The Auction House Listed Her Quilt Box at $200 — One Curator Saw What Was Folded Inside

The Auction House Listed Her Quilt Box at $200 — One Curator Saw What Was Folded Inside In October of 2011, a cedar-lined quilt box, lot number 743, was listed in the catalog for the estate sale of Amelia Vance with an estimated value of $200. The description was brief: "Mid-19th C. Pine Blanket Chest. Cedar lining added c. 1920. Minor scuffing commensurate with age. Contains seven (7) assorted handmade quilts." The auction house, a respectable regional firm called Cole & Associates, had processed the entire Vance estate in under two weeks. The house itself, a 1,200-square-foot clapboard structure on the edge of Gallia County, Ohio, sold for $48,000. The furniture, mostly Depression-era oak and maple, brought in another $3,200. The farm equipment, two rusted tractors and a harrow, went for scrap. The box, lot 743, was considered an afterthought. On the day of the auction, it sold for $185,000. This is the story of why. #TheQuietFarmer #HeirloomCorn #SeedContest #CountyFair #OpenPollinated #OldFarmTales