Humble, unsuspecting barns and garages are the last place you’d expect to find valuable treasures, right? Not always, as these incredible finds go to show. From a 300-year old statue that was being used as a doorstop to a crashed Jaguar car that has sold for six times its value, here are the most valuable items ever discovered in barns and abandoned buildings.

"Junk removal specialist" might not sound like a dream job, but discovering unusual and valuable items like these ancient Mayan artefacts has got to be a perk. Nick DiMola, a New York-based junk removal specialist, discovered these items when cleaning out an abandoned SoHo apartment in 2009. The haul of ancient figurines, bowls and jugs was valued at $16,500 (£11.6k).

One family lifted the lid on a giant secret car collection in 2016, when they opened the doors of their barn in Grand Rapids, Michigan, to reveal 50 classic cars that'd been gathering dust for decades. After valuation, the collection, which included a fleet of 28 Thunderbirds, was sold for $300,000 (£215k) in 2016 by Repocast auctioneers. The most valuable car in the collection was this 1956 Ford Thunderbird, valued at $27,100 (£19.4k).

An unassuming barn in Wales turned out to be a treasure trove when this 1922 Rolls-Royce Goshawk, one of only seven prototypes ever made, was rediscovered in by its owner in 2015. After the car had been sitting there for 32 years, its owner decided to have it appraised, and not long after, the venerable Rolls-Royce was sold by Brightwells Auctioneers for £26,500 ($40.9k).

Recognise this classic car? That's because it's the same model that was driven by James Bond in the films On Her Majesty's Secret Service and Diamonds Are Forever. The 1972 Aston Martin DBS was discovered in a barn in Surrey, England, in February 2015 and went on to fetch £45,000 ($69k) at a Coys auction in London.

While it might look like little more than a grubby old car with peeling paintwork, this 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona sold for a fortune due to its super-rarity. Discovered in an Alabama barn in the autumn of 2015 by a man who'd just moved in, it was put up for sale and fetched $90,000 (£64.4k) at a Mecum auction in January 2016.

This 1960 Jaguar XK150 S had sat in a barn since 1996 after its owner had lost control of the car on a "wet day" and crashed it into a tree. Owned by the same person since 1969, its owner has since passed away and the car came up for auction this May. Incredibly, it sold for $127,552 (£90.3k), six times its estimate, even though the car is in need of expensive repair. The high price is down to a combination of a booming classic cars market and the rarity of Jaguar XK150s, especially of the high-performance S model.

This 1966 Ford Mustang Shelby GT350 was discovered in a storage facility in 2016 – when its owner, the avid car enthusiast Francis "Fran" Grayson, revealed to his family that he'd kept the car in there secretly for almost 40 years. Giving it to Bonhams auction house, it was sold later that year for $159,500 (£114k).

In 2007, antiques dealer Jeff Bidelman of Rare Collectibles was asked to look through an abandoned house by the late daughter's owner, who heard rumours in her childhood that treasure was buried in a hole in the wall. It turned out the rumours were spot on. Bidelman discovered a haul of old coins worth a very respectable $200,000 (£101k).

Steve Wilkin, a teenage movie theatre worker, didn't quite know what he'd stumbled across when he discovered this 1931 Frankenstein movie poster back in the 1970s. Found in a boarded up projection booth in the Long Island movie theatre where he worked, the savvy worker kept hold of it, and in March 2015, it was sold at a Heritage Auctions sale for $358,500 (£232k).

It might not look like much, but this 1932 Brough Superior 800cc BS4 motorcycle is a record-breaker: when it was sold by Bonhams in 2016 for £331,900 ($463.8k), it was the most expensive motorbike ever sold at auction. The rare model was discovered along with seven other rare motorbikes in a barn in Cornwall, England.

For years, farmer Tony Breckenridge had no idea the canvas stored in his Skagit County, Washington barn had any value, but he eventually had it appraised in 2014. Breckenridge's father had salvaged the mural sometime during the 1960s. To his surprise, the artwork turned out to be a lost 1941 mural by prominent mid-20th century artist William Cumming, worth $500,000 (£299k).

In January 2019, a 1936 Bentley was discovered in a garage, where it’d been locked up for the past 30 years. Previously owned by a World War II pilot named Charles Blackham, it was locked in his garage and only discovered when he passed away. The classic car, one of only six of its kind made, sold at auction for £454,250 ($601.5k) in March 2019.

Not only do these two rare Pontiac Firebirds date back to 1967, they were the first two of the classic cars ever to be made, used as a prototype so that the manufacturers could decide if they wanted to produce it. Found in a Connecticut barn in 2014 by Richard Rawlings, the host of Discovery Channel's Fast N'Loud, they were restored and sold for $650,000 (£389k).

Classic car enthusiasts were sharpening their elbows at the auction of this super-rare 1925 Bugatti Type 13 Brescia. The cornflower-blue car is one of just 12 surviving examples of the model, discovered in an unassuming French barn in early 2015, and exceeded its pre-sale estimate by a hefty $654,000 (£423k) when it went on to sell for $934,000 (£605k) in June that same year.

Described as a time capsule, this highly desirable 1964 Shelby 289 Cobra was stashed away in a Vermont barn for years before its owner realised its value and put it up for auction in 2015. The vehicle, which was in virtually perfect condition, went on to fetch $979,000 (£700.5k) at a Gooding & Company sale in January 2016.

Workers renovating a winery building in the Champagne region of France got the shock of their life in 2012 when they chanced upon 497 gold coins minted between 1851 and 1928 which were worth a total of $980,000 (£615k). In a surreal moment of discovery, the coins literally rained down through a hole in the rafters, drenching the astonished workers in gold. 

