Texas Man Finds Treasure Hidden in Chest From Estate Sale

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https://gma.yahoo.com/texas-man-fin...-sale-053000463--abc-news-house-and-home.html

By SUSANNA KIM

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It didn't take long for Emil Knodell, of Bellville, Texas, to buy a chest for $100 that he soon discovered had a hidden drawer of treasure.

On Saturday, Knodell, a retired marketing director whose buys antiques and collectibles as a hobby, went to an estate sale of a man who had died in Missouri City, Texas. He quickly decided to buy a chest of three drawers with a marble top that had been discounted on the third day of the sale.

"Because it has a nice marble top, I hope to use it in my dining room," Knodell, 67, told ABC News.

But when he and a staff person from Premiere Estate Sales Network tried to load the piece of furniture into a vehicle, they heard moving metal when they tipped it on its side.

"He asked for help loading it," said Jeff Allen, who works for Premiere Estate Sales Network in Sugar Land, Texas. "As soon as we laid it down, it started making all this racket on the inside. Obviously we were very intrigued with what was happening with the dresser. There were rings, diamonds, gold and all kinds of stuff. It was a real adrenaline rush. Both of us were in shock for a second."

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"When you look at the front of it, it looks like it has three obvious drawers with molding on the base, but the bottom has a secret drawer that opens up," Knodell said. Inside, he discovered currency, jewelry with emeralds and diamonds, a lock of hair, military dog tags and even Civil War memorabilia. But Knodell said he never thought about keeping the items in the piece of furniture he just bought.

Allen said the dresser dates back to around 1890.

"I bought the chest drawers. I didn’t buy those things. If I kept them, I would never feel right about it. There would be a cloud over the whole thing. It’s a feeling more than anything else," Knodell said.

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"I’m an old ex-Marine and I try to do the right thing. Jeff also, the man in charge, his immediate reaction was, 'Let’s call the owner.' There was never a question of anyone keeping it; it was: 'This is fantastic. Let’s call the owner and get the stuff back to them,'" he said.

Allen started to do just that and called the estate executor, who is the son of the man who had died.

"He remembers that dresser in a house in Michigan when he was a little child -- in his grandfolks’ house," Allen said of the son. "And he had no idea there was a hidden compartment."

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Deepseeker,

That's quite the find....not sure if I would have turned over the contents or not.

Regards + HH

Bill
 
Yeah, if I bought it after they had cleared it for sale, the contents would belong to me, Treasure Trove Law.
 
When you buy something, you buy the whole thing. Would have been a tough one to decide if giving it back was the right thing to do. After all they did not want it. Some would say Karma, but then because of Karma the buyer bought the chest with unknown treasure.
 
I probably would've kept it as well. But I wish they had a close-up of some of the stuff in there it doesn't look all that impressive. It says golden rubies and coins hard to tell from 5 feet away!
 
Ya'll would never have even heard about the stuff if I bought it...and I like you guys. But....bought is bought.
 
*shrugs*
A great example of the difference between "legal" and "right"...
 
I came real close to going to that sale, but didn't because a little out of my range, and I had closer sales to go to. Even if I had been there, I wouldn't have bought it, since I don't have a pickup and I also don't have room in my place for any more furniture.

Hard to say If I would have been so generous. I've had some bad experiences at estates sale (one example: sale advertised NASA memorabilia so I spent several hours going through hundreds of books to find the NASA material, only to be told at checkout that the family had told the estate handlers that nothing NASA was to be sold. They were rudely taken out of my hands without even a thank you for finding them).

The conduct of buyer, though, was commendable. It would have been nice if the actual owners had said "we'll divide it up 50 -50." I think honor should be a two way street, but you can't base your own code of ethics on the other parties' lack thereof.

By the way, at looking at the picture of the open drawer, other than some personal momentos, I don't see anything in there that would make national headlines. I just bought a junk drawer at a garage sale that looked a lot more promising than that.
 
