Ten years ago, Rick Norsigian of Fresno, California, was at a garage sale. He saw two small boxes containing film negatives of some cool California nature scenes. The seller wanted $70, but Rick negotiated him down to $45.
Then, when Rick got them appraised, the people who examined them were SHOCKED: These weren't just ANY film negatives, they were taken by ANSEL ADAMS . . . one of the most famous photographers of ALL TIME.
So Rick's $45 purchase is valued at . . . ready for this . . . at least $200 MILLION.
The photos show Yosemite National Park and San Francisco, and were taken by Adams in the early 1900s, before he became famous. Experts had always believed the negatives from early in Adams's career were destroyed in a fire.
The person who sold them to Rick . . . whose name hasn't been released, most likely to save him from a life of public humiliation . . . says he bought the negatives in the 1940s at a warehouse salvage in Los Angeles.
Rick plans to cash-in by selling original prints from the negatives to museums and collectors.
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