"You said you bought this rare commemorative gold coin from a black guy who sells bags?"

The pawnshop owner, after carefully checking the gold coin Chen Yiyang brought, looked up in surprise.

"Yes, I was just curious about the culture here, so I bought it casually. Then I found out that the gold coin used as a decoration on the bag I bought was something unusual."

Chen Yiyang said casually. After all, he had his white bodyguard buy the bag, so there was no need to hide it.

Since Chen Yiyang said so, the owner also knew that Chen Yiyang had long recognized the origin of the coin.

There was no way to take advantage of the pricing.

So the pawnshop owner didn't hide anything and directly said, "This is an extremely rare commemorative gold coin minted to celebrate the opening of the Panama Canal.

I have a client who paid me a long time ago to find a way to buy such a coin. How much are you willing to sell it to me for?"

"How about a hundred thousand US dollars?" Chen Yiyang tested with a very high price.

"That's impossible, that's too expensive." The pawnshop owner shrugged, "How about sixty thousand US dollars? The current market price is about that."

"Isn't that a bit low?" Chen Yiyang wasn't very satisfied with the price.

Sixty thousand US dollars was the price before the United States president announced the decision to reclaim the Panama Canal, so it should have increased a bit by now.

"This price is already quite good. Last time I saw one for thirty thousand dollars at a currency market." The pawnshop owner tried hard to make Chen Yiyang accept this price.

"Thirty thousand dollars, then why didn't you buy it at that time?"

"Well, although that coin was genuine, it had been cleaned a bit, so my client wasn't very interested."

Hearing what the pawnshop owner said, Chen Yiyang realized that in the collecting circles in Europe and America, collectors highly value the patina on items.

Old things, since they are old, shouldn't be cleaned. The more prominent the traces of time left on them, the better.

Cleansing it completely actually diminishes its value.

Like this Panama Canal commemorative gold coin, if it has patina and marks left from normal use or storage,

it's not a problem to sell it for sixty thousand US dollars easily.

But if one idly decides to clean it, making it look brand new, no one would buy it even for thirty thousand dollars.

In fact, in his own country, Chen Yiyang had heard countless similar stories.

For instance, an old jade bracelet that had immense collectible value, originally worth in the tens or hundreds of thousands.

It ended up being cleaned like it was just made by an elderly person.

The value instantly dropped to a few thousand, with no one wanting it.

Similarly, there are silver coins, old furniture, and other such items.

Once cleaned, the value plummets tenfold instantly.

After all, people buy old items for the heavy historical traces they bear.

If it's cleaned, why wouldn't collectors just find someone to make a new one using the same craftsmanship?

That would cost much less.

After some haggling, Chen Yiyang and the pawnshop owner settled on a price around seventy thousand US dollars.

"I have a Bodhisattva bronze statue from your country, worth about twenty thousand US dollars. I can sell it to you for fifteen thousand US dollars and give you fifty-five thousand US dollars in cash. How about that?"

"Let me see the pictures first." Chen Yiyang asked out of curiosity.

"I didn't save any photos, but how about you come to my store tomorrow and take a look?"

"That works." Chen Yiyang nodded.

The next morning, Chen Yiyang first scrolled through his phone messages and saw today's treasure-hunting intelligence.

Today's intelligence, hidden Dragon's Saliva Fragrance: In a pawnshop in California, a few small pieces of Dragon's Saliva Fragrance are hidden inside a scabbard for sale. Buying them for under fifty thousand dollars would be a successful treasure hunt.

The related pictures and location are on the second page.

Chen Yiyang glanced at the treasure-hunting location mentioned in today's intelligence.

It turned out to be the same pawnshop owner's store.

Chen Yiyang planned to go there and attempt the treasure hunt.

Upon arriving at the pawnshop, the owner warmly greeted him.

"Yesterday I also contacted an expert I know specializing in Eastern antiques, and my Bodhisattva bronze statue will definitely satisfy you."

The pawnshop owner said while leading Chen Yiyang to the warehouse at the back of his store.

A Bodhisattva statue, about the size of a three- or four-year-old child, stood there.

Chen Yiyang walked over and took a few glances, sensing something was amiss.

The style didn't look much like a Buddhist statue product from his country.

Moreover, the Bodhisattva had four arms.

So Chen Yiyang took photographs of the Bodhisattva statue and sent them to an antique expert he knew from Lin'an.

"This Bodhisattva statue is called the Four-armed Guanyin, indeed not something from the inland areas of our country.

The Four-armed Guanyin has a significant influence in the Western Regions, known as the Guardian of the Snowfield.

Judging by the style, this Four-armed Guanyin statue should be made in Nepal. During the Qing Dynasty, Nepal contributed many similar items."

Four-armed Guanyin Statue.

After hearing the expert's explanation, Chen Yiyang had a clear idea of this statue's value.

It's worth at most ten thousand US dollars.

So Chen Yiyang turned to the pawnshop owner and said, "This statue was made in Nepal, not in Huaxia, so it's worth at most ten thousand dollars."

"Alright, I think I need to meet more experts on East Asian antiques." The pawnshop owner shrugged, "But fortunately, the price I got it for was even lower. How about using it to offset ten thousand dollars?"

"Okay, but if you have more East Asian antiques here, I might consider buying them to offset the price of the commemorative gold coin."

Hearing Chen Yiyang say this, the pawnshop owner was immediately energized.

He quickly brought out a thirty-centimeter-tall sandstone statue.

"This is from India, I'm absolutely sure." Chen Yiyang, seeing the style of the statue, was sure it was from India and wasn't very interested in it.

"Alright, I'll change the label later." The pawnshop owner touched his bald head and put the statue back.

"What about this?" The pawnshop owner brought out a palm-sized bronze lamp.

"This was bought cheaply by my apprentice in the store while I was away. He said it's a bronze lamp from the Shang Zhou period of Huaxia. I did some simple testing and confirmed that the age is correct, and the materials also match that era."

The bronze lamp brought by the pawnshop owner was quite exquisite.

It's just too small.

In Chen Yiyang's impression, Huaxia didn't seem to have made such small bronze lamps.

He took photos and sent them to experts in his country, who also thought it wasn't a product of Huaxia.

Ultimately, the pawnshop owner personally spent money on an expert examination, finding an expert specializing in bronze artifacts for a remote video identification.

"This is an Ancient Roman bronze lamp used for daily life. Although it's quite old, there are many of them in existence, and it was just a common item in that era, valued generally between one thousand to one thousand five hundred US dollars."

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