Meet Loren Krytzer, a man who was living on $200 a month when he sold a ‘worthless’ blanket for $1.5 million. He learned the value of this Navajo blanket while watching an episode of Antiques Roadshow, where a similar blanket was appraised. The winner of the auction was the appraiser from the show

This man was living on $200 a month when he sold a ‘worthless’ blanket for $1.5 million

Loren Krytzer walked into the California auction room broke and unemployed, surviving on disability checks. Seventy-seven seconds later, he walked out a millionaire — all thanks to a blanket.

“Everybody loves a rags to riches story,” laughs Krytzer.

His life changed forever when he discovered that a forgotten old family heirloom, a Navajo blanket from the 1800s that had been sitting in his closet for seven years, was actually worth $1.5 million. And just in time, too. He had been scraping by, living in a shack on the edge of California’s Liona Valley, and had lost a leg after a near-fatal car accident.

The sale of the blanket “gave me a new lease on life,” Krytzer tells CNBC Make It. “It truly did.”

Loren Krytzer, 53, hikes … Continue Reading (10 minute read)