Painting bought for $30 at estate sale sells for more than $1.3 million at auction

(CNN) — A $30 find at an estate sale has turned into a million-dollar jackpot.

The small oil painting was discovered in a dark corner of a Michigan home this summer.

The buyer spotted a faint signature reading “Abercrombie, 51” and decided to take a chance.

Experts later confirmed it was Gertrude Abercrombie’s “Alderman Merriam’s Shells,” a 1951 work that had not been seen publicly in nearly 75 years.

The painting was expected to fetch up to $250,000. Instead, it sold at auction for more than $1.35 million, setting a new record for Abercrombie’s work.