Family Sells $3 Bowl for $2.2M

1K-year-old Chinese bowl found at garage sale, sold at Sotheby’s
By Ruth Brown,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 20, 2013 9:35 AM CDT
Updated Mar 24, 2013 9:43 AM CDT
Family Sells $3 Bowl for $2.2M
This 1,000-year-old Chinese “Ding” bowl from the Northern Song Dynasty, purchased for no more than three dollars, was sold by Sotheby’s for more than $2.22 million.   (AP Photo/Sotheby’s Auction House)

One lucky New York family sold a tiny Chinese bowl this week for $2,224,997 more than they paid for it: $3, at a garage sale six years ago. The bowl, which measures roughly 5.5 inches in diameter, sat in the unnamed family's home for years; eventually, a quest to see what it was worth took them to Sotheby's, which identified it as a "Ding" bowl from the 10th or 11th century. Making their windfall even sweeter: Sotheby's had anticipated it would sell for up to $300,000, reports the New York Post. It's one of only two known bowls of its kind. (And it's not the only great buy in the news: A cottage purchased in 2007 was found to contain $30 million worth of art.)

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