This is affirming for all those who regular visit garage sales and yard sales, shopping for treasures that are other people's junk.
A person bought this bowl at a garage sale for $3 in 2007. It appeared just a nice, decorative piece for the mantel.
As time passed, the unnamed individual deduced that the bowl seemed pretty old with its design and took it for appraisal to an antique dealer, who placed the value on the bowl as $200,000 to $300,000.
Sold.
Good return for the investment?
Think again.
Sotheby's auction house sold the bowl this week to a London dealer for $2.225 million.
It turns out the bowl is from the Northern Song Dynasty, which ruled China from 960 to 1127 AD and was known for its artistic advances. The only other known bowl in existence of similar size (5 inches in diameter) and design is in a collection in the British Museum.
Didn't Confucious say, "Man who places bowl on mantel may need to visit bank."