How does making a living from salvaging precious gold and diamonds from the New York sidewalks? That's exactly what one man does.
Raffi Stepanian, a middle-aged freelance gemstone designer, realized that the streets of NY contain small quantities of diamonds, rubies, platinum, and gold that have fallen by passers-by and traipsed about under the bustle of the city, usually ending up in pavement slabs or even chewing gum.
This sounds like tedious and potentially icky work, but that didn't stop Raffi as he earned $819 from two sales alone and $850 in one week.
He claims that "the percentage of gold out here on the street is greater than the amount of gold you would find in a mine."