A $150,000 wtf

While studying with Jamie:
Me: “What the..”
Jamie: “What?”
Me: “No. Fail!”
Ganter v. Kapiloff
The brothers Leonard and Bernard Kapiloff are philatelists [stamp collectors]. In approximately 1976 they purchased two sets of stamps from Robert A. Siegel, Inc., a New York corporation dealing in postage stamps. That the stamps are of considerable value is reflected by their advertised price, $150,400.00.

As far as the brothers knew, those stamps remained in their possession until February 1, 1983. On that date Bernard Kapiloff saw an advertisement, in a nationally circulated catalogue, offering the stamps for sale. He contacted the alleged owner, Robert L. Ganter, and demanded return of the stamps. The demand was refused.

The Kapiloffs notified the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and that agency took physical possession of the stamps from J. & H. Stolow, another New York stamp dealer. The stamps had been consigned to Stolow by Ganter, who asserted that they were his property.
Okay, problem #1: They bought stamps for $150,000?! In 1976-dollars?!

Problem #2 is how Ganter found the stamps:
Ganter related in a deposition that he acquired the stamps by finding them in a dresser he had purchased for thirty dollars in a used furniture store. The purchase was made, according to Ganter, in “the spring or summer of 1979 or 1980.” When he “took the drawers out and started spraying [them] for roaches,” Ganter “found a bunch of newspapers, magazines and the stamps.” The stamps were in a glassine envelope and “looked very official” because they were accompanied by a certificate with “maybe a gold label on it.” No appraisal of the stamps was sought by Ganter at that time because he had “no particular interest in the stamps.” Subsequently, he visited someone in New York City who suggested the stamps be appraised. At Thanksgiving time 1982 Ganter took the stamps to the Stolow Auction House and was told that they were “a rather sensational find.”
The find wasn’t so sensational because the court made Ganter give the stamps back to the Kapiloff brothers.

What I don’t understand is how someone can drop 150k on stamps and then shove the stamps in an old dresser. What’s the point? They didn’t even notice that the stamps were gone for six years.

I think spending more than a dollar on a stamp is silly, but if you bought a set of stamps, put them in a display case and gazed at them lovingly every day…well, then that’s still crazy, but at least it’s not an utter waste of money. Fail Kapiloffs. Fail whale fail.

Ganter v. Kapiloff, 69 Md. App. 97 (Md. Ct. Spec. App. 1986)