A man in Massachusetts thought he was purchasing a beautiful new piece of furniture for his home in 2014. The Governor Winthrop secretary desk is a classic design, and Phil LeClerc couldn’t pass it up for $40. He won the item at the Holbrook auction house and began to examine it more closely once he got it home.
The desk was not without flaws. There were some chips, a missing foot, and a missing ornamental finial. LeClerc later stated that he discovered the finial in one of the drawers, making it the second most intriguing item he discovered while inspecting his purchase. Phil LeClerc began shaking the desk to see if anything would fall out. A small white envelope landed on the floor, much to his surprise.
The Governor Winthrop secretary desk is well-known for its “secret compartments,” which include numerous small crevices, hidden sliding drawers, and inconspicuous slots where owners have been known to conceal valuables. The fact that LeClerc discovered $127,000 in mature bonds inside the desk is nothing short of a miracle.
“We found 50s, then 100s, 200s, and 500s.” “And then we discovered a stack of six $10,000 bonds,” LeClerc explained to WCBV. When LeClerc opened the envelope, he discovered $127,000 in matured savings bonds. Imagine LeClerc’s surprise when he realized he’d just made a $126,940 profit on a desk he’d bought earlier that day. He explained that he was initially looking for any knobs or handles that had fallen off and been stored in one of the many drawers over the years.
“I pushed the desk forward, and when the knob came out, the envelope fell,” LeClerc explained to Wicked Local. “The first thing I saw was a $500 bond,” LeClerc said, when faced with the decision of what to do with the bonds. He contacted the auction house and attempted to contact the original family. The family had been looking for the savings bonds for quite some time.
LeClerc made contact with the son of the original owner of the desk. As it turned out, the desk, along with a number of other items, were being auctioned off to help pay for his 94-year-old father’s medical expenses and assisted living facility. “The family had been looking for them for years,” said Marg-E Kelley, the auctioneer who sold the desk. “He was overjoyed.
It couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.” LeClerc returned the savings bonds to their rightful owner and stated that he had no regrets. The family requested anonymity but told reporters that the money couldn’t have arrived at a better time. “We enjoy hearing stories like this. “It’s why we do what we do,” Kelley explained. “It’ll change their lives, you know?” Change their lives completely.” “It was a fantastic find,” said LeClerc. “It was even better after hearing the family story.”