$33 million Faberge Egg discovered by scrap metal dealer

Why can't stuff like this happen to me? LOL

A U.S. scrap metal dealer intending to melt down an ornament for its gold was shocked to discover it was a $33 million Faberge egg, a British expert said.

Kieran McCarthy of London jeweler Wartski said the scrap metal dealer, who wished to remain anonymous, bought the gold egg for $13,302 from an antiques dealer about a decade ago and had planned to melt it down and sell the metal, but the project was put on hold when he was unable to find a buyer, the Telegraph reported Wednesday.

Luckily...the guy decided to google the name etched in the clock in the egg before he melted it down...

McCarthy said the egg stayed in the man's home until a night in 2012 when he decided to Google "egg" and "Vacheron Constantin," the name etched on the timepiece inside the egg.

"I examined it and said, 'You have an Imperial Faberge Easter Egg.' And he practically fainted. He literally fell to the floor in astonishment," he said.

Source

Fainted...lol. I'll bet. I'd likely have a heart attack.

Anyway...with all the gloom and doom being discussed right now....I thought a story about the little guy winning for a change would put a smile on your face....I know it did mine.

Let's hope the IRS doesn't take half the money he will get for this....

reply to post by deadcalm


Cool, not exactly dumpster diving for treasures but a very tidy find indeed.

I wonder how much of the sale the UK will allow him to keep? I am curious if the luxury tax rate is any different than the coins in California. Maybe even a 'windfall tax' might apply.

Also, if he doesn't sell it, he might find himself owing millions of pounds to the state in use taxes simply for having the thing. They might even bill him for the entire duration of his possession in back taxes with interest and fines. Legally, all of that could happen to him.

Sucks to find millions, huh?

reply to post by deadcalm


Here is a link to the story at.... UPI

How this guy didn't realize immediately that this was extremely valuable, I don't know.

I wonder how much of the sale the UK will allow him to keep?

reply to post by greencmp


I really have no idea. He's an American citizen, so he'd have to pay taxes there for sure. No idea about Britain though....maybe an English forum member that reads this can shed some light....??

A very tidy find indeed.

I don't understand why his project fell through. He couldn't find a buyer for gold? Either way, that is one heck of a tale. Not really sure you could call him a little guy, though, if he's spending 13 grand on ornaments. That might sound a little bitter. You might call me jealous. You'd be right. Good on him.

How this guy didn't realize immediately that this was extremely valuable, I don't know.

reply to post by butcherguy


To be fair...there are a ton of knock offs out there. But he obviously thought it was valuable....he paid 13k for it.

Thanks for posting a link to the article....I was just adding it when you posted...I forgot. *facepalm*

butcherguy
reply to post by deadcalm

 

Here is a link to the story at.... UPI

How this guy didn't realize immediately that this was extremely valuable, I don't know.

Because Faberge eggs were very popular at the time so a lot of craftsmen made knock offs. It was probably presumed to be a knock off because there was nothing that overtly said "Faberge" on it. Instead, it said "Vacheron Constantin" who was a Swiss watchmaker. Basically, spendy knock off. It also is different looking from many of the Imperial Eggs, which tended to be a mixture of cloisonne, gems, and gold--very delicate work. The style of this one is very different from its more well known counterparts. It's almost unique in its relative simplicity.

As far as the tax goes:

Tax treatment on this will be that it is a capital gain. Since he had the item in question for many years, it'd be a long term capital gain on the difference between the selling price and the basis (acquisition price). That's almost a lucky break for him because long term capital gain tax is 20%. IRS isn't going to take half on the sale. If he'd only had it for a period less than a year, it would've been nearly twice that. Pro tip: If you buy something for cheap that you think might be worth a ton, hold it for over a year.

Signed, Your Local ATS Accountant lol

IRS isn't going to take half on the sale

reply to post by WhiteAlice


First...thank you for the tax info.

I only used the figure of half because of an article I read recently about a couple that found 10 million in uncirculated gold coins on his property...and they had to pay 48% tax.

I was unaware of the "one year" rule...again..my thanks for the clarity on that.

reply to post by deadcalm


The reason why the found gold had a higher tax was because it was a found valuable. Instead of it being treated as a capital gain, it is instead placed under "other income" as "found property". The tax for that doesn't even require a sale. You get taxed for it at its fair market value in the year of it being found. In the case of that couple, that meant being catapulted into the max tax brackets for both federal (39.6%) and state (12.9%). The reason why it wasn't cited as being 52.5% is because of the way its computed.

So two differences in treatment--one's other income and the other is a capital gain. Then toss in the 1 year thing if it's something purchased. lol, probably way more than you wanted to know about the sordid subject of tax.

Funny thing is that they try to downplay the fact that he payed 13K dollars for it. Obviously he thought it was valuable.