Although you might think that your attic is full of old Christmas decorations, clothes and the presents that you didn’t want, not everyone is the same. Some people have the most incredible gems lurking in the dusty corners of their attics. There have certainly been some unusual finds in attics over the years, here are some of the best ones.

10 – The Mummy

A 10-year old boy in Germany named Alexander Kettler found something in his grandmother’s attic that was the cause of much speculation. He found a mummy, complete with canopic jar and death mask. Experts are still deciding on the authenticity of this incredible find.

9 – Ex-Boyfriend

Not the sort of thing that you want in your attic, a South Carolina resident in the US found her ex-boyfriend living in her loft. The ex-con had apparently been up there for two weeks and had rigged up a special vent so that he could spy on her.

8 – Superman Comic

David Gonzalez purchased a fixer-upper house in Elbow Lake, Minnesota for $10,000. After demolishing a wall, he found a pile of newspaper and a comic book that was used as insulation. Because of a tear in the back cover, the Action Comics #1 was not in mint condition, but, it still sold for $175,000.

7 – Van Gogh Painting

In 2013, an unknown landscape painting by Vincent van Gough was uncovered in the attic of a Norwegian man. He had left it up there because he thought it was a fake. However, modern technology has found it to be genuine.

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6 – Cash

The cash was found by Josh Ferrin of Bountiful, Utah when he sealed a deal on his first home. After looking through the house, he saw an access panel in the ceiling. When he opened it, he was stunned to find rolled up cash inside boxes. To be exact, it was $45,000 in neatly rolled up and twined bundles. He decided to give the money to the eldest son of the man who died in the house.

5 – Grenades

In 2014, a man found something explosive in his attic – four live hand grenades. The bomb squad in Milwaukee were called to his house where they were safely destroyed in a remote creek.

4 – Martin Luther King Jr. Audio Tapes

Steven Tull was going through the attic of his father’s house in Nashville when he discovered a reel of tape marked “Dr King Interview Dec. 26. 1960.” When he played the reel, he was astonished to hear the recording of Dr. King and his father talking about the civil rights movement. Mr. Tulls father wanted to write a book about the rights movement and recorded this tape for his research. However, the book didn’t come out, and the reel was left in the attic.

3 – Winston Churchill Cigar

Perhaps not the Jackpot in your attic that you would want to find. That is what Christian Williams must have thought when he found an old cigar in his grandfather’s attic. It turns out, however, that this old cigar was once smoked by Sir Winston Churchill and was valued at £800. Christian’s grandfather was Churchill’s butler and took it after a meeting.

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2 – Battered Old Box

When people started clearing out the home of an elderly man after his death, the stumbled upon an old box. One of them realised that it was a rare Japanese antique known as a Mazarin Chest. It was later valued at £6.3 million, and the money was left to his children.

1 – £400 Painting

Father Jamie MacLeod took an old painting he had bought for £400 to the TV program Antiques Roadshow to have it valued. Little did he know that he had bought a rare Anthony van Dyck painting that was worth £400,000. He said he would sell it to pay for new church bells.

And this isn’t just limited to the rare or historic as Gala Casino explored with their ‘Jackpot in the attic’ research. Next time you are at home, why not take a look and see what things you might have tucked away somewhere; you never know, it could be a rare artefact that has never been seen.