IMPERIAL FABERGE EGG FOUND AT 'FLEA MARKET'

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V17 2014 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 17, Number 12, March 23, 2014, Article 29

IMPERIAL FABERGE EGG FOUND AT 'FLEA MARKET'

Here's a non-numismatic story for all of us who dream of a fabulous find. Thanks to Coin Update for the link. While I'm always skeptical of "flea-market find" stories, treasures do SOMETIMES turn up. -Editor

There is good luck, outrageous good fortune — and now there is the case of the scrap metal dealer who found one of the eight missing Faberge imperial eggs at a flea market in the American Midwest.

A London antique dealer said Wednesday that that the scrap metal entrepreneur bought the egg for about $14,000, thinking he could make a small profit by reselling the piece for its gold content.

It turned out the jewel-encrusted piece was worth millions.

Kieran McCarthy of Wartski, which specializes in Russian artifacts, said the scrap metal dealer began to suspect he was holding a rare piece after seeing an article online about an imperial Faberge Easter egg made for Russian royalty.

The dealer contacted McCarthy, who verified the egg as genuine and negotiated its sale to a collector.

"The second I saw it, my spine was shivering," said McCarthy, calling the piece a "Holy Grail" for collectors.

Both buyer and seller want to remain anonymous, and McCarthy did not disclose the sale price — but experts note that a non-imperial Faberge egg sold at Christie's for $18.5 million in 2007.

So who spends $14,000 at a flea market? Who would be SELLING $14,000 items at a flea market? This "buyer and seller want to remain anonymous" stuff is getting old. Where did it come from? Even if the flea market story holds up, where did the seller get it? If it was looted from a castle in WWII there could still be rightful owners out there somewhere. Expect some research to come out in the next few weeks. This is a very rare object - the article notes that "eight remained missing before the latest find, though only three of those are known to have survived the Russian revolution." -Editor

To read the complete article, see: Scrap Dealer's Bargain Turns Out to Be Faberge Egg (www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/scrap-dealers-bargain-turns-out-be-faberge-egg-n57131)

Wayne Homren, Editor

The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org.

To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor at this address: whomren@gmail.com

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