NICK EICHER, HOST: A Texas woman recently bought something for $35 at a Goodwill store in San Antonio that, as it turned out wasn’t what she thought it was.
It was a marble bust of man with no markings to help identify the subject.
Art collector and dealer Laura Young thought she was buying cool, potentially valuable sculpture. But Sotheby’s auction house discovered there was a lot more potential there. Turns out it’s an ancient piece of Roman history.
She found out that the bust once belonged in the collection of the Bavarian King Ludwig I.
The sculpture has been missing since World War II. It was last seen in Germany, and experts believe a soldier took the sculpture and brought it to the United States.
Unfortunately, that means Ms. Young cannot keep or sell the bust. And she told KXAN that’s kind of a bummer.
YOUNG: Cuz at first, you know, I’m a dealer. I bought him expecting to sell him.
But on the other hand...
YOUNG: I’m glad that Sothebys did their due diligence. I’m thrilled that I wasn’t accidentally part of like a war crime.
The bust is now being displayed in a museum until it’s returned to Germany.
It’s The World and Everything in It.
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