04/15/2009: The Berkshire Eagle

Great Treasure Hunt comes to Lenox

Wednesday, April 15, 2009
By David Pepose, Berkshire Eagle Staff

LENOX — Berkshire County residents will have an additional outlet for gaining income this week, as the Great Treasure Hunt will be buying valuables and collectibles at the Hampton Inn Suites.

The organization has traveled the country since 1988 buying items including gold, silver, comics, and vintage sports memorabilia. They began buying items in Lenox starting Tuesday and will continue through the end of day Saturday.

According to president Richard Kohl, between $50,000 and $300,000 is spent during each stop.

"It's almost like the Antique show but we don't appraise, we buy," Kohl said. "We buy anything from collectibles to antiques to gold and silver, jewelry. ... We're talking about comic books, autographs, movie posters, guns, sports memorabilia — most everything we buy is pre-1970s."

Kohl said that his team appraises items on the scene, comparing their price with previous auctions using Internet searches. "If someone isn't pleased with our price, we have no problem to show our sources with them," he said.

Some of the items the Great Treasure Hunt has unearthed have included an X-ray machine from the 1920s, the estate of Ty Cobb, and an issue of Batman #1.

While there is no pre-registration required, Kohl added, the Great Treasure Hunt is only looking for high-quality items.

"This isn't a flea market," he said. "There's a lot of people who bring in their stuff Advertisement and I have no idea why they thought it had value."

"I feel that the state of Massachusetts is very rich in antiques and collectibles — we just did Albany not too long ago, and you're pretty close to Albany, so we figured we'd see what would happen," Kohl added. "90 percent of all the people who come, we buy their stuff."