The man who stumbled onto a stunning image of Billy the Kid playing croquet advises him to look around.
“I hope this inspires others to delve into trunks and attics in search of lost gems,” Randy Guijarro said to the Guardian on Monday.
A 45-inch-long picture of Billy the Kid playing croquet from 1878.Once only worth $2, a photograph of Billy the Kid playing croquet that was discovered at a thrift shop has now sold for millions of dollars.
In 2010, Guijarro spent $2 on three four-by-five-inch tintypes from a Fresno, California, antique store. Valued at many million dollars todayThe telecommunications expert and his wife Linda have stated that they plan to use some of the money from their unexpected discoveries to finance more exploratory efforts.
We might gain by getting a new car.Guijarro was instructed to approach two people who were emptying a storage unit and trying to get rid of its contents, according to the vendor, and were carrying “junk crates.”
He put out a $2 suggestion and selected three pictures, some of which showed croquet players and other historical scenes. They used force to take it.
Guijarro just vaguely remembers them. I can’t even remember who they were anymore because everything has gotten so fuzzy.
The croquet ball’s appearance pleased him, but it took him a week of careful examination to recognize the legendary robber.
The statement was in response to the man’s attire, demeanor, and the fact that he was standing on a croquet stick: “You could hand him a Winchester rifle.” Whoa, that’s Billy the Kid, I thought.
“A wonderful, smart woman,” he calls Linda, who was hired to investigate the other RegulatorsShe was able to communicate with Charlie Bowdre and Tom O’Folliard, two other croquet players, thanks to the internet. “That was fantastic,” stated Guijarro.
Thanks to the efforts of scholars, collectors, experts in facial recognition, and others, the ruins of the schoolhouse in Chavez County, New Mexico, were found. The 18 people in the image were all identified.
Little more than a month after the gang had participated in the deadly Lincoln County quarrel, the photo was discovered to have been taken shortly after a wedding in 1878.
The California-based numismatics company Kagin’s Inc., which is now looking for a private buyer, has insured it for $5 million.
Guijarro said, “We’re not counting our chickens before they hatch,” despite the curiosity.
After that, he and Linda plan to buy a new automobile, settle debt, help a few close friends and family members, and start planning more treasure hunts.
He asserts that they virtually always sell the stuff they acquire, demonstrating that they are not hoarders. Hunting is necessary because if we didn’t, “we’d be sitting on a hundred acres of stuff else.”
