It was a photo album, and the photo album was open, so Han Peacock could see the photos above very clearly.
What attracted Han Peacock's attention was an old photo. It could be seen that it was not well preserved.
There are four young people in the photo. One young man seems to be holding a gun. Judging from the style of the gun, it should be a gun from long ago.
The characters above look like they are dressed like a Western cowboy, especially the protagonist. He is wearing a tuxedo and boots, his hair is neatly combed, and he holds a long gun in his hand. He looks very heroic.
Han Kongque was sure that he had seen this photo before, and it should be somewhat famous. He just thought about it for a moment and remembered where he had seen it.
Before coming to the United States, Han Peacock deliberately learned about the history of the United States, especially the history of the American West.
Because after Chinese immigrants immigrated to the United States, most of them lived in the western United States, and Western cowboys are familiar to Chinese people.
It was at that time that Han Peacock saw the handsome young man in this photo, because Americans believed that this man represented a part of American history.
Han Kongque waited until the people in this stall were almost gone, then he squatted down casually and looked at the things above.
Photo albums, dolls, gold and silver coins, printed matter, oil paintings, it can be said that the goods are comprehensive.
After checking these things, Han Peacock picked up the photo album casually.
The photo that attracted Han Peacock's attention must be an old photo. Even if Han Peacock was not familiar with this, he could still tell that it was a tintype photo. Tintype photos were a 19th-century photography technique that has now been eliminated.
.
"Boss, how much does this album cost?" I flipped through it casually. There are a lot of photos in this album, and they are really worth collecting. There are all kinds of strange photos in it, such as a photo of someone jumping off a building. There is also a picture of China.
Photos of beautiful women.
Some of these photos are weird, some are beautiful. Anyway, they look pretty good. If the price is cheap, I would not mind buying them all.
"Twenty dollars each. You must know that these are real old photos." The boss responded casually.
The boss had just dealt with a customer and was counting the money. He had just sold an 800-dollar doll, a Transformers doll. It was considered a fine product in his hands.
"Twenty dollars a piece? There are a lot of photos in this album. Isn't it too expensive?" Han Peacock asked with a surprised look on his face.
"It's not too much. There are only fifty-four old photos in this photo album. If you want it, just give me a thousand dollars." At this time, the boss began to look at Han Peacock seriously.
Han Kongque laughed and said: "Boss, don't think that because I am Chinese, I am stupid and have a lot of money. The price of each old photo like this will never exceed two dollars. I will give you a hundred dollars."
Eight hundred dollars. Not a penny less." The boss said, shaking his head.
"One hundred and fifty dollars, if it costs one cent more, I won't buy it." Han Peacock was naturally not polite when he saw that he could negotiate the price here.
"No, I can't even buy it for one hundred and fifty dollars. If it's seven hundred dollars or less, I really won't sell it." The boss said, staring into Han Peacock's eyes.
Han Kongque said expressionlessly: "Two hundred dollars, this is the final price. If you still don't sell it, then I will leave."
After saying that, Han Kongque stood up and made a gesture of leaving.
"You Chinese all say this. I know this is your bargaining tactic. Five hundred dollars, a photo is less than ten dollars. This price is already very cheap." The boss showed a smile. This smile, no matter how you look at it,
A bit cunning.
Han Peacock smiled bitterly and said: "Three hundred dollars, this is my psychological price. At this price, I really don't want it."
"You won't give up. I can see that you like these old photos, especially the Chinese beauty in them. You must know that the photo must be more than sixty years old, and sixty years ago, how many people in your country took pictures?
?Young man, five hundred dollars is not expensive at all."
After saying that, the boss took the photo album directly, opened it, and quickly pointed to an old photo on it and said: "I think this is the one you are most interested in, right? If you don't pay five hundred dollars,
, I won’t sell you this one, the other photos can be counted as two hundred dollars.”
Looking at the boss with a sly smile, Han Kongque shook his head. What else could he say?
Although the photo of this beauty is not what I am attracted to, it is not bad for the boss to think so.
At this time, the boss did not wait for Han Kongque to speak, and said again: "This photo album is not for retail sale. If you want it, you can only buy it all. Otherwise, the remaining photos will not be sold for the price."
Han Peacock shook his head regretfully and said, "I didn't expect you would have known about it a long time ago, boss? Well, this is five hundred dollars."
"Haha, that's right, five hundred dollars is really not much." The boss handed the album to Han Peacock, took the five hundred dollars, kissed it directly, and then carefully put it away.
