A Real Bargain

A Real Bargain

A few years ago Ed Jones was shopping at a thrift store in Indianapolis, Indiana. He walked past the used clothing and stopped at the used books. He looked at the books and then at some old dishes. Mr. Jones was looking for something that might be valuable. If he found something valuable, he would buy it cheaply and then resell it, perhaps to an antique dealer. But today Mr. Jones didn’t see anything he wanted, so he started walking toward the door. Then something caught his eye. Leaning against the wall there was a large cardboard map.

Mr. Jones walked over for a closer look. The map was covered with dust, so Mr. Jones wiped it with his handkerchief. Under the dust was a color map of Paris. It looked old. On the back of the map, someone had written the price: $3. Mr. Jones was quite certain that the map was worth more than three dollars, so he bought it. He thought he could probably sell it for $40.

Later, at home, Mr. Jones looked more closely at the map. He decided it might be very old. Maybe it was worth even more than $40.

The next day Mr. Jones took the map to a geography professor at a nearby university. The professor was a map expert. After looking at the map for a few minutes, he became very excited. “I’ve read about this map!” He exclaimed. Then he told Mr. Jones what he knew.

In 1671 the king of France, Louis XIV, asked a cartographer to make a map of Paris. The cartographer worked on the map for four years. The map he drew was beautiful—it was not just a map, but a work of art as well. The cartographer made several black and white copies of the map. Then he carefully colored one of the copies, using blue for rivers, green for trees, and brown for buildings. The professor said that one black and white copy of the map was in the British Museum in London, and another was in the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris. “I think, ” the professor told Mr. Jones, “that you’ve just found the color copy of the map—in a thrift store in Indianapolis!” the professor suggested that Mr. Jones take the map to New York City. Experts there could tell Mr. Jones if the professor was right.

The New York experts said the professor was right. They told Mr. Jones that he had the only color copy of the map and that it was extremely valuable. “How much do you think it’s worth?” Mr. Jones asked the experts. “Millions,” they replied. “It’s impossible to say exactly how much the map is worth. It’s worth whatever someone is willing to pay for it.”

Soon Mr. Jones found how much people were willing to pay for the map. Someone offered him 10 million dollars; then someone else immediately offered him 12 million dollars. The most recent offer was 19.5 million dollars. Mr. Jones hasn’t decided whether he will see his three-dollar map at that price or wait for a higher offer. He is thinking it over.

But how in the world this map find its way to a thrift store in Idianapolis? Here is what some experts think: The map was probably in a museum or in the home of a wealthy family in France. Then a thief stole it, perhaps during the confusion of World War I or World War II. The thief sold the map to an antique dealer in France. The French antique dealer, not knowing how valuable the map was, sold it to an antique dealer in Indianapolis. That antique dealer, who also did not know its value, gave it to a neighbor. For ten years the map hung on a wall in the neighbor’s house. Then the neighbor got tired of it and sold it to the thrift store. The map sat in the thrift store for months. Finally, Mr. Jones discovered it.

When Mr. Jones went shopping at the thrift store, he was looking for a bargain. He wanted to find something that was worth more than the price he paid. He paid three dollars for the map, and it is worth at least 19.5 million dollars. Now that’s a bargain.