Man Buys Used Dresser at a Yard Sale, Hears A Noise And Finds A Hidden Compartment With Treasure

Yard sales are always a favorite stop for bargain hunters. There’s no telling what priceless gem you might find yourself stumbling upon for a relatively small price. One man learned how very true this can be in the most extreme of ways. He might have been out for a bargain, but he certainly got more than he bargained for.

Emil Noell from Texas had no idea when he went on a routine trip to a yard sale that he was going to unearth a momentous find that would see him hit the headlines for more reasons than one. But before we start, smash the like button and make sure to subscribe if you haven’t, and hit that notification bell so that you won’t miss any new stories.

Noell loves yard sales and attends them regularly. As well as the possibility of finding some valuable or priceless antiques, it’s always a great opportunity to rummage through pieces of history and learn something about the owners and the time they lived in. But Noell was simply not prepared for what he would learn that day in Missouri City. What started out as a routine trip to an estate sale turned out to be a day he would never forget.

One particular item that caught Noell’s eye was a beautiful wooden dresser with a marble top and three ornate drawers underneath. Noell thought that it would look just perfect in his dining room. He decided to go over and have a closer look. As Noell went for a closer look at the dresser, the seller informed him that it had been on display now for three days with no buyers.

For that reason, the price had been reduced from $300 to under $100, and they were keen to shift it. Noell continued to admire the dresser. He learned that it had been the property of the man who owned the estate, who had just passed away. It was beautiful, perfect for what he needed, and at a bargain price. He agreed to the price with the seller and completed the purchase. Noell couldn’t wait to get it home and move it into pride of place in his dining room.

Little did he know that the dresser would not even make it home before an amazing discovery was unearthed. This seemingly simple chest of drawers held an incredible secret within its wooden panels. As Noell began to move the dresser towards his truck, he realized it was too heavy for him to move on his own, so he asked one of the workers from the estate sale company to help him heave it from the yard and towards his vehicle. Jeff Allen, an employee of Premier Estate Sales Network, didn’t hesitate to give Noell a hand. He gathered some of his colleagues, and together they all began moving the dresser carefully and slowly towards the truck.

Suddenly, as they lifted the dresser and began to move it, a loud and mysterious crashing sound was heard coming from inside the chest. The men looked at each other in surprise; they had all thought that the dresser was empty. Mystified, everyone quickly set about trying to find what might be inside the dresser. Noell and the men began opening the three beautiful wooden drawers and looking inside each of them.

The drawers were very large and deep, so it was possible something was inside one of them that hadn’t been spotted before. They even checked the insides of each of them a second time, but with no luck. Where on Earth could this mysterious sound be coming from, and what could it mean?

The rest of the customers at the yard sale had no idea of the mystery that was unfolding just a few feet away from them, as the rest of the estate sale carried on as normal. Noell and the men from Premier Estate Sales Network continued their mission to find the source of the noise and solve the mystery.

Yard sales can be an incredible place to find amazing bargains and historical artifacts, and sometimes people can throw away old items from their family collections, not realizing that what they are discarding is actually incredibly valuable. Sometimes even the company in charge of the sales can fail to realize the true value of these items as well, meaning that savvy customers such as Noell can dig out incredible bargains for themselves at very small prices.

However, Premier Estates are known for being very experienced at these sorts of sales, and it was very unlikely for an item of value to escape their notice. Noell knew that it was unlikely that the chest of drawers had a hidden compartment or contained something the company would not be aware of, as they were such experienced sellers in this field and always checked all of their items very carefully. However, the fact remained that this mysterious noise was reverberating from deep inside this cabinet, and no one—not Noell, Allen, or the other men—could work out where it was coming from and what it meant.

Having checked the insides of all of the drawers several times, the men had to conclude that whatever was making the noise was coming from somewhere else within the dresser. But where could it be? None of them could see any evidence of another compartment in the cabinet or signs of where else it could be opened. The odd crashing sound continued to be heard whenever the dresser was lifted up and moved, but this mystery looked like one that was never going to be able to be solved.

