Turning 65 cents into $13,000 is a pretty tidy effort for anyone – but it's even sweeter if you've been living hand-to-mouth for years.
That's the stroke of good fortune Indiana man Jesse Ronnebaum had after he discovered that the painting he bought a decade ago at a yard sale for less than a dollar is worth around 13 large after he realised it bore the inscription 'Palette and Chisel Club 1910'.
Using "the almighty Google", Mr Ronnebaum discovered the work was created Chicago's prestigious Palette and Chisel Academy of Fine Arts.
Even better is the fact that Mr Ronnebaum, who lives in Batesville, 100km southeast of Indianapolis, haggled the original selling price down.
"I remember she wanted a dollar for it, and being my grandfather's grandson, I talked her down to 50 cents," he said.
He dickered the poor woman down to 50c from $1?
I rarely haggle at garage sales. I make an offer and mostly it's accepted. Me bestie, whom I usually go garage saling with, reckons I'm a chump.
I find her embarrassing when she screws them down.