Ordinary people who stumbled upon extraordinary amounts of gold

Abandoned buildings are not unusual in Detroit. But what a team of urban explorers found in an abandoned factory in 2015 was. Crates containing millions of old Topps cards (sports cards featuring baseball, hockey and other US sports stars) from the 1980s and 1990s inside – some of which are worth as much as $100,000 (£65k) each – had a combined value of $1 million (£648k).

Stashed away and forgotten about by its owner, this 1929 Bentley 4.5-Litre Sports Saloon was stored in an old garage in Surrey, England, for 30 years. Perfectly preserved, it was rediscovered in early 2015 and sold at a Bonhams auction later that year for £700,000 ($1.08m).

Believe it or not, this 300-year old statue, estimated to be worth £1.4 million ($1.9m) in 2016, was being used as a doorstop when it was discovered. The bust, created by French sculptor Edmé Bouchardon in 1728, was discovered in 1998 on an industrial estate in Balintore, Scotland by Councillor Maxine Smith. In 2016, it was reported that the former doorstop sculpture would be going on display at the Louvre. Talk about going up in the world.

When Connecticut-based artist Francis Hines passed away in 2016, he left behind hundreds of works of art in a barn he used as a studio. Known as New York's wrapper – he famously wrapped the Washington Square Arch in 8,000 yards of synthetic fabric in 1980 – Hines worked until his death aged 96. The pieces were discovered in 2017 by mechanic Jared Whipple, who received a call from a contractor who thought he might be interested in the works that featured painted car parts. Whipple spent four years researching Hines' art and has been told the collection could be worth "millions", with some individual pieces worth up to $22,000 (£16.7k) each. He's been given permission to keep and sell the artworks by Hines' family but plans to keep the majority. Around 40 of the pieces will be going up for sale from May this year. 

The barn find of a century, 100 super-valuable classic cars worth millions were rediscovered in a French barn in 2014. They were rescued decades ago by late transport boss Roger Baillon, who had to abandon plans to restore the vehicles due to lack of funds. His grandchildren rediscovered the haul, which includes this 1956 Maserati, worth $2.2 million (£1.3m).

A total of 59 cars from Baillon's legendary collection were put up for sale in February 2015. One of the stars of the Artcurial auction that took place in Paris, this 1966 Ferrari used to belong to former Hollywood power couple Roger Vadim and Jane Fonda. It went under the hammer for a cool $2.2 million (£1.4m).

For 70 years, Marthe de Florian's Paris apartment was left gathering dust. Then in 2010, when the french socialite passed away, experts opened its doors and were amazed to discover this exquisite 1898 portrait of her by Italian-born artist Giovanni Boldini. The painting was originally valued at €300,000 ($405k/£272k) but massively exceeded that valuation, going on to sell for €2.1 million ($2.9m/£1.7m) in 2014.

Michael Rorrer was clearing out his late great aunt's home in Virginia when he stumbled upon a collection of 345 comics in the basement. The collection belonged to his late uncle Billy Wright, who had never told anyone about his hobby before his death in 1994. The carefully-arranged collection included rare comics such as Detective Comics No 27, the first comic to star Batman (pictured). Unsurprisingly, the rare magazines fetched a whopping $3.5 million (£2.9m) at auction in New York in 2012.

Do you own any of these valuable modern comics?

An unsuspecting French heir got a bigger inheritance than he'd bargained for in 2016, when the rickety house he'd inherited turned out to contain a huge stash of gold. The hoard, which had been there for around 70 years, was worth $3.8 million (£2.7m), and was distributed throughout various hiding places in the Normandy home. It consisted of 5,000 pieces, two bars and 37 ingots of gold.

Now read: The largest gold nuggets ever found

Speaking of unusual wills, a family who inherited a garage in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England, were shocked to discover it contained this super-rare car. The 1937 Bugatti 57S was discovered in the garage in 2007, after the passing of 89-year old Dr Harold Carr, along with a Classic Aston Martin, a Jaguar E-Type and a Type 57S Atalante. To the family's delight, the car sold for a staggering £3 million ($4.3m) in February 2009. 

When this 1936 Mercedes was discovered in a Connecticut garage in 1992, it brought an intriguing history out of the woodworks. Formerly owned by the mysterious, solitary Baroness Gisela Josephine von Krieger, it's thought that the ultra-rare car was left in the garage since 1959, meaning it'd been gathering dust for more than 30 years. Discovered by the lawyer dealing with her estate, it ended up selling for a huge $11.77 million (£7.4m) at auction in 2012.

Another car from Roger Baillon's legendary collection, this 1961 Ferrari turned out to be the most valuable of the lot. One of just 37 ever produced, the classic car was found languishing under a huge pile of magazines, yet went on to fetch an astonishing $18.1 million (£12m) at the Artcurial auction in 2015. All in all, the 57 cars that were auctioned off as part of the Baillon Collection realised $28.5 million (£18.9m).

Between 1985 and 1988, workers in the Polish town of Środa Śląska uncovered a hoard of gold and silver coins and precious jewels during a renovation project on an abandoned telephone exchange. The treasure, which includes this medieval gold crown, was confiscated by the authorities. It was valued at a massive $100+ million (£53m) in 2005.

Now read about the 'treasures' that turned out to be worthless

This rusty sword, which dates back to between 600 and 800 BC, was found by farmer Ambrose Owens in 1965 on the banks of the Arney River in Northern Ireland. Not realising its significance, Owens dumped it in his barn, where it remained for more than 50 years. Owens' brother Maurice rediscovered the artefact in July 2016, and had it appraised by experts – only to discover it was a priceless 2,600-year old artefact!

Now discover some amazingly valuable treasures that were bought for peanuts