"Melt that gold for scrap value?"

Fire-medic · Mar 20, 2014

This guy didn't know he had $33 million!
http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2014/03...red-by-scrap-metal-dealer/UPI-74331395259208/
LONDON, March 19 (UPI) -- A U.S. scrap metal dealer intending to melt down an ornament for its gold was shocked to discover it was a $33 million Faberge egg, a British expert said.

Kieran McCarthy of London jeweler Wartski said the scrap metal dealer, who wished to remain anonymous, bought the gold egg for $13,302 from an antiques dealer about a decade ago and had planned to melt it down and sell the metal, but the project was put on hold when he was unable to find a buyer, the Telegraph reported Wednesday.

McCarthy said the egg stayed in the man's home until a night in 2012 when he decided to Google "egg" and "Vacheron Constantin," the name etched on the timepiece inside the egg.

The man discovered a Telegraph article from earlier that year that included an interview with McCarthy and a picture of the egg in his possession.
"He saw the article and recognized his egg in the picture. He flew straight over to London -- the first time he had ever been to Europe -- and came to see us. He hadn't slept for days," McCarthy said. "He brought pictures of the egg and I knew instantaneously that was it. I was flabbergasted -- it was like being Indiana Jones and finding the Lost Ark."

McCarthy said he flew to the United States and verified the egg. "I examined it and said, 'You have an Imperial Faberge Easter Egg.' And he practically fainted. He literally fell to the floor in astonishment," he said.

33-million-Faberge-Egg-discovered-by-scrap-metal-dealer.jpg

lawman504 · Mar 21, 2014

Holy crap, i would have nearly passed out too. Can you imagine finding out you had something worth that much money?

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twistedmax · Mar 21, 2014

I've got my wife , she's priceless

marsmax85 · Mar 21, 2014

I have my maxxes to me there priceless .

lawman504 · Mar 21, 2014

Wife, Maxxes.........? I'll take the egg. Lol

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Rusty McNeil · Mar 21, 2014

Fire-medic said:
Kieran McCarthy of London jeweler Wartski said the scrap metal dealer, who wished to remain anonymous, bought the gold egg for $13,302 from an antiques dealer about a decade ago and had planned to melt it down and sell the metal, but the project was put on hold when he was unable to find a buyer

That's an amazing story.

The part above though sounds fishy??

Since when would a scrap dealer wait
10 years to melt down a gold piece, pawnshops melt that **** before you are even pulling out of the parking lot

Since when could a "buyer not be found" for raw gold, millions of places buy raw gold no questions asked, in any form you want to bring it to them.

I think he knew all along what he had and was sitting on it for some reason.

EDIT

I dug deeper and see that he had plenty of buyers but not for the amount he thought it was worth in raw gold plus the jewels.
Also a little more info on the provenance on how it came to the US and was not identified as a Faberge egg.

Russian history from early 1700's to early 1900's is a fascinating area of study for those who like reading history. It covers the Czarist period through the revolution that led to communism.
Those eggs were a real thorn in the side of the people and seen as a symbol of the excesses of the Czars while the people were starving.