Scrap dealer finds Faberge egg at Midwest flea market

[Earth_First]

LONDON - There is good luck, outrageous good fortune - and now there is the case of the scrap metal dealer who found one of the eight missing Faberge imperial eggs at a flea market in the American Midwest.

A London antique dealer said Wednesday that that the scrap metal entrepreneur bought the egg for about $14,000, thinking he could make a small profit by reselling the piece for its gold content.

It turned out the jewel-encrusted piece was worth millions. 

Both buyer and seller want to remain anonymous, and McCarthy did not disclose the sale price - but experts note that a non-imperial Faberge egg sold at Christie's for $18.5 million in 2007.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/scrap-dealer-finds-faberge-egg-at-midwest-flea-market/

Various sources are saying the item may be worth as much as $33 million at auction.

[dixiegrrrrl]

1. Here is more detailed article with pics of egg

altho "egg" is a stretch of the description..

http://tinyurl.com/n9t78jt

[dixiegrrrrl]

2. ohhh..even better story, with pics of many eggs:

http://life.nationalpost.com/2013/06/26/carl-faberge-was-the-damien-hirst-of-his-time-charting-turbulent-russian-history-with-shiny-eggs/

this article is about faberge' and shows some of the eggs he created...
really ineresting

[Beacool]

3. I'm so glad that the man was smart enough to know that he had something of historical value.

I have seen some of the Faberge eggs, they are stunning. It would have been a loss to history if this egg had been destroyed.







The egg was given by Alexander III to Empress Marie Feodorovna for Easter in 1887. This is where it had been kept.

[Recursion]

6. Gorgeous (nt)

[Beacool]

7. Yes, it is.

All the eggs were masterpieces. It's a shame that after the Russian Revolution 8 were lost. The rest were sold to the West.

[Recursion]

4. Man, with that provenance... it's going to be worth a pretty penny

Lucky guy...

[northoftheborder]

5. double wow!!!!

Stories like this make us antique junkers live!!!!!

[Orrex]

8. I believe that this was the plot for Octopussy.

Incidentally, I don't believe that I've ever spent more than $25 at a flea market. Wow!