Man bursts into tears when final bid for an old family heirloom is announced

A man who was living on disability became a millionaire overnight when a family heirloom went to auction. The man, who goes by L.T. was scraping by on $839 a month in disability, according to the Huffington Post. He
couldn’t work because his foot had to be amputated after a car accident.

One day, L.T. was watching the Antiques Roadshow and he saw an appraisal that would change his life, he said in a viral video on YouTube. He saw an appraiser tell a man that his Navajo blanket was worth $400,000. The show caught L.T.’s attention because he had a similar blanket that had been handed down to him.

L.T. decided to find out if his blanket was worth anything. After researching antique appraisers, he contacted John Moran Auctioneers. When L.T. met with the staff members at the auction house, they were shocked with what L.T. showed them. Jeff Moran said, “I almost fell over. The hair on the back of our necks stood up.”

The Morans told L.T. that he had a first phase Navajo chief’s blanket, according to the Huffington Post. The blankets were made until 1865, according to PBS. There are thought to be less than 50 of the blankets still in existence. Moran said that the blanket would have cost about $50 in the mid-1800s. To put that in perspective, Moran said a U.S. Army captain during that time would have made about $1-2 a month, so a person with a pretty good paying job would’ve had to shell out four years worth of their salary to afford it.

L.T. thought he would get $10,000-$15,000 for the blanket. When the Morans told him it was worth about $50,000 he was shocked. The Morans decided to send fibers from the blanket away to an expert to see if it was woven before the 1850s. The dyes in the fabric confirmed that it likely had. That made the Morans up their estimate to $200,000.

When the blanket went to auction, the opening bid for the blanket was $150,000. As bidders showed their desire to own the rare piece, a teary-eyed L.T. mouthed to his significant other, “Oh, my God.”

It sold for a cool $1.5 million, plus a 20 percent buyer’s premium. After the auction, L.T. said, “It’s like winning the lottery. I had no idea. It couldn’t have come at a better time.”

Watch the video below for more of L.T.'s story.