Ansel Adams photos found at garage sale worth $200 million

CNN ^ | July 27 2010 | Alan Duke

[Daffynition]

THE RICK NORSIGIAN STORY

[Mr. K]

If I picked up some junk at a garage sale that was worth $200 million- i would go back to the original owner and offer them a (small) cut - maybe 10%

it would be a decent thing to do

other wise i bet they feel like slashing their wrists

[downtownconservative]

That’s a lot of capital gains taxes.

[ct_libertarian]

I’m sure that Bamster and Crew will be expecting their “Voluntary Donation” or else arrest the poor guy for 10 years of unreported income.

[beaversmom]

That’s what I was thinking too. I wonder if he remembers where he got them. The times I have been to garage sales, we go to a bunch, and I couldn’t remember 10 days on let alone 10 years on where the houses were located.

[mainsail that]

So any Ansel Adams foundation or heir does not own them? Interesting

[library user]

10% is still $20 million. So not bad.

[Hayzo]

Somtimes, you ‘don’t know what you got till it’s gone!’ to quote an 80’s hair-metal band, Cinderella.

What is Caveat Emptor for ‘Seller beware’.

[sodpoodle]

At a yard estate sale I rescued dozens of WWII letters from a military locker that someone else had purchased. He didn’t want to keep the letters & the sellers were going to dump them. They were love letters between a captain and his wife, from 1942 to 1945.

They are now in the Library of Congress.

[PGR88]

$200 million for a collection of Ansel Adams negative plates?? IMPOSSIBLE.

Please be aware that that quote is probably from the auctioneer who hopes to sell them (with a 15%-20% commission)

[DemonDeac]

And by throwing that number out there he draws attention to the photos which drives up the number of bidders and potentially the price.

[mainsail that]

$200 million for a collection of Ansel Adams negative plates?? IMPOSSIBLE.”

http://www.allposters.com/-sp/Ansel-Adams-Wilderness-California-USA-Posters_i4024392_.htm

[CaptainK]

Unfortunately in this litigious society the sellers , instead of being grateful, would turn around and sue you for the entire amount.

I’m sure there are lawyers who would happily line up to take the case.

[equalitybeforethelaw]

“I’m sure that Bamster and Crew will be expecting their “Voluntary Donation” or else arrest the poor guy for 10 years of unreported income.”

That would be know as their “Patriotic Donation”. What are you a hateful capitalist or something? Get on the envy train. Soon to be high speed envy train.

[ken5050]

Actually, it woudl be the opposite..that manyn (65) coming on the market at once..would tend to depress prices..IMHO, he’d have been better off feeding them in..say, sell one or two a year..

[goseminoles]

Hell, I’d throw the guy a mil.

[equalitybeforethelaw]

“Somtimes, you ‘don’t know what you got till it’s gone!’ to quote an 80’s hair-metal band, Cinderella.”

Believe your reference is Joni Mitchell’s “Big Yellow Taxi”. Just sayin.

[ConservativeWarrior]

i would go back to the original owner and offer them a (small) cut - maybe 10%

My father once bought a Henry rifle at a widow's estate sale for $500. It looked in pretty rough shape when he bought it, but it cleaned up very well.

He immediately went back and gave her another $2,000. He sold it 5 years later for a little over $10k.

[mdmathis6]

That color photograph shows that Adams was a master of early color as well as lighting and composition...amazing. You have to wonder what he would have done with digital DSLR’s and digital photo processing with the eye he had!

[mom.mom]

There is a question as to their authenticity. Apparently some of the sites are misspelled and the numbering system is different. This according to the current story on msn.com