SNAPSHOTS OF THE PAST

It’s the stuff of antiques-hunting dreams: an old, black and white photograph of a few men playing croquet is purchased for $2 at a Californian junk shop. The image is later authenticated as one of only two known photos of the notorious 19th-century outlaw Billy the Kid, and valued at several million dollars. But this was no dream – it was the experience of American collector Randy Guijarro, who bought this photo back in 2011. And his tale is far from the only incidence of surprising treasures being unearthed