tag sale

たった3ドルのお得な買い物が大化けをしました。ニューヨークのサザビーズで19日に行われたオークションに出品された中国・宋代の白磁のお碗に223万ドル（約2億1000万円）の値が付きました。tag saleは米国北東部で用いられる表現で、garage sale, yard saleと同じ意味になります（"A domestic sale of second-hand items; a garage sale or yard sale" ）。（UG）

Bought for $3 at yard sale, bowl sells for $2.2 million

A rare Chinese bowl bought for about $3 from a yard sale in the U.S. sold for $2.2 million at an auction in New York on Tuesday.

The bowl, found in New York state, "was bought for a few dollars from a tag sale near the consignor's home in the summer of 2007," said Cecilia Leung of Sotheby's. "At the time, the purchaser had no idea that they had happened upon a 1,000-year-old treasure."

The previous owner displayed the bowl in their living room for several years before they became curious about its origins and had it assessed, Leung said. Sotheby's pre-sale estimates valued the bowl, which measures just five inches in diameter, at between $200,000 to $300,000.

The 'Ding' bowl is an example of Northern Song Dynasty pottery and described by Sotheby's as "remarkable and exceptionally beautiful."

The only other known bowl of the same size, form and almost identical decoration has been in the collection of the British Museum in London for over 60 years, according to Sotheby's.
The bowl was purchased by London dealer, Giuseppe Eskenazi, for $2,225,000, after a prolonged battle between four bidders.

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/03/20/business/sothebys-china-bowl/index.html?hpt=ias_t4