Old Blanket Sells for $1.5 Million at Just the Right Time

An old Navajo Native American blanket sold for $1.5 million at auction and created a rags to riches story for its disabled owner, Loren Krytzer.

Krytzer was living on disability after a car accident led to a leg amputation when he saw a Navajo blanket on an episode of “Antiques Roadshow” appraised at $500,000 and remembered he had one like it in the closet, CNBC reported.

He had inherited the blanket when his grandmother died, bringing it home with him after going to her house to get some books she had promised him. His sister and mother had already taken most of his grandmother’s things, but neither one wanted the blanket, which was dirty from use, including being used when the cat had kittens. 

Krytzer said no one believe his blanket was really worth that much, and it was rejected by several antique dealers before he took it to an open appraisal day at a local auction house, CNBC reported. 

It was tested and verified as a rare Navajo chief’s blanket — one of the finest in the world. Six months later the blanket sold for $1.5 million after inciting a bidding war that was won by the same person who appeared on the “Antiques Roadshow” episode, Don Ellis. 

“I have a reputation for going after and being interested in the very, very best examples in my field,” Ellis told CNBC. 

Krytzer went on to buy a house to live in and one to rent out as well as a luxury sportscar, CNBC reported. His health has improved and he is remarried.

The blanket was later resold to collectors for $1.8 million.

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