By Eric C. Rodenberg
DOWNINGTON, Pa. – There’s an old saying: “You never know what you’ll find an auction. Perhaps that should be amended: “You never know what you’ll find before an auction. After decades in the business, there has been little that the appraisal and moving staff of Pook & Pook hasn’t seen. They’ve cleaned up homes filled with cats (certainly, every cat allergist’s dream), unexpectedly encountered consignors in the buff, and even a house where the occupant’s body had not been found. “The deceased was murdered and the body had yet to be found,” said Deirdre Pook Magarelli, a Pook & Pook vice president. “The body was later found, buried in a shallow grave along the river.” These grizzled veterans from Pook & Pook thought they had seen it all. But, not quite. In mid-to-late-September, Pook and Pook movers were working from a modest non-descript home in Berks County. They were packing up a few boxes of material for an upcoming online-only decorative sale. Pook & Pook, a powerhouse auction company located outside Philadelphia, is accustomed to hosting multi-million-dollar sales. In 1999, owner Ron Pook sold a Philadelphia pie crust table for $1.4 million, making Pook & Pook the first auction house outside New York City area to break the million dollar-mark on a single item. In 2004, Pook & Pook conducted an auction of the estate of Dr. Donald Shelley totaling more than $10 million. In 2008, the auction company hosted the Richard and Rosemarie Machmer auction which realized $4.7 million. But, this “was just a house,” according to a Pook & Pook staffer. No lavish estate, here, plush with period antiques and art. Combing every nook and cranny, one of the company appraisers, James Pook, noticed a tin container in the attic. Thinking it looked unusual, Pook – as an after-thought – threw the tin into the back of a truck. A week or so later, Pook was cataloging the inventory from that pickup. He, again, turned to the tin he plucked out of the attic. It wasn’t in the best of shape, and seemingly had little value. But, again, it seemed to be heavier than an empty tin should be. He popped the top and peered into the can. He saw nothing more than moldy old yarn. He began to close the tin back up; but, something caused him to pause. He opened it back up and pulled out the yarn. Under the layer of old, moldy detritus were fist-size bundles of folded pristine silver certificate $100 bills, plus $50 and $20 bills. “These $100 bills – they’re 70 years old – and they’re in exceptional condition,” Magarelli said. “Then, in another bag were silver dollars. Every time we pulled something out and opened it, it was more money.” Leaving all the cash – uncounted — in the common-looking decorative tin, auction house staff drove with the money back to the consignors. In the meantime, Pook staff had made guesses at the amount of money found in a tin. Some said $20,000; others guessed as high as $100,000. When the happy consignor called back to thank the Pook & Pook staff, he reported that the discovered largess counted out at more than $150,000 (face value). “They were as surprised as we were,” Magarelli said. “They had some nice antiques and such. But, they didn’t have any idea they were living under a bucket-full of more than $150,000.” Contact: (610) 269-4040 www.pookandpook.com |