Man stunned after old photo he bought for $2 ended up being worth millions
What a find!
A man who bought an old photo from an antiques shop in California was stunned when he realised how much it was actually worth.
Randy Guijarro picked up the $2 photograph along with two others, from a memorabilia shop in Fresno County, California in 2010.
But once he was home and had the chance to take a closer look at the image, he realised it was a photograph of the infamous Billy the Kid.
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Billy the Kid - real name Henry McCarty (alias William H. Bonney) - was an Old West American outlaw.
The image in question, believed to be from 1878, appears to show Billy at a wedding, with four of his gang members and his girlfriend.
“I really just liked the looks of [it]. It’s 4 x 5 inches, it’s a tintype, and it’s a country scene,” Guijarro told National Geographic.
“It’s not till I put it under a magnifying glass [that I thought], ‘Oh my, what have we got going on here?'"
Guijarro explained that he was familiar with Billy the Kid, and couldn't believe it when he realised the photo was of him.
He added: "When I got to the guy wearing the hat, I went, 'Wow, he’s really familiar, what’s up?'
"I’m familiar with Billy the Kid, so I knew who he was and what he looked like. I really looked hard and said, 'Man, this is Billy the Kid, I can’t believe it!' To me it was striking—the way he was standing, the hat, everything."
Guijarro and wife Linda set about researching and trying to prove the photo was authentic.
“It took us a year [of] initial research, reading up and getting up to speed. Linda and I became authenticators and historians by default,” he said.
The pair then spent four years travelling and speaking to experts, but many dismissed their claims.
Eventually, auction house Kagin's was able to verify the photograph, which is one of only two photos of the infamous outlaw. The photo has now been insured for a whopping $5m.
While there are some people who still do not believe the photo is authentic, Guijarro says he 'laid out physical proof' but heard nothing back.
"I lay out physical proof, I get nothing back. So, I don’t even like to give credence to their names anymore," he added.
At present, there's only one other authenticated photo of Billy the Kid, bought by businessman William Koch back in 2011, for an eyewatering $2.3m.
Lucy Devine