Buy a Victorian ferrotype at auction and become a millionaire: an unusual story of a collector of old photos

Catching up collecting old photos, Justin Whiteing could not pass by this instance. The portrait of this man was so expensive that he hoped to gain almost 2,500,000 dollars for a photo.

With serious back problems, Justin Whiteing was engaged in buying and selling old photographs. It was almost his only source of income.

In the photo, which the collector found at one of the auctions, at first glance there was nothing remarkable. It sold for only 10 dollars. In the ad, it was stated that "Victorian ferrotype, photo of a young man in a dark suit by the chair, 1870-1879, USA" is being sold.

In the young man in the photo, Justin Uyating recognized Jesse James - the famous criminal of the times of the Civil War. In the picture, which was put up for auction, the American robber was 14 years old. Know Jesse in the photo helped the obsession of a collector of American crime history. By that time, Justin Whiteing had time to read a lot of books and most of the perpetrators could easily recognize.

The authenticity of the photograph and the affiliation of its image to the famous criminal was confirmed by experts. Similar portraits are very much appreciated among collectors. For example, a photo of Billy Kid - another criminal - in 2015 was sold for $ 5,000,000.