Antique Dealer Looks For Weeks To Find Homeless Man Who Sold Rare Item For $20
In Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, there is a family-owned and operated business known as Curiosity Incorporated. It is a business similar to one that you may have seen in your area, because it involves itself in finding unique collectible items that are of interest to very specific people.
Alexander Archbold is the owner of the shop and he works in it on a regular basis. When you walk through the doors, you will find many different antiques and odd items that you may not be able to find elsewhere. Some of them happen to be brought into the store by a man named Adam, who was also hopeless.
When Adam finds an item that he locates dumpster diving, he will come into the shop to trade it in for cash. When he comes in, he talks to Archbold and asks him if he is interested in purchasing any of those items.
When he is able to make a sale, it gives him the opportunity to put some money in his pocket.
"It’s not unusual to have people walk in my store with treasures they have for sale,” said Archbold. "I’ve seen him [Adam] through the store many times before, so he’s always a welcome sight.” On that particular day, Adam was carrying a ratty, plastic bag with the loot and trinkets he’d found.
"One piece that kind of stood out was a picture of Bambi, in what was a dirty broken frame,” said Archbold.
">TweetRedditIn Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, there is a family-owned and operated business known as Curiosity Incorporated. It is a business similar to one that you may have seen in your area, because it involves itself in finding unique collectible items that are of interest to very specific people. Alexander Archbold is the owner of the shop and he works in it on a regular basis. When you walk through the doors, you will find many different antiques and odd items that you may not be able to find elsewhere. Some of them happen to be brought into the store by a man named Adam, who was also hopeless.
When Adam finds an item that he locates dumpster diving, he will come into the shop to trade it in for cash. When he comes in, he talks to Archbold and asks him if he is interested in purchasing any of those items. When he is able to make a sale, it gives him the opportunity to put some money in his pocket.
"It’s not unusual to have people walk in my store with treasures they have for sale,” said Archbold. "I’ve seen him [Adam] through the store many times before, so he’s always a welcome sight.” On that particular day, Adam was carrying a ratty, plastic bag with the loot and trinkets he’d found.
"One piece that kind of stood out was a picture of Bambi, in what was a dirty broken frame,” said Archbold.
"It’s the scene where Bambi is just born and meeting his forest friends … It’s an iconic part of the movie.”
The picture looked interesting enough so he purchased it for $20. He took a closer look at it, however, a few days later.
He thought that it was a replica at first and he may be able to replace the frame and sell it for about $100. He was surprised by what he saw when he removed the frame.
"I took it out of the old frame and when I flipped it over, it had a really old certificate of authenticity. It had a copyright date of 1937 on it.”
"I wrote a gallery in the U.S that had one, and they were asking $3,500 for theirs.”
"That’s when I knew that I way underpaid.
So I vowed that whatever I would get, I would give [Adam] half [the money].”
He put the item up for auction on eBay and it sold for $2780. He then set off for a specific purpose, to find Adam. "Getting him the money was difficult because he has no home and no phone number,” Archbold explained. "I took it upon myself to drive around town for a period of two weeks every single morning before work to try and find him.”
He eventually found Adam and gave him $1700 cash.
He also set up a GoFundMe for Adam so he could get a ticket home to Ontario and get an apartment. The original goal was set at $10,000 and it reached it quickly.
"I’m still kind of pinching myself,” Adam told CTV News. "It doesn’t seem real to me. It’s awesome to know people are out there that care and that are kind.”
Thousands of people have viewed the story since they were uploaded.
"This made my heart feel so warm. You are one fine man. Your heart and feelings make the world a more positive place.”
"Very touching. I wish everyone was this compassionate. The world would be a different place.”
"That was one of the best videos I have seen.”
