A $10 auction bid brought over $60,000 to a Texas couple. They bought 11 boxes of old textbooks for $10 at a Texas auction. When examining the books at home, they found an old paper dollar. It was not a modern copy but a real Republic of Texas Exchequer note for 25 cents. It was hand-signed by Sam Houston, President of the Republic of Texas. The bill, dated May 1, 1843, sold at a Heritage auction in Dallas early in 2011 for $63,250. We learned early in our years of appraising estates that people hide all sorts of things in books–money, old trade cards, photographs, letters, stock certificates, and other flat pieces of paper used as bookmarks. Sometimes the book is hollowed out so jewelry can be hidden. Other favorite hiding spots are drapery hems, the back of paintings, inside the piano, under the mattress, and even in the freezer.
Photo: Heritage Auctions
I have always been wondering why when I go thrift shopping, the backs of paintings are torn..the brown paper all ripped and torn away…now I know that people were searching for money and treasures possibly hidden behind said paintings and art.I hate it when the backs are all torn.