A JUMBLE sale find for an American turned into millions when he Googled the name of the egg-shaped ornament he picked up that he had intended to melt down.

The missing Imperial Egg of 1887 was discovered in 2011 and the cash-strapped man was initially disappointed as he had been unable to shift the tiny golden egg on for a profit.

It was then that he tapped into his computer the name engraved on the back ‘Vacheron Constantin’ and the word ‘egg’ and he came to this Daily Telegraph article describing a ‘frantic search’ for this Third Imperial Easter Egg made by Fabergé for the Russian royal family.

The man contacted Wartski, a UK jeweller considered one of the best Fabergé experts in the world, and flew to London to their Mayfair headquarters.

Kieran McCarthy of Wartski said he had little warning about the visit as CNN reported.

“A gentleman had walked in wearing jeans, a plaid shirt and trainers. His mouth was just dry with fear,” McCarthy said. “He handed me a portfolio of photographs, and there was the egg, the Holy Grail of art and antiques.”

McCarthy said, he was “buzzing from top to toe.” He then flew to the man’s home and confirmed that it was indeed the Third Imperial Egg.

McCarthy then explained how the man had picked up the item for its scrap metal value.

“He didn’t look upon a work of art at all. He saw that it was pretty and it was nice, but he was buying on intrinsic value. He bought and sold. … This was quite a considerable outlay for him,” he said. “The essence of Faberge’s work is craftsmanship. It’s the beauty of design and the conceiving of that object.

“It’s a very delicate and small object, and people never anticipate that Faberge eggs can be that size,” he said, instead imagining them to be “the size of the Empire State Building, with diamonds the size of footballs.”

After reading the Telegraph article and speaking to Wartski’s, the buyer could barely believe what he was in possession of.

“He was just getting frantic. He couldn’t sleep, he couldn’t eat, he couldn’t think about anything else.”

The third egg ever created, originally intended as Tsar Alexander III’s 1887 Easter gift to his wife, Tsarina Maria Feodorovna, teetered on the edge of being melted down as scrap in the United States.

Measuring 8.2 centimetres (3.2 inches) in size, this egg stands upon an ornate gold pedestal supported by lion paw feet. Adorned with three sapphires, golden garlands gracefully hang around it, while a diamond serves as the mechanism to open the egg and reveal the hidden treasure within—a Vacheron Constantin watch.

Believed to have been lost after the Soviets listed it for sale in 1922 during their ‘treasures into tractors’ campaign, the egg was rediscovered in 2011 by Faberge researchers who recognised it in a 1964 auction catalog. This exciting revelation rejuvenated hopes that the egg had survived, leading to the publication of an article in The Telegraph.

Following the Revolution, 42 of the imperial eggs found their way into private collections and museums, while eight, including the Third Imperial Egg, were presumed lost. Two others are believed to have survived, their current whereabouts shrouded in mystery.

The remaining five eggs, McCarthy stated with confidence, were most likely destroyed, as there are no records or mentions of them after the Revolution. The Third Imperial Egg has now been acquired by a private collector who generously allowed the public to catch a glimpse of its splendour at Wartski’s. However, it will soon vanish from general view once again.

McCarthy summed up the story.

“We are antique dealers, so we doubt everything but this story is so wonderful you couldn’t really make it up – it is beyond fiction and in the legends of antique dealing, there is nothing quite like this.”

If you are heading to a jumble sale do keep your eyes peeled as there a number of these priceless golden easter eggs still missing.

It is considered thought that some may be lost forever, perhaps broken up and sold or maybe melted down over the years.

Originally over 50 of the Imperial Eggs were made,  ten these are believed to be on the Kremlin, but maybe up to eight are still missing. Good luck!