Imagine being a scrap metal dealer and you buy a metal egg ornament that’s use is to be melted down for gold. However, imaging finding out that the egg is a Faberge egg worth over $30 Million. That’s exactly what happened to one lucky guy. The man bought an ornament from a bric-a-brac market to be melted down until he did a little research on it and found an article online in Telegraph, a UK publication.
Experts are likening the find to Indiana Jones finding the Lost Ark. Amazingly the journey of this egg began in Tsarist Russia and ended in the kitchen of a house in the American Mid West overlooking a branch of Dunkin’ Donuts. It’s amazing how pieces this expensive travel so far and get unnoticed as being “treasure.” Imagine you had a rare coin and that coin was passed around in circulation for the last 100 or so years only to find out years later someone got a hold of it and sold it for millions.
The egg, called “The Imperial Easter Egg” was designed by Carl Fabergé for Tsar Alexander III in 1887 and seized by the Bolsheviks during the Russian Revolution. It eventually turned up on an antiques stall in the US a decade ago, its provenance unknown to the vendor.
The man who claimed the egg Googled “egg” and “Vacheron Constantin”, which is the name etched on the timepiece inside. The dealer, who wishes to remain anonymous contacted the Fabergé expert named in the article, Kieran McCarthy of Mayfair jeweller Wartski. McCarthy flew to the United States to verify the find.
“I examined it and said, ‘You have an Imperial Fabergé Easter Egg.’ And he practically fainted. He literally fell to the floor in astonishment.” The dealer etched Mr McCarthy’s name and the date into the wooden bar stool on which Mr McCarthy sat to examine the egg, marking the day that his life changed forever. Wartski bought the egg on behalf of a Fabergé collector.
Apparently the dealer is petrified of being identified because of his new found wealth. The egg itself sat around the dealer’s kitchen for years. Lesson learned. Be sure to thoroughly search your home for anything the might be worth over $30 Million.
