9. A special egg:
Though he paid $14,000 for it, a certain scrap dealer knew he had something worth much more. He recognized that the Fabergé egg he’d bought at a flea market was made of gold and figured he could at least melt it down and sell the gold for a profit. Before that happened, thankfully, it was revealed that the egg was an Easter gift to Czar Alexander III to his wife, Maria Feodorovna, in 1887. It was eventually sold for $33 million.
10. Who The #$&% Is Jackson Pollock?
A retired truck driver named Teri Horton isn’t the person you’d expect to go on a mission to prove a painting’s authenticity, but that’s what happened. After discovering the painting in a California thrift shop—and paying $5 for it—Teri was planning to throw darts at it before it was pointed out to her that she may have a real Jackson Pollock. She responded, “Who the #$&% is Jackson Pollock?” Eventually, her story to have the painting authenticated became a 2006 documentary. The painting has been valued at $50 million.
11. The painting found in a couch:
A student in Germany paid $215 for a pullout couch from a Berlin thrift store when he discovered a tiny oil painting hidden inside. It was revealed to be Preparation to Escape to Egypt and was painted sometime between 1605 and 1620. The student sold it for $27,630.
12. Quite the upgrade:
A man in Indiana was hoping to find something to cover a hole in his wall when he found this painting in a thrift shop. He paid $30 for it and went about his day. Later, while playing a game that featured famous works of art, he realized his $30 painting might be worth a whole lot more. It ended up being the work of Martin Johnson Heade, an American still-life painter. The painting was eventually purchased for $1.2 million.
