C.P. Huntington Anecdote

Bill Bonner writes in The Daily Reckoning on May 7, 2008, the following anecdote about C.P. Huntington:

"One day in 1880, a dealer proposed to Collis P. Huntington, one of the founders of the Central Pacific Railroad … and the state of California, a certain number of old paintings, unsigned, at $2000 each. Huntington chose one, The guitar player, and paid $750 for it. Later, experts attributed the painting to Vermeer.

'I saw the money in it,' said Huntington."

[Courtesy Google Alerts.]