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The Epic Find

A Memory Leads to the Purchase of a Lifetime

By Shelly BarnesPublished 3 years ago 10 min read
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Sarah stared out the window over her coffee and thought, “This is a perfect day to go antiquing.” She hadn’t been in months and it was time to recharge her vintage battery and her store stock. She finished her coffee and toast, pushed herself away from the table and put her dishes in the sink. “I’ll tidy this up later,” she told her cat, Maggie. Maggie blinked and went to sleep. Gotta love cats.

Sarah stepped into the shower and let the water run over her. The caffeine was kicking in and the shower was bringing her back to life. She stepped out, toweled off, combed her long blonde hair and took a minute to see if it was time for a trim. She smoothed on her moisturizer, blow-dried her hair and tied it in a loose ponytail to keep it out of her face while she shopped.

One last look in the mirror told her the haunted look in her eyes was gone. She threw on her favorite antiquing clothes – a worn pair of boyfriend jeans, a soft flannel and some much-loved Sperry’s. After what mentally felt like a really long winter, she knew she was ready to go back to work and looked forward to the day.

During the lockdown, with nowhere to go and no one to go with, the pandemic had given her time to evaluate her life and think about the direction she was headed in. She had cleaned out, downsized and re-organized all the spaces in her life. It was the nudge she needed to move on from her ex. She read, listened to music and got back in touch with the person she had pushed to the side to make room for Kyle. Strong, handsome, arrogant, inconsiderate, obnoxious Kyle. Sarah shook her head. Not going there today, damnit!

She grabbed her jacket and bag and headed out to her little orange Sunfire. She opened the sun roof, turned up the music and let the crisp air blow away any bad feelings that dared to surface and ruin the day. Singing along to the 70’s at 7, she made the short trip into town.

She scored a space right in front of the old antique mall on Main Street. It was still early and quiet in the creaky old building – she loved it. She adjusted her mask as she walked in and a little shiver of excitement ran down her spine. It had been a long time. A nice lady behind the counter sent a mask-muffled greeting her way, introduced herself as Doris and told Sarah if she had any questions to just call her.

Sarah normally searched out unique dishes and vintage linens to adorn her small flat and then recycle through her Etsy shop, but today wasn’t sure what she was looking for. “Eh,” she thought, “I’ll know it when I see it” and started wandering through the stalls. She picked up individual pieces that caught her eye, ran her hand over different fabrics just waiting for something to speak to her. She was inspecting a small, handmade Raggedy Ann doll when a voice behind her startled her and she dropped the doll and her bag, spilling the contents all over the floor.

“I’m sorry, dear, I didn’t mean to scare you. Coffee?” Doris offered.

Sarah thanked her but said she had reached her limit and the two women gathered up Sarah’s things and put them back in her bag. Sarah continued to browse but didn’t find anything of interest. She headed out, saying goodbye to Doris.

When she got home she took a minute to reorganize her bag. Sorting the contents, she discovered that she was missing her book. Many people store their lives in their phones. Family and friends’ phone numbers, birthdays, appointments, grocery lists, you name it. Sarah was not one of those people. Her little black book, with its dog-eared pages and rough edges, was where Sarah stored her life! Addresses, her budget, recipes, to-do lists, everything! It was her little black lifeline! It must have fallen out at the antique store and with all the confusion she missed it. Sarah grabbed her jacket and headed back out praying to the Universe and God that Doris had found it and put it back for her. That book in the wrong hands, it didn’t bear considering. Her user ids and passwords to everything! Her heart was racing and the 10 minute drive felt like hours.

She parked and ran in but Doris wasn’t there. The woman behind the counter reminded her to mask-up and then went back to the paperwork she had been sorting. Sarah asked if anyone had turned in a small black book. The woman glanced around her and said, “I don’t see anything here.”

Sarah found her way to the booth with the little rag doll. She looked around, nothing. She got down on her hands and knees and started searching the floor around her. Her palms were sweating and her head started to ache. She was afraid she might be sick but felt it had to be there. She spotted a wicker picnic hamper loaded with old linens. Along the side, a black corner peeked out. Her book! Sarah snatched it out and choked out a sigh of relief. Tears started but she held them back and silently thanked whatever other-worldly being helped her find the book.

