Turning dusty attic treasures into cash can yield millions for some and disappointment for others

THOMASTON, Maine (AP) — Kaja Veilleux has been hunting New England attic treasures for more than 50 years. He once found a copy of the Declaration of Independence sitting on a pile of trash, and he made headlines this year when he stumbled upon a million-dollar portrait gathering dust in an old farmhouse in Maine that may have been painted by the Dutch master Rembrandt.

Then there was the time, Veilleux said, he was shown a $50,000 gold coin kicking around in a tool drawer — only to have the well-meaning owner destroy much of its value before he could auction it by using a scouring pad to clean it — and scratch it.

“It's like a treasure hunt every day," Veilleux said with a chuckle.

Many people dream of cashing in on some dusty, old heirloom. In October, three sisters from Ohio sold a rare dime for more than half-a-million dollars. Two years ago, a case of old hockey cards found in a Canadian home sold for more than $3.7 million.

Veilleux, 73, helps people sort gems from junk when he appraises furniture, antiques and art by using his knowledge of what similar items have sold for in the past. But art auctions can be fickle. Who could have guessed a banana duct-taped to a wall could sell for more than $6 million?

Veilleux started collecting coins at age 8 and soon found he had a good memory for visual objects. His training for a career in antique dealing has all been on the job, he said, including a lesson he learned early when he spent most of the money he had at the time on bidding for a beautiful miniature painting.

When he got home from the auction and looked at the artwork under a magnifying glass, he realized it was a print, with dabs of paint added to make it look genuine.

“I paid $350 for a $35 object, which always taught me to look at things very carefully,” Veilleux said.

In the late 1990s, he was at a house call in South Freeport, Maine. It was a hoarder's house, he said, where piles of trash were awaiting their trip to an already-full dumpster. Atop one pile, Veilleux spotted what was later confirmed to be a 1776 copy of the Declaration of Independence.

He auctioned it for $99,000 but the state of Maine sued to take possession of the document, and won. That meant both the buyer and seller ended up missing out.

This year's artwork find was his most valuable yet. Veilleux said he and an assistant were on a house call in Camden, Maine.

“We start going through the house and there were rare little things and big things everywhere,” Veilleux said. “Finally, we are on the third floor near the attic, and we find a stack of paintings, and in it is this beautiful portrait of a young woman by Rembrandt.”

The painting of a teenage girl in a black dress with a white ruffled collar was sold as “after Rembrandt,” meaning it was in the style of the 17th Century master but wasn't proven to be by him. The artwork sold for $1.4 million, including auction fees, indicating the buyer was willing to take a significant gamble the painting was a Rembrandt — although it would have likely sold for many times that price with a proven provenance.

Each Tuesday, people bring in their heirlooms and collector’s items to Veilleux's office in Thomaston, Maine, to see what they might fetch at auction. The appraisal is free but Veilleux gets a commission if they end up selling the pieces at his Thomaston Place Auction Galleries.

Erika Taylor stopped by on a recent Tuesday with two artworks her father had collected in China in the 1940s, when he was living there after escaping from Nazi Germany. One depicted a blooming peony and the other a grasshopper.

She said Veilleux had given her an initial estimate of up to $30,000 for each of the artworks, based on the photographs she'd shown him. But she was in for bad news.

When Veilleux inspected the artworks closely, he declared they were prints, because paint would have permeated the paper.

“It's disappointing," Taylor said. “But he has a lot of experience.”

Still, Taylor wasn't totally convinced and said she might seek a second opinion.

Another seller, Jean Koenig, got better news. She brought in a large aquamarine ring. She said her father found the gem in a Brazilian mine and her grandmother had fashioned it into a ring, adding rubies and diamonds.

Koenig ended up agreeing to auction the ring, with an estimated sales price of between $10,000 and $15,000. She plans to split the proceeds with her seven siblings.

“It's just been sitting in a box for years," she said. “We decided it was time.”

Associate appraiser Darrin Guitreau takes a close look at an inscription on the back of a silver spoon at Thomaston Place Auction Galleries, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024, in Thomaston, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

Appraiser Kaja Veilleux examines a painting brought in by Wanda Morris, background, and her husband, Jeff Morris, right, while associate appraiser Darrin Guitreau, left, takes notes, at Thomaston Place Auction Galleries, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024, in Thomaston, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

Kaja Veilleux gives his appraisal of an Native American antique at Thomaston Place Auction Galleries, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024, in Thomaston, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

Appraiser Kaja Veilleux looks through a collection of silver items at Thomaston Place Auction Galleries, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024, in Thomaston, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

Appraiser Kaja Veilleux examines jewelry for a client at Thomaston Place Auction Galleries, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024, in Thomaston, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

A collection of American and foreign coins await appraisal at Thomaston Place Auction Galleries, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024, in Thomaston, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

A small oil painting is examined by appraiser Kaja Veilleux for a client at Thomaston Place Auction Galleries, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024, in Thomaston, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