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I wouldn't have opened it right there on the spot. Would have gotten it home then inspected it. Then you can decide what of the contents, if any, should be returned to the family. Maybe this guy hasn't had some of the experiences we have had when dealing with estate companies. I guarantee that most companies would have kept the stuff for themselves if they found it and it had been cleared for sale. I think a lot of companies would keep stuff even after saying they would return it to family.
 
I agree with mkulltra, I would have closed the tailgate and camper shell door and said see ya! I then would have went straight home and checked it out and not told anyone other than immediate family members about it. I also believe most of the professional estate sale companies around here would have kept it without revealing it to the previous owners. Jmho.
 
What a great find , and plenty of Karma to the buyer , Now there's an honest man !! ..cheers Mick
 
A drawer of someone else's memories.
Some families care less. That's fine. Unless there is something personally memorable about an object, they get tossed if they don't sell or find a new owner quick usually.
The torn dollar bill on the right side may be a kind of mizpa, or maybe a friend token ,or funny bet result....
Worth more to those who put them there maybe this time.
Neat find though!
 
I'm pretty sure I would consider it bought. Real personal stuff like dog tags I'd try to return. Wedding bands? Not sure...
 
OK, Say you do decide to return the stuff. You track them down, you take part of your day off and drive "x" miles to them to return it. You get there, give it to them........and you get "thanks" and they send you on your way. No real appreciation for what you did or what you have given them.

If you aren't prepared for this to happen to you or if you think surely it wouldn't happen, you are mistaken. It can and it has. It can sour you to "doing the right thing".
 
From my experience he found it by accident. More than likely if the estate sale company does not buy the stuff it will go back to the family. The family is selling whatever is left over from the person who owned it before. So they are there for the money. 90% of the time I see this a lot and so does everybody here. The family wants the money. Whatever is in that chest is going to go to either a pawnshop or a cash for gold store or a coin store. Everyone when their family member dies wants the cash. Most or a lot do not care about the jewelry the sentimental value, Face it we are a rare breed! I would rather have a gold ring then $100 bill. A stack of silver coins over a gift card to Dunkin' Donuts or Starbucks.

I believe the jewelry was probably in the hands of a guy who would appreciate it over someone who was just looking for a cash value exchange. He should have kept the stuff. Then returned what he felt might've been possessions but the age doesn't have many that I can see.

A good example. My daughter has been being picked on at school because she does not have the popular brand of shoes. Or a smart phone.. She will have all that stuff one day when she gets a job! I'm not her provider of junk to be tossed away. I love her, but refuse to spend a lot of $ on a fad cause someone else said so. I'll buy her a silver eagle/ Morgan every month and put $100 in her savings account instead. Then one day the stupid kids can work for her!
 
From What I have sen with Estate companies setting up estate sells they go through everything and scavenge it first. I say this as I have watched them set up the sales. I wonder what they would have done if they would have found it?
 
OK, Say you do decide to return the stuff. You track them down, you take part of your day off and drive "x" miles to them to return it. You get there, give it to them........and you get "thanks" and they send you on your way. No real appreciation for what you did or what you have given them.

If you aren't prepared for this to happen to you or if you think surely it wouldn't happen, you are mistaken. It can and it has. It can sour you to "doing the right thing".

Yes. I found a gold Cross pen in a parking lot, tracked down the owner, and HAND-DELIVERED the pen to his door.

Not even a 'thank you.'

In the case of the drawers, I do not know what I would do. But I wouldn't alert the media.
 
Yes. I found a gold Cross pen in a parking lot, tracked down the owner, and HAND-DELIVERED the pen to his door. Not even a 'thank you.' In the case of the drawers, I do not know what I would do. But I wouldn't alert the media.

I had this happen one time with a wallet and a pair pants. The guy left $8000 cash in it along with his drivers license and everything else. Credit cards as well. I returned it to him and he said I'm glad you didn't steal anything and walks away. Jerk! I wish he would've left it down there again! I wouldn't have returned it a second time.
 

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