When a keen-eyed employee at Goodwill came across a striking painting of a woman sipping a cup of tea, she knew well enough to set it aside.
“I didn’t know how much at that time, but I said, ‘We have some money here,’” Maria Rivera, a worker at Goodwill in Manassas, Va., told NBC Washington.
Turns out, the work of art is a rare piece by Italian 19th century painter Giovanni Battista Torriglia and is worth about $12,000.
The valuable painting will go to the highest bidder on Goodwill’s website and proceeds will be used for the organization's job training programs, according to NBC.
While such a find is an exciting boon for the nonprofit that empowers people in need, this wasn’t the first time Goodwill has stumbled upon a valuable piece of art in a donation bin.
Back in November, an anonymous donor dropped off a signed painting by Surrealist master Salvador Dali, the Tacoma News Tribune reports.
Considering that Goodwill employees are trained to spot high-valued items, the worker who found the piece of art knew not to let it slip by.
"Anything with a signature or paperwork attached to the back gets a second look," Dylan Lippert, an e-sales manager at the Tacoma Goodwill, told The Huffington Post in an email. "After a bit of research, it was apparent that [the Dali etching] was indeed something very special."