Man Buys $2 Photo In Antiques Shop, Closer Look Makes His Heart Drop.

[Music] everyone questioned Randy's passion too many what he had carefully collected was junk to him it was treasure but none of them ever expected him to discover something so monumental in an antique dealership and Randy's unbelievable discovery was about to shake the world hi awesomes and welcome to another video before the video starts make sure to subscribe and turn notifications on to never miss our videos the photograph he holds in his hand is a moment that is frozen in time and it has the power to redefine history is this really the infamous icon turned outlaw if he is wrong he is a fool if he is right this is a momentous discovery and he will be a millionaire the stakes are high but he never anticipates the chain of events that will take five long years to unfold Randy gage ro doesn't believe in luck he knows that if you want something in life you have to work hard for it he learned this from his parents as the youngest in the family of six Randy always took pride in all of his belongings ever since he was a child he would pick up pennies from the street scrapped from the yard and shiny buttons from corners he is a magpie for even dull items so when he was just seven years old his mother nicknamed him the hoarder as the years passed by Randy's mother thinks his fascination with junk will pass to her horror his obsession only grows understandably she is worried and she was right to be Randy's house quickly becomes a labyrinth of coins books comics statues paintings clocks trading cards toys stamps and jewelry to his family his possessions are junk but he is about to prove them all wrong Randy manages to make a living by selling the treasures he has scavenged everything he owns has a story to it but then he met Linda when they decide to move in together he makes a promise to cut back on the collecting but old habits are hard to shake he never imagined that one decision would make such an impact on his life and rocked the Western world in the process on one fateful day in 2010 Randy finds himself in the Fresno Tower district after meeting with a friend for coffee as he walks down this street he passes the red brick building of Fulton's folly antique collective he had promised Linda that he won't bring home anything else before selling the contents of their spare bedroom but he tells himself that he would be in and out in ten minutes and walks inside Randy strolls through aisles of treasures the store is like Mary Poppins magic bag pianos armchairs cabinets sculptures china pottery jewels paintings radios crystal records dolls prams figures board games baskets Randy has never seen such a collection before and Randy just happens to be in the right place at exactly the right time he picks up multiple items to inspect but as soon as he remembers the promise he made to Linda he places them back he wanders through the treasure trove and resolves to keep his composure then he sees something out of the back door that makes his eyes widen and he just can't resist outside two men are shaking hands have they closed a deal as randy walks toward them he notices that they are surrounded by stacks of cardboard boxes from the looks of the different sizes it is a blind by Randy knows that there may be a gem hidden inside and a wave of excitement washes over him the store is clearly over stocked and the owner probably needs to get rid of some items fast the buyers only have a limited amount of time to inspect the contents before the bidding begins and Randy simply can't let them walk away Randy is a friendly guy and although they placed the highest bid he is feeling brave would you mind if I had a quick look randy asks to his surprise the men have heard of randy from the online antique community so they let him rummage through the boxes before they load them into their truck nothing really stands out to Randy but he keeps looking hoping that his keen eyes will catch a glimpse of something that others have missed and his intuition proves to be right he doesn't know exactly what he is looking for but he reasons that he will recognize it when he sees it then he finds a small cardboard box his hands shake as he gently lifts the lid he never could have imagined that this ordinary looking box is hiding one of the most important discoveries in American history although Linda asks Randy to ease off on his antiques she is a sucker for a good photograph the box contains three old black-and-white photographs one man looks vaguely familiar but Randy can't immediately put his finger on it and he doesn't have time to dwell on it he just knows that he has to have them he reaches for his wallet just as the men load the last few boxes to his horror he only has $2 on him thankfully the men thinking nothing of the old photographs except the small payment and wish him a good day Randy and his wife Linda are about to embark on the journey of a lifetime Linda is horrified when Randy presents her with the three pictures how much did this cost you her brow froze when Randy tells her what had happened she talks and looks closer you do realize who this is she asks if she is right this photograph is worth millions and then Randy sees it that unmistakable face stares back at him Lin doin Randy arranged to meet with a local historian to inspect the faces the historian says that the pictures are from the 19th century Randy isn't surprised the images are obviously dated then Linda voices what they had only dared to dream she points to the man standing in the middle of the group of people playing croquet in the photograph and whispers Billy the Kid Billy the Kid is one of the most well-known figures of the American Wild West and was one of the most wanted men in Arizona after he had been involved in multiple homicides the outlaw then managed to outrun the sheriff's and escape from multiple prisons over four years until he was eventually shot at the age of twenty-one unsurprisingly he was notorious among cowboy enthusiasts but there has been only one authentic photo of him ever found until now Randy is sure to do his research he discovers that the last photograph of Billy the famous up in tintype has been bought by collector Bill Koch at an auction in 2011 for a staggering 2.3 million dollars but with no proof of who the photographer was and the circumstances around the photo Linda and Randy have no proof that it is genuine but they are determined Randi is sure to do his research he discovers that the last original photograph of Billy the famous up in tintype has been bought by collector Bill Koch at an auction in 2011 for a staggering 2.3 million dollars but with no proof of who the photographer