A rare $3.99 goodwill finds Jessica Vincent, a lucky Virginia woman earning a six-figure salary.

usa news

by chris nesci

A modest vase she picked up for $3.99 at a Virginia Goodwill store turned out to be ultra-rare Murano glass and sold at auction for $107,100. He was worth nearly $50,000 more than the auction house expected.

The lucky finder was Jessica Vincent, who spotted the green and burgundy striped 13-inch vase during a chance stop at a Richmond business in June.

“I realized it was a solid piece of glass, not junk, and heavy,” the eagle-eyed thrifter told Elle Decor of his spectacular find.

Her next clue that the vase might be more than a typical thrift store find was when she turned it over and noticed the word “Murano” carved into the bottom. Met. This indicates that it was made on the famous glass-blowing island off the coast of Venice, Italy.

“I'm not a glass expert, but as soon as I saw the Murano stamp, I knew I wanted to buy it,” Vincent told Southern Living.

She took her prize to the register and was pleasantly surprised to find it cost only $3.99, and said she had planned to pay $8 or $9. But that bit of luck was just a hint of what was to come.

Upon returning home, Vincent, who breeds polo horses, immediately began researching online to learn more about polo horses, including posting photos on the Murano Glass Facebook group.

“Everyone was excited about it,” she said.

Group members helped identify the vase as part of a collection created in the 1940s by renowned Italian architect Carlo Scarpa. It is part of his 'Penellato' series (meaning 'brushstroke' in Italian), which he designed for the Venini glass workshop. On the island of Murano.

When she found out, someone in the group offered Vincent $10,000 on the spot. That's when she knew she might actually be on to something special.

Rather than accept the attractive offer, she instead sought the expertise of New York's Wright Auction House. The next thing she knew, she was on the phone with Richard Wright, the auction house's founder.

“We had a great phone call and he explained how rare this piece was,” Vincent recalled to the magazine.

After the talk, Mr. Wright's resident glass expert drove to Richmond to see what he had found, and at that moment Mr. Vincent said he felt a chill.

“Over the years, I can count on one hand the number of times this has happened,” Sarah Blumberg, a glass expert at Wright Auction House, told Elle Decor.

“This is a really, really rare occurrence, especially in a goodwill event.”

This week, Vincent's rough diamond find sold for an unthinkable $107,100 at Wright's Auction, which features 33 lots of Italian glass. He sold for more than $50,000 more than the auction house expected.

When the hammer came down, Vincent and his partner were delighted to have won the bid for a life-changing sum.

“This money means so much to us and will be so helpful to our lives and our future,” she said. “This is truly a blessing and I am so happy that this vase has been brought to a safe and well-appreciated location (and well-intentioned and discreet!).”