Your best deal or freebie ... ever!

As bargain hunters, we've all scored deals. But the sweetest of them all? I asked my frugal friends at WalletPop to share the scores they still brag about. Can you top them?

A sharp eye led blogger Jennie Phipps to the score of her life. "I was at a flea market in Buenos Aires and saw a really pretty ring with several small stones surrounding a much larger one. I assumed -- mostly because the gold setting was an odd pinkish color -- that the stones were rhinestones. I offered a price in Argentine dollars and the seller refused, then I pulled a crisp $20 American out of my wallet and the seller happily accepted it.

"Back home, I took the ring to a jeweler to have it cleaned up a little and the stone tightened. The jeweler asked me where I got the ring and I told him the story. He said that he estimated that the ring was nearly 200-years-old -- based on how the diamonds were cut. DIAMONDS! He said the design was popular in Europe for many years, so he couldn't really date it nor could he estimate the value. He thought I ought to get it appraised by someone who specialized in antique jewelry. I never did. I wear the ring now and then -- I think it's lovely, and I don't want to sell it."