We've all been there. You're at someone's garage sale and you see an old, coloured drinking glass. It's $2 or nearest offer, and as you look at it your mind starts to wander: "What if this is some rare art deco piece from the turn of the century? What if it's actually part of a collection that was owned by royalty? What if this is part of some Andy Warhol art instillation that's been missing for 40 years and the estate of Mr. Warhol would pay millions for its return?"
By the time these possibilities have run through your head you've already convinced yourself that you're holding a winning lotto ticket in your hot little hands. You're shaking as you hand over a $2 coin to the nice old man, starting to feel guilty that you're taking his fortune for a song but also high-fiving yourself in your head for your genius. You're trying to remain calm as you stop yourself from sprinting to the car. You've done it. You're rich!
But of course, it wasn't any of those things. That wasn't a rare piece of Roman antiquity, it was a hard plastic cup from the Reject Shop that the old man who sold it to you used to spit his tobacco in. Congrats, you played yourself.
But for one shopper at a market in Geelong, that dream may have turned to reality. This anonymous buyer bought a dusty old painting for 60 bucks, and as it turns out, that painting may very well be an original Vincent Van Gogh - who, apart from being famously hard of hearing and a very poor surgeon, is also one of, if not THE most famous and respected painters from the 19th century, if not all time. This painting could be worth MILLIONS!
The painting has been lost to time, but art historian Andrew Mackenzie believes this is the real deal, and it's currently undergoing examination. Forget waiting to hear back about a job, or whether you're having a boy or a girl, for this anonymous buyer this is probably the most anxious wait they've ever had in their lives!
But spare a thought for the poor seller. You'd hope they'd see something out of this. They'd want to be spending that $60 on a carton of beer because if that painting comes back as a million dollar masterpiece, they would definitely want to drown their sorrows. And if you were the buyer, would you take pity and split the profits? You'd like to think you would, but that amount of money could turn anyone into Scrooge McDuck.
