything. Did not really search correctly as I did not know what to search for. After I turned some of these locks in I decided to search a bit more and do my research. Later I found out that many of these were worth money. I did return to the scrap yard and was able to get some of them back, only by sheer luck, as the owner said NO, but a co-worker alraedy showed me he had some of them still.

Some of the locks I sold got me over $200 dollars for a single lock, lock was about 3 pounds of brass. I learned about these locks and realized I turned in some rare ones.

Still beat myself up for this. I can imagine what other people are turning in for scrap.

yeah ive seen some people scrap some really good stuff that was worth way more then scrap value. like a old good shape john deere sled. who would scrap that?:mad:

live and learn, right......don't beat yourself up.

My yard keeps all the good stuff in their main office. They have an old brass cash register, several brass decorations, lots of lunchboxes, an old gumball machine, and lots of other cool stuff thats been saved from the compactor.

My yard has a gigantic tool room, I have seen it twice... Im starting to get in with the guys, they will hook me up at times but Its incredible ome of the stuff they scrap.

At my scrap yard, if you see something you want you pay them by weight. I haule out some farm equipment for a guy that i worked for.

Many years ago I remember being able to wander around in their yard and dig through their piles. They would sell it by the weight as well. If i remember right, I bought an old keg that I turned into a big corn boiloing pot and a Kornelious keg because I was brewing beer at the time.

A guy that was with me bought an old horse drawn farm implement that he had a pair of handles for already.

Good times, good times.