Silverware is weighed during an appraisal at Thomaston Place Auction Galleries, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024, in Thomaston, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

Appraiser Kaja Veilleux examines jewelry for a client at Thomaston Place Auction Galleries, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024, in Thomaston, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

This undated image provided by Thomaston Place Auction Galleries shows Kaja Veilleux at the podium having just sold Lot 2363, ‘After Rembrandt’, for $1.4 million. (Thomaston Place Auction Galleries via AP)

Appraiser Kaja Veilleux, seated, examines a document while associate appraiser Darrin Guitreau takes notes at Thomaston Place Auction Galleries, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024, in Thomaston, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

Appraiser Kaja Veilleux inspects a bronze piece for a client at Thomaston Place Auction Galleries, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024, in Thomaston, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

ROVANIEMI, Finland (AP) — Shuffling across icy ground on a cold December afternoon, lots of tourist groups poured into Santa Claus Village, a winter-themed amusement park perched on the edge of the Arctic Circle.

They frolic in the snow, take a reindeer sleigh ride, sip a cocktail in an ice bar or even meet Saint Nick himself in the capital of Finnish Lapland, Rovaniemi, which happily calls itself the “official hometown of Santa Claus."

The Santa Claus Village theme park, which attracts more than 600,000 people annually, is especially popular during the holiday season.

“This is like my dream came true,” beamed Polish visitor Elzbieta Nazaruk. “I’m really excited to be here.”

Tourism is booming in Rovaniemi — which has hotel and restaurant owners, as well as city officials, excited as it brings lots of money to the town. However, not everyone is happy about the onslaught of visitors, 10 times the town's population, each year at Christmas time.

“We are worried about the overgrowth of tourism. Tourism has grown so rapidly, it’s not anymore in control,” said 43-year-old Antti Pakkanen, a photographer and member of a housing network that in September organized a rally through the city’s streets.

It’s a feeling that has been echoed in other popular European travel destinations, including Barcelona, Amsterdam, Malaga and Florence.

Across the continent, locals have protested against “over-tourism” — which generally describes the tipping point at which visitors and their cash stop benefiting residents and instead cause harm by degrading historic sites, overwhelming infrastructure and making life markedly more difficult for those who live there.

Now, it seems to have spread north, all the way to the edges of the Arctic Circle.

Rovaniemi counted a record 1.2 million overnight visitors in 2023, almost 30 percent growth on 2022, after rebounding from pandemic travel disruptions.

“Nordic is a trend,” Visit Rovaniemi CEO Sanna Karkkainen, said as she stood in an ice restaurant, where snow carvers were working nearby.

“People want to travel to cool countries to see the snow, to see the Northern Lights, and, of course, to see Santa Claus," she added.

Thirteen new flight routes to Rovaniemi Airport opened this year, bringing passengers from Geneva, Berlin, Bordeaux and more. Most tourists come from European countries like France, Germany and the UK, but Rovaniemi’s appeal has also spread further.

Hotel availability is scarce this winter, and Tiina Määttä, general manager of the 159-room Original Sokos Hotel, expects 2024 to break more records.

Local critics of mass tourism say many apartment buildings in Rovaniemi’s city center are also used for accommodation services during peak season and are thus no longer available for residential use. They say the proliferation of short-term rentals has driven up prices, squeezed out long-term residents, and turned its city center into a “transient space for tourists."

Finnish law prohibits professional accommodation services in buildings intended for residential use, so campaigners are calling on authorities to act.

“The rules must be enforced better,” said Pakkanen.

Not everyone agrees. Mayor Ulla-Kirsikka Vainio notes some make “good money” on short-term rentals.

Either way, stricter regulations likely won’t be in place to impact this winter season, and despite the unease expressed by locals, mass tourism to Rovaniemi is probably only going to grow in 2025 — as visitors want to experience the unique atmosphere up north, especially during the holiday season.

“It’s Christmas time and we would love to see the Northern Lights,” says Joy, a visitor from Bangkok. “Rovaniemi seems to be a good place.”

Antti Pakkanen, right, and Taina Torvela, members of a Rovaniemi housing network, stand by the Kemijoki River, in Rovaniemi, Finland, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/James Brooks)

Tourists gather at Santa Claus Village, a winter-themed amusement park perched on the edge of the Arctic Circle, in Rovaniemi, Finland, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/James Brooks)

Tourists visit Santa Claus Village, a winter-themed amusement park perched on the edge of the Arctic Circle, in Rovaniemi, Finland, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/James Brooks)

Tourists visit Santa Claus Village, a winter-themed amusement park perched on the edge of the Arctic Circle, in Rovaniemi, Finland, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/James Brooks)

Tourists visit Santa Claus Village, a winter-themed amusement park perched on the edge of the Arctic Circle, in Rovaniemi, Finland, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/James Brooks)

Tourists gathered at Santa Claus Village, a winter-themed amusement park perched on the edge of the Arctic Circle, in Rovaniemi, Finland, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/James Brooks)