Gold in the attic: Furniture, coins and . . . Ninja Turtles?

That explains why collectibles have been hot. When people get disillusioned with financial assets, they gravitate toward things they can hold in both hands. Before the stock market tanked in 2008, big collectors just thought they were spending money, says Greg Rohan, president of Heritage Auctions in Dallas. "Now, they think they've done a really good job at diversification.

The biggest interest in low-end collectibles has been in items that can be reused for decorating. "Young people take the stuff home to decorate in '50s, '60s, '70s style," Rinker says. One example: Heywood Wakefield furniture, manufactured by the company of the same name.

The sturdy furniture, typically maple or birch, has classic 1950s and 1960s lines: The company's furniture was exhibited at the 1964 World's Fair. "It's not priceless furniture, but this style happens to be collectible," says Chris Parody, owner of Strictlyheywake.com, a dealer of the furniture in Hagerstown, Md. (The company ceased making wooden furniture in 1979, but South Beach Furniture acquired rights to the name.)

And, Rinker says, you can generally assume that toys from 30 years or so ago will become popular collectibles. "Now, toys from the 1970s and even the 1980s are getting hot," Rinker says. "We're entering an age of Power Rangers and Ninja Turtles."

If the collectibles market for ordinary people is warm, the high end is smoking. Among the hottest recent sellers:

•Comic books. Heritage recently sold a Detective Comics No. 27, featuring the December 1939 debut of Batman, for $1,075,000. "That brought other comics out of the woodwork," Rohan says. In May, Heritage sold an original splash page from page 10 of The Dark Knight No. 3 from 1986 for $448,125. (A splash page is a full-page drawing.)

•Movie posters. People who have home theaters and want to decorate have turned to original old movie posters. A poster for The Bride of Frankenstein sold for $334,600 in November 2007.

•Space memorabilia. With the end of the U.S. manned space program, any astronaut-related items have become popular, Rohan says. "They're not making any more of it," he says.

•Sculptures and other three-dimensional collectibles. Duck decoys and small sculptures are another popular area. "If you're an art collector, you can take one of these and put it in an interior area — it serves as a bridge between other areas of collecting," says Nancy Druckman, director of American Folk Art at Sotheby's.

One example: carousel animals. "They're very collectible and have an America feel," Druckman says. Duck decoys? "They're unbelievably beautiful pieces of vernacular sculpture," she says.

One of the most popular collectible markets, however, has been rare coins. But thanks to soaring gold and silver prices, coins don't have to be rare to be a hit with collectors. "We've noticed a dramatic increase in people who are not traditional coin collectors, but who had a stash of coins they had put away over time," says Beth Deisher, editor of Coin World. "They missed their opportunity in the early 1980s and are thinking that they're not going to miss it this time."

So-called junk silver and gold coins, with enough wear and tear to be of no real interest to collectors, are fetching good prices these days. A circulated Peace dollar, the last type minted, has about $32 of silver, Coininflation.com says.

A bag of silver U.S. coins with a $1,000 face value sold Thursday for $29,858, according to coin dealer Manfra Tordella & Brookes. (That's the bulk wholesale price; you'd probably get less selling to a coin dealer.)

Rare coins are in higher demand. A 1975 proof set, featuring a dime without the San Francisco mint mark, sold for $349,600 in August, a record price for a post-1964 U.S. coin. (The mint stopped making 90% silver coins for circulation in 1964.) And an 1855-S proof $3 gold piece fetched $1,322,500 last month, Coin World says. A proof coin is made with a specially polished die.

When you buy a rare coin, realize that you're paying a premium above the coin's metal content for rarity and condition. Most coins you're going to find in the attic are circulated, which means you'll get the metal value, minus a dealer's profit.

While rare coins have held up extremely well, premiums can fall at any time. As with all collectibles, you should own a coin that gives you pleasure to look at — just in case you can't get the price you're hoping for.

And don't give up on stocks and bonds and CDs. They, too, will come back in favor someday.

John Waggoner is a personal finance columnist for USA TODAY. His Investing column appears Fridays. See an index of Waggoner's columns. His book,Bailout: What the Rescue of Bear Stearns and the Credit Crisis Mean for Your Investments, is available through John Wiley & Sons. John's e-mail is jwaggoner@usatoday.com. On Twitter: www.twitter.com/johnwaggoner.