Goodwill accidentally sold an ancient Roman artifact for $34.99

8 May, 2022

When roaming Goodwill, most people try to look for hidden gems, little treasures hidden among piles of stuff that usually sell for a decent price. That’s exactly what happened to a woman in Texas.

Young with the Roman bust she bought from Goodwill

Laura Young was shopping at Goodwill in Austin in August 2018 when she found a marble bust. The 52-pound bust piqued her interest and she shared it CNN: “I was just looking for something that looked interesting.”

She knew immediately that she wanted to buy it. She said, “It was a bargain at $35, there was no reason not to buy it.” Young had been reselling antiques she found since 2011.

As always, she researched her ancient find to see if it had any meaning and value. That’s when she got the shocking news.

It turns out that the bust is from ancient Rome. After contacting auction houses to inspect the piece, she ended up with Sotheby’s, who were able to confirm that it came from ancient Rome and dates back to 2000 years ago.

The specialist found the bust in a digital database where there were photos of it from the 1930s in Aschaffenburg, Bavaria.

4 years after Young found the bust at this goodwill, it ended up in the San Antonio Museum of Art (SAMA). A post-doctoral curatorial associate at the museum, Lynley McAlpine, narrated CNN that she believes the bust of the Roman military leader Sextus to be Pompey, son of Pompey the Great, a former ally of Julius Caesar.

The bust exhibited at SAMA

The bust was commissioned by King Ludwig I of Bavaria and is kept in a replica house in Pompeii, where it was on display until World War II. It disappeared until Young discovered it at Goodwill in 2018.

It turns out that the bust and other artefacts were stored outside of Pompeianum before being bombed and completely destroyed. The piece was then stolen at some point.

McAlpine shared: “It appears that sometime between its storage and around 1950 someone found and took it. Since it ended up in the US, it seems likely that an American who was stationed there got their hands on it.”

Young is still surprised and curious as to how Goodwill came about in the first place. She tried to trace back the person who donated it to the store on Craigslist, but couldn’t find anyone.

The bust was sold to Young for just $34.99

She said: “I would really love it if anyone had donated. It’s most likely not the original person who kidnapped him, but would still like to know the story.”

The bust is contractually on loan from SAMA, but technically it still belongs to Germany as it was stolen from storage.

Young said she is happy and proud that her goodwill fund is on display at SAMA.

In May 2023 the bust will be returned to Germany, where it will be exhibited again in the Pompejanum.