The Most Expensive Stuff Bought And Sold On American Pickers

History Channel's hit American Pickers combines all the fun of antiquing — discovering amazing and valuable objects — and eliminating what makes antiquing such a drag — namely, having to personally sift through what's 99 percent junk at old stores, garage sales, thrift shops, and estate sales. 

The titular pickers are expert junk connoisseurs Frank Fritz and Mike Wolfe, who toil around the country, digging through strangers' trash and musty backyard sheds in hopes of finding a rare gem that they can restore to its former glory. They helped popularize the concept (and phrase) "upcycling," making not just treasures out of trash, but great television, too.

Over the course of 19 seasons, Fritz and Wolfe have seen plenty of ups, downs, scandals... and some objects that turned out to be way more valuable than anyone could have hoped. Here are some of the most expensive items ever procured and sold off on American Pickers.

One of the more bizarre treasures that Wolfe and Fritz found during one of these many scavenges was a junky old license plate. This is the type of thing that most people would have looked right past because in all truth, who the heck would think that a license plate would be worth anything? Those pieces of metal are everywhere, hanging on cars (if they're new) or in garages or roadhouse-themed restaurants (if they're old). But almost anything is worth something... to someone.

Plates today are made of metal, and issued by state motor vehicle departments as a way to uniquely identify each vehicle. But when cars became commonplace more than 100 years ago, the government issued license numbers, but not plates, vaguely instructing drivers to display the digits on their cars somehow. That meant there was a slew of homemade license plates made from any number of durable material, including embossed leather. Mike Wolfe was the picker who picked up this plate and thought it peculiar, paying $1,000 for the privilege of ownership. That seems high, but it's probably worth it, seeing as how it was the only leather license plate ever associated with an Oldsmobile. They sold it, and made a nice $200 on the flip.

The American Pickers' whole deal is reaping huge amounts of money from what would appear to the non-initiated to be dusty, rotting, or rusty garbage. The crew once found themselves a beat-up, century-old motorcycle and knew that it was quite special — decidedly not a hunk of junk — and that they'd pay whatever it cost to take it home.

That bike was actually a 1910 Royal Pioneer motorcycle. The company specialized in luxury motorbikes, and probably could have made a real name for itself as a premiere manufacturer of fine two-wheeled vehicles had a factory fire not limited the company's lifetime production at around 500 and destroyed the entire operation. That makes any Royal Pioneer motorcycle in any condition rare — in fact, only four are known to exist. That's why Wolfe thought little of spending $55,000 on this specimen. Sure, it didn't look like much, but a little elbow grease and he'd be sure to make a tidy profit. After all, another restored Royal Pioneer motorcycle had previously sold for nearly $100,000.

The guys didn't exactly know what to expect in season 16 when they were approached by a woman who promised that she had an interesting and extensive collection of movie memorabilia. Maybe that's because they don't get quite as excited about old movie props and costumes as they do rare motorcycles and vintage cars — those are just more their thing. But they kept open minds and open hearts when they visited, and were pleasantly blown away by what they saw. The collector was in possession of a couple of prototypes for a limited run of Yoda statues for collectors and fans to buy and display.

Even a non-collector knows that a rare item strongly associated with some of the most beloved films ever made is going to be a valuable (and lucrative) find, especially something that's truly one of a kind, and even something that's not quite what appeared in the movies. Take home a Yoda the Pickers did, for the relatively low price of $6,250.

Lady Luck was with Mike and Frank at the beginning of American Pickers' tenth season, when they found an Eisenhower-era motorcycle with an attached sidecar. "Eisenhower-era" means it was about 60 years old and looked it. But these Pickers guys, they know what they're doing, and are able to see past the superficial damage to the true value that lays deep inside.

That find, sitting among a host of other tantalizing old things like a 1919 Franklin automobile and Navy artifacts dating to World War II, was a Zundapp RS 750, a German motorcycle (and sidecar). Our Pickers paid out a not-unsubstantial sum of $10,000 to own it (plus $1,000 in shipping). After spending some more cash to restore it, a Georgia vintage motorcycle shop took it off their hands for $18,000.

The first episode of the seventeenth season bore the cryptic title "The $90,000 Question," because that's roughly the amount the guys wound up spending on an unbelievable lot of old (okay, "antique") motorcycles in various states of disrepair. They visited the Oregon property of Zane Leek and his mother Linda, guardians of the barn that housed the vehicle collection of Leek's late father, which included classics like Studebakers, Packards, and other stuff that hadn't been for a spin in 50 years. 

There amidst the slowly rotting hunks of once-grand metal sat a few choice picks, such as a "Johnny Cash Special" motorcycle, a bike from 1931 consisting of little more than an engine and a chassis, and, best of all, a decades-old Ace four-cylinder number, one of the rarest motorcycles in the world. It's not going to be cheap for Mike and Frank to get it into roadworthy shape (parts for rare motorcycles are understandably hard to get), but it was just too good to pass up. Altogether, Wolfe and Fritz spent almost $90,000 on the bikes — a Pickers record. "Today was an epic day," Wolfe understated.

The Pickers favor old motorcycles and cars, but they won't turn up their noses at a rare, classic, and beautiful musical instrument. That's what fortuitously came up on a season 13 picking trip to Nashville, a.k.a. "Music City," as it's nicknamed for all of the great classic country and rock n' roll recorded there. Along for the journey was Dan Auerbach of the popular blues-rock band the Black Keys, who viewers saw getting visibly giddy upon the discovery of a guitar manufactured in 1958 by Gretsch. It's a Chet Atkins model, named for the country legend; according to Auberbach, it's "probably the most desirable Gretsch." Although the instrument wasn't found in mint condition — a faded facade and stickers indicating that it used to belong to someone named Rudy doubtless put a damper on its value — Auberbach pointed out that means it's a "player's guitar," not one that hangs on the wall of a collector. Along with a Fender Vibroverb amplifier with some faulty wiring, Auberbach gave Fritz and Wolfe $10,000 for the package, meaning they turned a profit of $500 and the frontman for the Black Keys got a precious new axe.

A second season episode of American Pickers from 2010 bears the title "Easy Riders," implying that Fritz and Wolfe might ride off with a remarkable motorcycle. After picking their way through a series of properties in Missouri, they received a call about a chance to buy an exceedingly rare and special 1937 Harley Davidson Knucklehead. The Pickers met Mike, a tough ex-pawn shop owner seen walking around with handcuffs and a gun, looking to unload some of what his wife dismissed as "mantiques." Mike escorted the guys to his restaurant, where they found a candy-apple-red Knucklehead dating to the Roosevelt administration. Wolfe determined that the bike had some non-original parts, but that they were still of a pre-1940 vintage. The Mikes haggled and settled on a price of $20,000.

Wolfe then got his buddy Jim to appraise his new ride, and offered him $25,000 without even firing it up. But the Picker just couldn't bear to part with the fruits of his labors.