Ancient Roman Bust Goodwill: An Ancient Roman Relic Bust Sold For $34.99

Laura Young a Texas woman turned in $34.99. 2,000-year-old Roman bust she purchased four years ago at a Goodwill store.

Laura Young wrote on Instagram that she discovered the historic 52-pound marble relic in 2018 at the Far West Goodwill in Austin, Texas. Outside of normal business hours. After doing some research, Young contacted an auction house, which confirmed the piece was an original bust.

The bust was determined to have been owned by King Ludwig of Bavaria in the 1800s, who displayed it in the courtyard of Pompejanum, a replica of a courtyard in the city of Pompeii, Italy.  Allied bombers bombed Aschaffenburg during WWII, damaging the Pompejanum, and the bust vanished at some point, according to the San Antonio Museum of Art.

The bust will be loaned to the San Antonio Museum of Art for a year, with Young’s Goodwill discovery being credited. It will then be returned to the Bavarian Administration of State-Owned Palaces, Gardens, and Lakes in the German state of Bavaria.