The Value of Knowledge

My mom had been a collector of many different things but usually, the smaller it was and the dirtier it was, the better.  After my parents had passed away, my sisters and I were going through all these little treasures.  Neither of my sisters were very interested in antiques so the decision was for me to take all the antiques and someday, maybe start selling them.  Well, they sat in my garage for a number of years until my retirement.  Since retiring and beginning to sell, it has been my intent to research each piece to determine the proper value.  My Mom had collected some Native American pieces including four arrowheads.  I decided to list all 4 together.  Prior to listing on eBay, I posted pictures on an antique forum to see if anyone might have some knowledge about them.  Those that responded, provided some insights but nothing very specific.  One of the arrowheads was made of Obsidian and was about 3” long.  It seemed this one might have the most value because it was in perfect condition.  So much so it appeared it may have been fairly new.  My expectations were not very high and the initial price for all 4 was set at  $5.77.  There was a very early bid which is unusual and over the course of the 7 days, the bid continued to increase. Much to my surprise, the last day came and it was shocking to see the final bid at $64.  This was great!  I sent a note to the winning bidder, expressing my surprise at the final price and asked him if there was a particular arrowhead that caused the bid to go so high.  He let me know that the longer Obsidian point was the reason for his bid. He was an avid collector and thought that this particular point may have been made by a point maker named Ishi who made arrowheads in the early 1900's. That meant nothing to me but when Googling this name my jaw dropped after seeing an obsidian arrowhead made by Ishi and looking very much like mine, selling for over $3000!  Was I shocked? Absolutely!  Was I angry?  Not the least bit. My 4 arrowheads sold for more than 10 times what I was expecting. Here was my response to the buyer:” If you are right, it looks like you got a heck of a deal! Good for you. I could not be happier for you!”  Knowledge is a wonderful thing!