It doesn't happen often but it does happen: something bought for just dollars at a thrift or yard sale turns out to be worth much more.
A painting purchased from a New Hampshire thrift store for $4 was auctioned for $191,000 when it turned out to be a long-lost original work by N.C. Wyeth.
The painting, titled Ramona, was one of four created by the Pennsylvania-based artist for a 1939 edition of Helen Hunt Jackson's 1884 book Ramona. Auction house Bonhams Skinner said the painting was considered long-lost by Wyeth experts, but it turned up in the possession of a New Hampshire woman.
The woman said she bought the painting from her local Savers thrift store for $4 and it spent some time on her wall before going into a closet. She discovered the painting's true identity after she posted a photo of it on Facebook and was urged to contact the curators and a former Wyeth curator in Maine named Lauren Lewis.
The woman decided to have the painting auctioned after its identity was verified. It fetched a high bid of $150,000, making the final sale price $191,000 once premiums and fees were included.