The story reminds us that there are still plenty of good people in the world, but it also goes to show you that doing the right thing isn’t always easy. “It was even better after hearing the story of the family.” In the end, that integrity helped out a family with an ailing father, but it also made LeClerc feel good for doing the right thing. LeClerc could have chosen to keep the bonds for himself or his family, but he did what he thought was right and tracked down the rightful owners instead. “The gentleman whose family the bonds belong to, he can’t even believe it.

“I’ve been doing this for 10 years and every day the stories get stranger and better and (more) fabulous,” she said. In an interview with the Globe, the owner drove that point home. It’s going to change their lives, you know? Completely change their lives. Marg-E Kelley to WTKR The power of antiquesĭiscovering nearly $130,000 inside a $40 desk may be a rare story, but it seems as though heartwarming moments that connect families or invoke memories happen quite often at auction houses. It could not have happened to a nicer guy. The family had been looking for them for years. The family knew about the bonds but hadn’t been able to locate them.

As it turns out, a man (who chose to remain anonymous), had auctioned the desk as well as other items in his 94-year-old father’s house as he prepared to sell it.Īccording to Marg-E Kelley, the auction house owner, the man was trying to cover his dad’s medical expenses and the cost of an assisted living facility.

Knowing that was his motivation to contact the auction house so they could alert the previous owners. LeClerc was obviously excited by the discovery, but after some self reflection he felt as though the money wasn’t his to keep. If I wasn’t looking for the knob…I never would have found it.

Roll top desk with secret compartments