Sometimes hidden riches are right under your nose.
Take, for example, the American scrap metal dealer who bought a gold ornament, intending to melt it down for its gold only to discover it actually was a $33 million Faberge egg.
As reported in a March 19 2014, UPI story: “Kieran McCarthy of London jeweler Wartski, said the scrap metal dealer, who wished to remain anonymous, bought the gold egg for $13,302 from an antiques dealer about a decade ago and had planned to melt it down and sell the metal, but the project was put on hold when he was unable to find a buyer, the Daily Telegraph reported.
“McCarthy said the egg stayed in the man’s home until a night in 2012 when he decided to Google egg and Vacheron Constantin, the name etched on the timepiece inside the egg. The man discovered a Telegraph article from earlier that year that included an interview with McCarthy and a picture of the egg in his possession.
“He saw the article and recognized his egg in the picture. He flew straight over to London—the first time he ever had been to Europe—and came to see us. He hadn’t slept for days,” McCarthy said. “He brought pictures of the egg, and I knew instantaneously that was it. I was flabbergasted—it was like being Indiana Jones and finding the Lost Ark.”
The Imperial Faberge Easter Egg was created by Carl Faberge for Tsar Alexander III in 1887. The American owner sold it to Wartski on behalf of a Faberge collector.