A sculpture by the late artist Elisabeth Frink that's estimated to be worth about $72,000 was found at a flea market-like sale in the U.K. for a fraction of the price.
The BBC show "Fake or Fortune" shared the story in a recent episode.
Amanda Kirke discovered the 12-inch tall sculpture at a trunk sale in the Essex countryside where people sell goods out of their cars.
Kirke bought the "hunk of metal" for just $108, Fake Or Fortune host and art dealer Philip Mould told Antiques Trade Gazette.
It was dirty, but "the owner ran it under a tap and the name Elisabeth Frink came up," Mould said.
Kirke's initial search on the internet brought up a similar looking figure titled "Small Warrior," a 10 figure series produced by Frink in 1956, one of which was once owned by David Bowie.
To determine if she had an original, Kirke contacted "Fake or Fortune" for help. The team analyzed the metal "using scientific analysis and the latest laser-scanning technology, together with the expert opinion" and was able to verify the piece was authentic.
"We had to find the other versions in this series to compare. It was like narrowing down suspects in a murder hunt or a detective trail," Mould told the Gazette. "We were able to establish it came from same ingot that made the others we had found. In a sense we able to fingerprint the piece of bronze."
During the research, the team found five other sculptures from the same "Small Warrior" series, according to the Gazette.