Five years ago, Randy Guijarro purchased an old photograph for $2 at a junk shop. Now, he could sell it for $5 million.
That’s because the photo is of the famous outlaw Billy the Kid and his gang playing croquet in 1878, according to a statement by Kagin’s, the company that verified the image. There is only one other portrait of Billy the Kid known to exist, which was purchased in 2012 for $2.3 million.
“When we first saw the photograph, we were understandably skeptical – an original Billy the Kid photo is the Holy Grail of Western Americana,” said David McCarthy, Kagin’s senior numismatist.
The photograph is the subject of an upcoming documentary on the National Geographic Channel narrated by Kevin Costner.
“This is perhaps the single most compelling piece of Western Americana that we have ever seen,” said Donald Kagin, president of Kagin’s.
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Write to Tessa Berenson at tessa.Rogers@time.com