It’s a dream for any bargain hunter as a vintage enthusiast to find a valuable treasure while on the swalk.
It makes every bit of the seemingly endless hours spent screaming metal bills under flashing fluorescent lights worth the effort. For a few lucky ones, paying for one person may recognize his disposable assets as an important item.
That’s what happened to Goodwill’s art collector and freelancer, Laura Young, who recently restored an old Roman bust to its place of origin after purchasing the 2018 piece from a Goodwill store in Austin, Texas, for $ 34.99.
While finding a Roman bust in an American Goodwill store is unusual, there have been many other eagle-eyed thrifters who have found their own treasures. From a cooler full of marijuana to the newspaper of a Founding Father, here’s a look at other great – and extremely valuable – findings.
Ancient Roman bust appears in Texas
Experts at the San Antonio Museum of Art believe that the image, which Young found on the floor of a Goodwill store, nestled under a table, was made around the late first century BC. until the beginning of the first century AD, and belonged to King Ludwig I of Bavaria, who lived. from 1786 to 1868.
The piece was once housed in a German museum decades ago, according to Sotheby’s, the broker for fine arts who identified the bust and associated Young with German authorities.
After standing for nearly 200 years, the bust of World War II was heavily damaged by Allied bombers and was not held responsible until Young’s discovery.
So, how did it end up in the United States?
In WWII soldier returning home probably brought it to Texas once before a U.S. Army base stopped operating U.S. Army bases in Aschaffenburg, Germany, at the beginning of the Cold War, said Emily Ballew Neff, the Kelso director at the San Antonio Museum of Art where the bust was. is to be seen.
Young’s lawyer, Leila Aminedoleh, told USA TODAY that her client received a bust restoration fee for restoring the bust, but could not sell it because someone else was the rightful owner.
The bust will finally return to Germany, after being on display at the San Antonio Museum of Art until May 21, 2023, Amineddoleh said.
Donor leaves cooler filled with marijuana
In 2017, Goodwill employees in Monroe, Washington, sorted out donations when they discovered something a little less practical than a used dish set.
A cooler was turned off. Instead of red food employees might have expected to find, a donor left a much-loved gift: about four pounds, or 64 ounces, of marijuana. At the time, police estimated it was worth $ 24,000, Fox reported.
While recreational marijuana was legal in Washington at the time, more than one ounce of weed for personal use could prosecute a crime punishable by up to five years in prison and a $ 10,000 fine.
Couple pays 58 cents for jersey once worn by legendary football coach
In 2014, a pair of vintage dressmakers bought a 58-cent West Point sweater with “Lombardi” tagged on a Goodwill in North Carolina.
Sean and Rikki McEvoy did not think much of the name – until they saw a documentary showing legendary football coach Vince Lombardi wearing a similar sweater in a photo.
Lombardi won three NFL championships and two Super Bowls as head coach of the Green Bay Packers.
De McEvoys auctioned the jersey in 2015 for $ 43,020.
GREEN BAY PACKERS LEGEND:Couple unknowingly buys a $ 20,000 Vince Lombardi sweater for 58 cents
A Founding Fathers’ pre-revolutionary newspaper
Just months after the Revolutionary War, the Pennsylvania Journal and the Weekly Advertiser were published on Dec. 28, 1774, full of advertisements and articles encouraging an uprising against the British.
There were then only three copies of the historical paper known, until 2018 then a Goodwill employee in Woodbury Heights, New Jersey, found a fourth copy, according to the American Psychological Society, which purchased the document for an undisclosed amount in 2019, PBS reported.
The paper was provided the iconic “Unite or Die” masthead (a version of Benjamin Franklin’s “Join, or Die” design), and four printed signatures of John Hancock, who was the president of the Provincial Congress.
In a statement, Patrick Spero, librarian of the American Philosophical Society, said the paper “captures an important part of the story of the revolution and creation of a nation.”
Assistant Conservator for Archival Materials Anisha Gupta said the document had incurred “enormous losses”.
Iconic lithography won the heart of this smart shopkeeper
An abstract black-and-white lithograph with spirals and a large red nose caught the eye of Karen Mallet in 2012, who saw the $ 12.99 artwork sold at a Goodwill in Milwaukee.
She used her loyalty card to pay $ 12.34 for the artwork. It was later valued at $ 9,000.
“I’m more addicted to worse things,” she told the Lubbock Avalanche Journal at the time.
Mallet discovered that piece no. 55 of 75 lithographs made by Alexander Calder in 1969 and worth $ 9,000. Calder is widely known for his abstract images in public spaces and died in 1976.
Mallet said she did not even like “Red Nose” at first, but has loved the piece ever since and has kept it.
