He asked the auctioneer to send close-up photographs of the identification plate.
The auctioneer complied.
Two days later, the broker called back.
His tone was different.
“Do you know what you've got?”
The auctioneer looked toward the tractor through his office window.
“Old Deere, isn't it?”
The broker laughed.
“Maybe more than that.”
He explained that the plate appeared to identify an experimental test machine connected with early-1950s agricultural engineering trials.
Such machines were difficult to authenticate.
Many had been dismantled, modified, or lost.
But a genuine surviving prototype with complete provenance could attract serious interest from collectors and museums.
The auctioneer became very still.
“What kind of interest?”
The broker hesitated.
“Depending on documentation, potentially a great deal.”
“How much?”
“I wouldn't put a number on it without inspecting it.”
The auctioneer pressed.
“Give me a range.”
The broker sighed.
“If it's genuinely one of the missing test units, and the records support the history, collectors could be talking about tens of thousands of dollars. Possibly more.”
The auctioneer stared at the tractor.
Only a few minutes earlier, he had considered it scrap.
Now he saw an opportunity.
He asked whether the broker would be interested in purchasing the machine privately.
The broker said he would inspect it first.
The auctioneer promised to send additional information.
Then he ended the call.
For nearly an hour, he sat in his office thinking.
The estate had hired him to sell its equipment.
His responsibility was to conduct the sale honestly and account for the proceeds.
But the tractor had been listed as ordinary farm scrap.
If he acquired it cheaply through someone he knew, he could potentially resell it for a substantial profit.
The temptation grew.
He contacted Earl Dawson, a large farmer who regularly bought inexpensive equipment at his auctions.
Earl was known for purchasing broken machinery, repairing what he could, and selling the remainder for parts.
The auctioneer had worked with him for years.
He suggested that Earl bid on Lot 47.
“What's special about it?” Earl asked.
“Nothing. Just an old tractor.”
“Then why do you want it?”
The auctioneer hesitated.
“I may have a buyer for the parts.”
Earl laughed.