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History saved from the trash
Thought I'd share this, even though it already happened a year ago.
September 2019: I was on a little trip in southeastern Finland, my plan was to visit a local 1700s town and explore the surroundings - just the usual business. Wandering around the area, I spotted a dumpster next to this indoor karting centre building. Now I don't USUALLY dig around in big piles of rubbish... but this one just looked interesting 
So I decided to inspect a bit. Got up there, and the first thing I saw was not the dirtiest bag of trash but framed WW2 militaria... 
There were two frames, both decoratively displaying an original, so-called "iron ring" - these were nickel silver rings designed to be given to Finnish citizens in exchange for gold jewelry donated to the state during the Winter War of 1939-1940. War effort awards, so to speak.
The examples I found were two different variations of the ring: one has a Finnish Air Force swastika, a rose and a pair of wings (this was officially called the ilmapuolustussormus or "Air Defence Ring") while the other one is much simpler, featuring only a small heraldic rose. Which variant a person received back then was essentially decided by the amount of jewelry they donated: the simple ones were for those who donated their wedding rings and the fancier ones for people who donated fancier valuables 
All these rings are dated 1940 on the inside.
After the war the state still had tons of unissued iron rings around, and these were largely just kept in storage. Some decades back Finnish World War II veteran organizations started selling them to the public through charity campaigns - some of which were aimed at companies. The neatly framed examples I found were purchased this way by a local business in 2007, as I also happened to find the appropriate "thank you" letter from the charity organization.
I'm not sure why they threw these away - perhaps there was heavy renovation being done and nobody really cared about some weird framed cardboard and metal? No matter the reason, I happily saved these free pieces of history and plan to take good care of them in my collection 
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09-06-2020 09:19 PM
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Circuit advertisement
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Hello, it’s nice of you to save such a historical artifact. Raul
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WHAT!! It's incredible what people throw away!
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by
sweersz
WHAT!! It's incredible what people throw away!
It truly is. Years ago I found two watches, some impressive old artwork, silver cutlery and the like... a guy I know once found deactivated ammunition for his own collection and another friend found money. Literal money in the trash. Go figure...
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Dumpster diving is a noble past time! Do it when ever I can!
At first I thought it was a movie prop to Lord of the Rings. But even better being from WW2!
Congrats
"Please", Thank You" and proper manners appreciated
My greatest fear is that one day I will die and my wife will sell my guns for what I told her I paid for them
"Don't tell me these are investments if you never intend to sell anything" (Quote: Wife)
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Really nice find and really good luck, you save a piece of history! It is just unbelievable what all peoples throw away...
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I was indeed very lucky to be there at the right time - this was not a place I visit often. Happened to walk down that particular road by pure chance and I'm obviously glad I did. It just makes me think of all the similar dumped items that are lost each year when there's no one around to spot and rescue them 
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you were at the right place at the right time? there is a GOTT IM HIMMEL!!
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you are on lucky bird! how many times has this happened and no one ever knows? a sad state of affairs, that goes unnoticed.
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