The "Mona Lisa" of American Card Tables

In the early 1990's, two antiques dealers from Central Florida decided to drive down to South Florida to attend a "yard sale" of goods coming out of an adjacent home.  They'd heard that there might be some furniture for sale there and were looking for some fresh inventory to stock their business with.  When they arrived, they spotted a tea table sitting in the grass and thought that it might be a "Centennial" piece of furniture, made around 1875 and copying earlier American styles. It was nicely-made and the wood was mahogany, alway a desirable wood.  For a few hundred dollars, they decided to buy it and take it back to their shop. 

After circulating some photographs of the table among fellow dealers, they were getting told that it might be something more than just a nice piece of furniture. With some urging from their associates, they decided to send it to an auction in New England to be sold.  Perhaps, they thought, they might make a small profit on their yard sale find. 

When the table sold at the auction a month later, it stunned the American Antiques field by selling for $1.3 million.  Albert Sack, a renowned and highly-respected antiques dealer from New York City bought it, calling it the "Mona Lisa" of American card tables - the finest known.

Think of the children selling that table in the grass outside their parents' home. Had they sought out advice on what "treasures" their parents actually owned, they might become millionaires.  But they didn't seek any advice, only wanting to quickly empty the house so that the real estate could be sold.  

This story takes places every day in cities around the world. Children sometimes have little interest in what their parents owned or used in their lifetimes. The moral of the story? Don't let this happen to you or your loved ones.

Whenever selling antiques, whether you are the owner or someone inheriting from deceased loved ones, seek out advice to make sure that what you sell will be recognized for what it is and achieve the very best financial results in today's market. It takes a little extra time, but you never know when a treasure is hiding in your midsts.