These Are The Most Commonly Sought After Items On American Pickers

History's "American Pickers" showcases a group of secondhand resellers who buy antiques and rare items from people all across America after trying to bargain for the best price possible. "Picking" in this context means they're carefully selected items likely to draw in a big profit on the secondary market — or items that will please clients who have sent them on a search for specific objects. Occasionally, the pickers buy things for their own personal collections. When the pickers secure a deal on an object, they often spend time and money refurbishing them so they'll be in peak quality before hitting the auction block or the client's display case.

During the show's 23 season-long history, there have been many valuable objects bought and sold by the pickers – including the time pickers spent $6,250 on a rare collectible Yoda statue prototype from the "Star Wars" saga. With years of purchases and sales behind them, fans might wonder what sorts of things the pickers tend to look out for when they go on a buying spree. Per a recent interview with picker Danielle Colby, we now know which items are the most popular among them.

Danielle Colby, per a May 2017 interview with Monsters and Critics, says that there are three different kinds of items which are popular among the pickers: "Rarities, petroliana, and automotives are what the guys look for consistently."

Rarities could stand for anything that's limited in production or quantity, or an object that is one of a kind. Something like a costume from a movie would count as a rarity, or items such as the rare Yoda figure mentioned above, since they are often rare or singular in nature. Petroliana, meanwhile, is shorthand for antique items related to the petroleum industry or gas stations. Per Collector's Weekly, those items can include old tin signs which advertise gasoline or items sold in gas stations, and antique gas pumps. Basically, anything that you might see in an old-fashioned gas station would be considered petroliana. 

Lastly, what Colby means by automotive items is likely self-explanatory — the term "automotives," in this instance, encompasses everything from old engines, to hard-to-find parts, to complete (and ideally, functioning) classic cars. 

All three examples frequently show up on "American Pickers," and fans of the series are likely excited to learn there will be more of those items to come as the show continues.