132. Ansel Adams Photography Negatives
Maker: Ansel Adams
Original price: 45 US dollars*
Current value: 200 million US dollars*
Some of the most expensive collectibles in the world were discovered at garage sales, and these old negatives from famous photographer Ansel Adams are no exception. Found at an LA yard sale, experts estimate that these negatives are worth around $200 million.
Ansel Adams (1902-1984) was a landscape photographer best known for his black and white photographs of the American West. How his negatives ended up at a garage sale is a mystery, but experts in forensics, timing and handwriting authenticated the box of 65 glass plates, confirming that Adams photographed them more than eighty-five years ago. The lucky buyer picked up the box, without knowing what he had, for just $45.
