A California woman was left “speechless” after discovering how much the earrings her mom thrifted for just $1 were actually worth.
California is a hotbed for thrift store bargains. The state is home to around 1,840 thrift stores, approximately 10 percent of the total found across the entire U.S., according to data compiled by B2B Reviews.
In the past, Newsweek has reported on an incredible array of California thrift store discoveries, from a mysterious black file carrying 80 different precious rocks that was picked up for 50 cents to a $1 pendant that ended up being worth considerably more. Then there was the 1999 Apple iMac one bargain hunter discovered was harboring an unexpected secret.
All of those pale in comparison to what Giovani Mondragon’s mom uncovered while bargain hunting: a stunning pair of turquoise earrings. “The earrings were found in a flea market in Los Angeles,” Mondragon told Newsweek. “What really stood out to her were the turquoise stones the earrings had and the details on the earrings.”
Mondragon said her mom was initially oblivious to what she had picked up, having been drawn to the color and the detail, rather than taking note of one key engraving on the side of them. “She didn’t even realize that these were marked 18k,” Mondragon said. The fact the earrings were 18ct gold meant the $1 her mom paid for them was always going to be an absolute bargain.
Mondragon was impressed though and wasted little time in taking to Reddit to share her mom’s discovery in a post under the handle u/scragy. “Absolutely speechless on my mom’s find this morning at the flea market…” she wrote alongside a series of images giving Redditors a closer look at the earrings.
The post earned over 7,000 upvotes with fellow Redditors similarly impressed at what had been found. One user quickly identified the piece as likely containing Victorian Turquoise Gemstone. Another found a similar if not identical set of earrings retailing brand new for a staggering $3,230.
“Those are special,” one user wrote. “Amazing find,” another added, with a third commenting: “I am incandescent with jealousy!”
After much debate online, Mondragon convinced her mom to take the earrings to get valued. That was when they discovered just how amazing a find she had uncovered. “When we had gone to get the earrings tested, the jeweler valued them around $2,500,” Mondragon said.
Mondragon is an avid thrifter but ranks her mom’s discovery among the very best she has ever seen. “This is definitely in the top 10 of my finds within my family of what we have found in the flea market,” she said. “My best find would have to be a Michael Jordan signed magazine I also found at a flea market locally.”
Finding $1 earrings worth $2,500 will take some beating, but Mondragon says her mom has no plans to cash-in on her discovery. “My mom is keeping them,” she said. “It’s certainly something you don’t see everyday.”
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