What began as an innocent purchase of a beautiful but not-so-out-of-the-ordinary cabinet was about to turn into a moment that none of them would ever forget. Noell, Allen, and the rest of the men eventually laid the chest of drawers onto its back. Looking at the dresser from a different angle, they were astonished by what they had not noticed before but suddenly was very clear. They realized that as well as the three drawers that were visible from the front, there was another smaller drawer slotted in underneath them. It was when they reached down and opened this drawer that they discovered the source of the noise, and they really weren’t prepared for what they found.

Inside the drawer was an incredible collection of items and keepsakes from the previous owners, some dating back as far as the Civil War. Noell and the men discovered things such as military medals and dog tags and even a perfectly preserved lock of hair. The secret drawer also contained a huge collection of jewels and money in various currencies.

Noell couldn’t believe his eyes. He had been perfectly pleased with his purchase of the dresser and didn’t realize he had actually stumbled upon a piece of history. The dresser had previously been estimated as being made around 1890, but with the discovery of items dating back to the Civil War, it was thought that the cabinet could, in fact, be even older.

This would mean that it was definitely far more valuable than the $100 Noell bought it for, and even than the $300 it was originally on sale for. In addition to this, it was estimated that the total value of all the hidden items in the secret drawer could come to more than $15,000. Everyone was astonished by what was inside the secret drawer and what this meant for the value of Noell’s purchase. What had started out as a very run-of-the-mill sale had now suddenly turned into a historic discovery that would see Noell and Premier Estates all over the news.

Noell was completely shocked by this discovery. He had paid $100 for a beautiful yet modest chest of drawers, and now he had found items within it worth over $15,000 on their own and also increasing the price of the dresser itself. Many other people who had made such a purchase and subsequent impressive find would be very pleased with themselves and head home happily with their unexpected riches. However, Noell was not like most other people, and his response to this discovery surprised everyone.

Though many other people might have felt tempted to keep the items or even think they have the right to, for Noell it was never even a question of what to do with it. “I bought the chest of drawers; I didn’t buy those things,” said Noell of his decision. “If I kept them, I would never feel right about it. There would be a cloud over the whole thing. It’s a feeling more than anything else.” Fortunately, Allen was in full agreement with Noell over his decision.

I’m an old ex-Marine, and I try to do the right thing,” said Noell of his decision to return the items to their rightful owner. He also said that Allen had the same immediate reaction and fully agreed with Noell’s decision to hand over the discovered items. “With Jeff, also the man in charge, his immediate reaction was ‘Let’s call the owner.’ There was never a question of anyone keeping it. It was ‘This is fantastic, let’s call the owner and get the stuff back to them,’” Noell revealed.

Noell and Allen immediately returned the dresser and the items to the original owner. The previous owner had passed away and left all of his estate to his next of kin, who had organized the estate sale. He was astonished that Noell had elected to return these items instead of keeping them for himself and was incredibly pleased and touched. The original owner of the dresser was incredibly touched and appreciative that Noell decided to reveal his discovery and return the previously hidden items to him. As well as being incredibly valuable, these items held great sentimental value as they were part of his family’s history.

The story of Noell’s discovery and his selfless reaction inspired everyone who heard about it. Noell and Allen hit the headlines for what they had found in that seemingly unassuming chest of drawers and for their equally humble reaction. Not only did Emil Noell make an amazing discovery that day, but he also amazed everyone else a second time with his honest and admirable response to it. Noell’s story can be an inspiration to all of us in more ways than one.

Emil Noell from Texas is a 67-year-old retired director of marketing and also a US veteran. In his spare time, he loves attending yard sales and antique shows and is always on the lookout for a bargain and rare finds. His attitude is that you never know what treasure might be hidden among the

things that other people throw out. He just loves sifting through secondhand items, looking for those hidden gems. But he could never have anticipated what he was about to find at this particular sale. The estate sale in Missouri City, Texas, was run by a company called Premier Estate Sales Network. Noell knew that this company was very experienced in running these sales and that they were very knowledgeable about what they were selling, so it was quite unlikely that they would not have noticed if anything there was particularly valuable. However, he went along anyway, as you never know what priceless antique you might stumble upon and take home for a tiny price.