After her brother died in Britain a woman in her 70's was cleaning out his flat and came across a dusty oriental vase propping up books amid cobwebs on the man's tall book shelf. One month later when it was put up for auction in London, it sold for a record $69 million (plus fees) and was called "unbelievably rare, with nothing like it outside the Palace Museum in Beijing."

Even though the intricate porcelain vase was fired in the kilns of a Chinese Emperor around 1740, the family was told the piece was worthless, according to the Sun newspaper, when they took it to an Antiques Roadshow-style show, Going For a Song, 40 years ago.

"If only this had happened 30 years ago," exclaimed the woman, who had to recover outdoors once the gavel came down and the final price rang in the air.

(READ the family's story in the the UK Sun)