A few years ago, a brother and a sister in west London found an old vase while cleaning out their parents’ home. They thought it might have some value. Subsequently they hired Bainbridge, an auction house, to sell it. They discovered it was valued at nearly $2 million. But, get this: after 30 minutes of spirited bidding at the auction, this vase, which turned out to be an 18th century Qing [pron. cheeng] Dynasty vase went to a buyer from China for more than 69 million dollars, the most ever paid at auction for a Chinese antiquity.

“They had no idea what they had,” said a Bainbridge spokeswoman. When the final bid was official, “they had to go out of the room and have a breath of fresh air.” (1)

Well, I should think so! Maybe some of us should spend some time cleaning our attic this after…