Woman Buys Ring For $13, Finds Out It's Actually Worth $957K

It might be time to dig into your jewelry box in search of some treasure. A British woman decided to check with a jeweler if a ring she bought for £10 ($13) was worth some money. Interestingly, the gem turned out to be worth £740,000 ($957,000)!

Debra Goddard of Twickenham, West London had originally bought the ring at a boot sale back in 1986. She then kept the ring for 33 years believing it was made of glass. However, the 55-year-old decided to sell the ring when her mother June Boyle lost all her money to a relative’s fraud. Not surprisingly, Goddard was shocked when the jeweler told her the ring has a 26.27-carat diamond.

Goddard couldn’t believe when she realized the ring was worth a fortune.

Goddard admitted that she didn’t know what to do when she realized she had a truly valuable ring. After all, she was only expecting to get at least £750 ($970) for the jewelry.

“When I went to the jeweler he nearly fainted and said,‘Do you know what this is? It’s a diamond’. I sat up all night looking at it, wondering what to do,” 

she said.

Goddard has brought the ring to the auction house Sotheby’s and its sale earned her a whopping £470,000 ($607,900). “It’s karma for the bad things that happened in our lives and my mum being robbed of everything,” she said.

The stunning ring actually had a 26.27-carat diamond.

Although Goddard is now a rich woman, she revealed that she has been spending most of her money on her mom. After all, it was June’s dilemma that led to the ring being sold in the first place.

“She’s had holidays in Barbados, seen Tom Jones, seen Celine Dion in Vegas and bought a fur coat. The money isn’t important to me,” Goddard said of her mother.

Goddard is currently working on a book on how to properly look for valuable items at boot sales. “I volunteer with a runaway kids’ charity. If this book makes money, I want it to go to them and youth leaders,” she said.