Flea Market Find
Do you remember a few years ago when someone found a first printing of the Declaration of Independence hidden behind a painting? In 1989 the flea market purchase of a painting for $4 resulted in financial bliss for the new owner. As he was inspecting it, the frame fell apart and regurgitated a first printing Declaration of Independence, now one of 25 known copies, only 4 of which are in private hands. Sotheby’s auctioned it for the owner, and it fetched $2.42 million.
The latest find to make the newswires won’t be as lucrative as all that, but it does show that good stuff is still out there. A $10 purchase of a framed picture at a New York flea market will result in a good profit margin for the owner. As reported on CNN’s website, what was behind the picture was worth discovering.
“A shopper browsing through the market in New York bought a framed picture of a flower for $10 and found handwritten manuscript of “America” (My Country ’tis of Thee) tucked behind the picture, the manuscript’s owner said Thursday.
“The manuscript of the song whose lyrics were written by Samuel Francis Smith in 1831 could be worth tens of thousands of dollars, said the owner, art collector Keya Morgan. He said he bought it from the flea market shopper, who has asked not to be identified.”
The manuscript has been authenticated.
This is sure to be an Antiques Road Show special, for you people with televisions, (and you know who you are.)
I have never had such luck at a flea market. But we have had some fun in attics and barns.
Would you like to tell us your most valuable find? Send us an email and we may post it here on the blog. What is your best collectible book discovery?
Read the CNN article at Rare Song Manuscript Discovered in Flea Market
October 6th, 2008 at 8:39 am
We have an annual used booked sale that was established in the 1950’s. One year I went to the (always large) relion section. I picked up a leatherbound volume that was a theological dictionary published in Philedelphia in 1821. The price was 50 cents. In the checkout line I stood behind a book dealer friend and showed him the book. He said to call him when I figured out the price I wanted for it and he would buy it. I told him that was to much work. How much would he pay right then. He offered me $125. I sold it to him but I hadn’t paid for it yet. So I sold it to him before I bought it.