Han Peacock still doesn’t quite understand Americans’ habit of kissing banknotes at all times, but they don’t mind it either.
Shaking his head, Han Kongque took the photo album and walked towards the outside of his small market. With this harvest, Han Kongque had no intention of continuing to search for treasures here.
"Is this Billy the Kid?" Han Peacock looked at the photo in his hand in confusion.
He took out his cell phone and searched for the legendary killer Billy the Kid, and found that it was indeed the photo that Han Peacock remembered.
This photo is very famous, but it has been discovered and sold for five million US dollars. So, what is the reason for it to appear here now?
Looking at the search results, when this photo was discovered, it caused a sensation.
Sometimes, hidden treasures are not just legends, but exist in the real world. This old photo, which is now worth US$5 million, was hidden in an antique shop in Forrest, USA.
It is said that an American couple happened to find two cardboard boxes containing old photos when they were wandering in a store in Tower District. They selected 3 photos they liked, paid $2 and left.
What he didn't know was that the man in one of the tintype photos was rumored to be the legendary killer "Billy the Kid" William H. Bonny.
Prior to this, only one photo of Billy the Kid was known to exist. That photo was hammered down at auction for $00,000, and the photo they found was worth $5 million.
This photo was later identified as authentic. The reason why it is so expensive is because many Americans believe that this photo is not only the Holy Grail of Western photography, but the Holy Grail of photography. They believe this photo is the rarest photo in the world.
This photo is said to have been taken in New Mexico around 1878, when "Billy the Kid" was about 17 years old.
In the photo, he plays croquet with ranch owners and cowboys.
"Billy the Kid" was shot to death by Sheriff Jarrett of Fort Sumner, New Mexico, three years later.
This photo caused a big sensation at the time, so Han Kongque could see the news, and the photo was also published in the news.
Han Peacock held his mobile phone and compared it with the photo in his hand, and found that there was no difference.
However, how could a photo that could sell for five million dollars appear on a street stall?
Looking at the other photos, Han Peacock really couldn't figure it out. There were a lot of photos in them, including black children, white children shopping, people jumping off buildings, and naked girls.
Among them was the photo of the Chinese beauty that the street stall owner thought Han Kongque valued. Looking at this photo, Han Kongque realized that it was really worth collecting.
This is enough to show that there were Chinese people taking pictures a few decades ago.
"Boss, what are you so happy about?" When Han Peacock arrived at the wooden house on the edge of the swamp, Yang Ying came to greet him.
Han Kongque was in a good mood, so he smiled and said: "Find me an appraisal expert who has research on old photos. I bought some photos and want to ask them to authenticate them."
"Why should we ask for this from other places? What we are most in need of now are various experts. Why not ask Professor Cao." Yang Ying came up with an idea.
Han Peacock laughed and said: "They are experts in paleontology and fossils, but they may not necessarily understand these old photos. However, it is not bad to ask. If someone knows this, it will be convenient."
"I'll go ask you." Yang Ying quickly walked towards the swamp.
Looking at Yang Ying who left in a hurry, Han Kongque shook his head. This girl who did everything vigorously and resolutely was really good.
Soon, Yang Ying will come, but she will not bring Cao Shanghai, but Cao Meili. Of course, there will be another girl beside her.
"Do you know old photos?" Han Peacock asked strangely.
Cao Meili pulled the girl next to her and said, "Her name is Amy, and she is very knowledgeable about old photos."
"It's not that I have any research, but it's my grandfather who likes to collect photos, so I know a little bit about it." Amy was a little shy, but after talking about old photos, her eyes immediately lit up.
Han Kongque could tell at a glance that this was another girl who was a little paranoid. She would become excited when she saw something she was interested in.
Han Peacock took out the photo album directly and said: "Look at this photo, is it Billy the Kid? I know this photo is famous, but why he appeared on the carpet outside makes me very confused."
However, Han Peacock wanted to try whether the two girls could identify this photo, but they wouldn't waste much time anyway.
"This is Billy the Kid? How is it possible?" Amy exclaimed in surprise as soon as she got the album.
"Let's see if it's authentic. I know this photo has been sold for five million US dollars, so I don't believe it's the authentic one, but it doesn't look like a fake." Han Peacock said with a smile.
"How much did Boss Han buy it for? Did you buy it at a stall outside?" Cao Meili's eyes were also shining with an inexplicable light. (To be continued.)