The folks at Goodwill never really know what will show up in their donation bins. In addition to old T-shirts and some out-of-fashion dresses, they get the usual load of yard-sale worthy art and kitchen paraphernalia.
But every once in a while, something unusual shows up. That was the case in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. A tintype photo of Confederate general Robert E. Lee made its way into the donation bin. A savvy employee spotted the Civil War relic and the piece was put up for auction on Goodwill’s own site. Experts say the tintype is a photo of a photo, but it is still considered rare because it is a pic of Lee that was previously unknown.
The organization put it up for auction on their website www.onlinegoodwill.com with an opening price of $4. Three collectors got wind of the auction and the bidding started escalating until the winner claimed the photograph with a top bid of $23,001. It’s amazing what the fever of an auction will cause people to bid on like old collectibles, art pieces or common objects. People have purchased a Ferrari for more than $16 million. An Edgar Allan Poe book brought in over $660,00. Even tampons have been a hot auction topic. The Lee tintype is not the first time Goodwill has created a stir with auctions. A Goodwill store in Colorado got the bidding going with a Salvador Dali print.
With the influx of major cash, Goodwill representatives say they will now be able to offer job training and employment to an extra 69 people in the area. In this economy, that’s a lot of good news to a lot of people.
