Last night I dreamed that I was at a yard sale and found a Martin D-28 for $100.
This morning I went to yard sales. I did not find a Martin D-28 for $100. Yes, I know, shocking.
But then for some reason we wandered into a Goodwill and there it was, sitting all by itself in a box of junk:
It's a Silvertone Model 319. That was a mid- to late-'60s guitar. Some quick web reading seems to indicate that from 1968 on they were manufactured in Japan, and this one is labeled "Made in USA" on the back of the headstock, so presumably pre-1968.
Is it worth the $9.99 I paid for it?
As a musical instrument, I doubt it. The action is almost nothing at the first fret and probably 1/4" at the 12th fret. By ear (I haven't put a tuner on it to check for sure), it does seem to intone correctly (12th fret one octave above an unfretted note). But that action ... although some Model 319s apparently had a truss rod, this one doesn't, so adjusting the action would involve things like raising the nut/lowering the bridge. It would also need new tuning keys and of course new strings. And I wouldn't venture to predict the results.
On the other hand, it's a 50-plus-year-old guitar that someone once loved (there's even a sticker label with the former owner's name on it on the body below the neck/body joint) It's beautiful in its own "good old days" way. So maybe I'll hang it on the wall next to my late great-uncle's equally non-functional mandolin. I just couldn't leave it there all by its lonesome.
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