Glancing down, she noticed it had been sitting on something underneath the linens. It was a box. She picked it up and turned it over in her hands. It resembled one that had sat on her grandma’s dresser when Sarah was a little girl. A faded image of a peaceful lake surrounded by woods graced the middle of the lid and was framed by a carved design around the lid’s edge. She couldn’t put it down. She took the box to the front, paid for it and headed out, relieved she had found her book but puzzled by her purchase.

When she got home, Sarah sat on her living room floor, joined by Maggie. Sarah set the box down. What the hell. She had just cleaned her flat out and now was bringing home things she didn’t need. Maggie sniffed the box and jumped when Sarah reached out to open it. It had a draw for Sarah and she was trying to figure out why. Empty. She picked it up and examined the entire outside again running her fingers over the picture and the carvings on top. No markings on the bottom so she returned to the inside. Her grandma’s had been felt-lined and smelled of cedar. This box wasn’t lined and didn’t appear to have the cedar scent but Sarah knew that faded with age. She gave the inside another glance and noticed the space inside was uneven. She turned the open box over and a false bottom and a piece of paper fell out of the box. She set the bottom piece aside and picked up a faded yellow envelope. Probably someone’s Dear John, Sarah mused, her thoughts returning to Kyle. She pushed them back, turned the envelope over and drew out the contents. It was a strange, certificate looking paper with a portrait of Abraham Lincoln on it. It resembled paper money but not exactly. Parts of it appeared faded, probably because of age, and there was a date on it - August 10th, 1861. “How cool is this,” Sarah thought. She turned it over and looked the whole paper over and decided to do a little research on it before centering it in a little frame and putting it on Etsy. A collector would probably give $50 for something like this.

She pulled her computer out and started searching. She searched the date and read an article on Demand Notes and how they were a popular collectible. She kept searching and reading and finally found a listing of some Demand Note identifiers. The more she read, the more excited she became. It occurred to her that she might have found an authentic Demand Note from the Civil War era! Clicking “Images” on her search bar, Sarah found herself staring at a duplicate photo of the document she held in her hands!

“I have to find a dealer to get this authenticated,” she thought. She photocopied it on the little machine she had in her office. If this was valuable, she didn’t want to cart it around and chance losing it or damaging it. She made copies, locked the note in her safe and headed out to the local pawn shop.

She made her way inside and glanced around. She was approached by a young woman and asked if she was looking for something special. SArab asked to speak to someone knowledgeable about historical documents and a man came to the counter and introduced himself as Daryll. It was hard to get a read on Daryll with the mask covering most of his facial features but Sarah figured she had to start somewhere and he might be able to point her in the right direction even if he didn’t know much about her item.

He studied the copy and finally looked up and said, “If this is real, you could be looking at a very valuable document. Demand Notes like this have sold at auction for over $100,000.” Sarah was stunned. He produced his card and said, “Let me call in an expert on this. You’ll need to bring the original in for him to examine, but I think this is a substantial find.” Daryll contacted his expert and they set an appointment date and time for later in the week. Sarah thanked him and went home to contemplate what this find could mean for her.

The day of the appointment arrived and Sarah made her way back to the pawn shop. Daryll greeted her and introduced her to a history professor from the local community college. They chatted a moment and he asked her where she had found this particular item. She told her story and he asked if he could see the document. She handed him the note and bit her lip while he performed his examination. She could hardly breathe until he finally said, “I believe you have found an authentic Demand Note originally circulated in 1861. Have you thought about what you might do with this?” Sarah asked what he thought it might be worth and he responded that some notes were definitely worth more than others. He went on to say that this was a $10 note so it would range in value between $4,000 and $30,000 but since hers had a few areas on it that were somewhat faded it was probably not worth more than $15,000 to $20,000. He recommended she take it to the next currency auction in the area and see what a collector might be willing to offer for it.

Sarah left the appointment in shock. While it would have been nice to have a note that would bring top dollar, she reflected that her $20 purchase would net her the best profit she could ever hope to make in her line of work. Who would have thought a simple accident would have brought her the find of her life?

In the end, Sarah found a collector who offered her $20,000 for her Demand Note! She decided to expand her business and spend more time antiquing.

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