Priceless ancient Roman bust sold for $34.99 at a Texas Goodwill

Laura Young, of Austin, Texas found a "pretty dirty, pretty old" carved marble bust under a table at her local Goodwill. It had a yellow $34.99 price affixed to its right cheek. Young bought the 52-pound bust, strapped it to her car seat with a seatbelt, and drove it home. She started doing some research on the bust and learned that it dated back to the first century CE and had been looted from a museum in Germany, possibly by a U.S. soldier who wanted a souvenir.

From Belleville News-Democrat:

Young reached out to an attorney in New York, Leila Amineddoleh, who specializes in art, The Art Newspaper reported.

"US law doesn't recognize the transfer of title when theft is involved," Amineddoleh said. "I advised Laura not to sell it, either publicly or privately, that is, on the black market. She risked expensive legal battles or criminal penalties if she tried."

Instead, they contacted German authorities, who were very interested in seeing the bust returned.

The Bavarian Administration of State-Owned Palaces, Gardens and Lakes agreed to pay Young a finders fee, and to allow the San Antonio Museum of Art to display the bust temporarily, Amineddoleh told the outlet, adding that the last of the documents were finalized just days ago.