was in the circumstances around the photo Linda and Randy have no proof that it is genuine but they are determined Randy and Linda have to do some more digging into the history of the photograph before they can release their findings to the public over the course of a year they have gotten many different opinions from experts but some are skeptical then they take the photo - with the rels Old West Show in Northern California's Grass Valley and are told what they had feared all along while they searched for Bryan libel the man who originally brokered the deal on the only other photograph of Billy the Kid ever found another expert steps in and writes Randy and Linda's photo off as a fake stating that there is no proof pointing to its authenticity Randy and Linda are heartbroken but they are still convinced that they possess a piece of history but then something changes everything Linda and Randy's photograph has captured the attention of Jeff Aiello local film and TV producer and he is intrigued what if this photo is in fact genuine and has passed under the radar of the experts he knows that the two experts in the field who have examined it have only given it a passing glance before hastily labeling it as a fraud still there is a glimmer of hope what if they are all wrong I told Randy to let me have the picture my wife Jill is a fantastic researcher Aiello says we did photo overlays and all kinds of fancy computer stuff and go into the history after a month we were both confident that was a photo of Billy and four of the regulator's now they have to prove to the world National Geographic takes on the million dollar project with ILO at the helm the funds enable him to conduct further research to prove that the photograph is genuine and land kevin costner as the narrator of the two-hour special ILO places Randy's fight against the corrupt process of authenticating historic material at the for Randy and Linda have almost given up hope but by the end of shooting even kevin costner believes the two-hour National Geographic documentary Billy the Kid new evidence uses facial recognition on Randy's photograph against the existing images have Billy the Kid and the regulator's all are at least a 70% match the producer of the croquet set seen in the photograph is also traced to give experts a reference that enables them to establish the heights of the people in the photo but they still need more evidence Randy and Linda set out to visit all the known landmarks associated with Billy the Kid one of the figures in the photograph has been identified as Sally Chisholm with an 80% match on facial recognition software then they find the breakthrough they have all been waiting for written in Sally Chisholm's diary Randy and Linda have now traveled 10,000 miles over four states to prove that their find as genuine with money running out quickly they pray that their last stop will be in New Mexico all Clues point to Tunstall's ranch there is evidence in Sally Chisholm's diary that she the regulators and Billy the Kid himself had gathered there but will this be the end of Randy and Linda's journey randy stares in disbelief at the familiar landscape all his hopes and dreams lie here on this tract of land he believes with all his heart that Billy the Kid has been here and now he has vindicated he can almost see the ghostly figures standing there framed by the Rolling Hills with the help of geographic mapping the exact location where the photo was taken is finally found Randy and Linda feeling like they had finally won the battle returned to California but they are wrong Linda and Randy go to seed on Cajun Authenticator and seller of Kagan's Incorporated but even after all the evidence is presented Kagan still has doubts the biggest cause for suspicion is that Billy the Kid and his cohorts are playing croquet Randy explains how the croquet set belonged to Henry Tunstall who was English it all makes sense but why can nobody else see it this is a journey I never expected to take but the truth doesn't always matter and I can't figure out why randy says defeated they have spent almost all of their life savings and five years of their lives pursuing the ghost of Billy the Kid but he remains elusive a mysterious fleeting figure then just when they have lost all hope Randy gets an unexpected call kagan's Incorporated has found something that would leave Randy and Linda floored Don Cajuns partner flies to Tunstall's ranch and travels to the spot where the photo was believed to have been taken he notices that there are signs of another structure underneath the new building exactly where the house in the photograph would have been he then recreates the house on advanced software they didn't need more convincing they set the base price at five million dollars for the photo Linda can't believe their hard work has finally paid off but this isn't the first case of a hidden treasure shows like American Pickers and the antique road show had managed to turn dusty junk into thousands of dollars in cash the viewers for these shows range from young to old and enticed the widest age demographic imaginable everyone loves a good bargain but a large fortune hidden in the form of your grandmother's vase is everyone's dream so naturally medicines can't get enough of Randy and Linda's story understandably Randy's discovery has gone viral before he even caught the attention of National Geographic the entire world now keeps an eye out for any hidden gems that could later gain them a small fortune but Randy had spent years researching to get to his level of expertise and not everyone would be so lucky as to buy pictures for two dollars that are worth five million dollars but there is one question left I hope this prompts others out there to look into trucks and attics Randi shares because there are so many lost treasures out there if this has taught Randy anything it's to listen to his gut and more importantly to trust his wife but the story doesn't end there another photograph of Billy the Kid has been found since the airing of the National Geographic documentary thank you for watching our video make sure that you are subscribed and don't forget to like it [Music] you

Channel: Awesome!

Views: 362,411

Rating: 4.617084 out of 5

Keywords: Awesome!, Awesome, Man, Buys, $2, Photo, Antiques, Shop, Closer, Look, Makes, His, Heart, Drop, Man Buys, $2 Photo, Antiques Shop, Closer Look, Heart Drop, antiques, billy the kid, california, charlie bowdrie, collectables, fresno, lincoln county war, linda guijarro, new mexico, pat garrett, photographs, randy guijarro, the regulators, tom ofolliard, history

Id: -EMa_Oktsvw

Length: 14min 2sec (842 seconds)

Published: Tue Apr 23 2019