In a series of unexpected twists, a thrifter made one of the coolest and probably most unique secondhand finds: a cast-metal pizza trinket masquerading as pure gold — that was created by a famous artist.
Yes, you heard right.
Featured in the subreddit, r/ThriftStoreHauls, one Redditor shared photos of the golden slice of pizza as well as screenshots of similar pieces on eBay and a potential explanation.
The photos make the pizza seem fairly realistic as gold, and the detailed toppings and an intricate design on the bottom help. But the screenshot of an article from Doctor Decorum confirms that the piece is indeed fake gold, but it was likely created by famous artist Ted Arnold.
Arnold is an American postwar and contemporary artist, and his pieces have sold at auctions for anywhere between $15 and $4,000. One of the artist's fake gold pizzas was recently listed for $538, according to a listing shared by the Redditor. A similar Arnold fake gold fried chicken drumstick previously sold on 1stdibs for $539.
So even though this thrifter didn't get a chunk of pure gold for $2, they did get an awesome and unique piece of art that was at least inspired by a famous artist.
"I'm going to keep it as a 'trophy,' " the Redditor informed commenters. "It looks like gold-plated brass. It's SUPER HEAVY so whatever the base metal is, it is solid," they said.
This odd piece of pizza is a fantastic example of how much fun thrifting can be. Obviously, there's always an appeal in affordable clothes, shoes, and furniture, but you also truly never know what unique or high-value items you'll find. Whether it's an intricately made gold piece of pizza or 14 karat-gold pearl earrings in a 50-cent jewelry box, you're always in for a surprise.
Shopping secondhand is also great for the environment — it's probably the simplest form of recycling there is.
Instead of letting your metal trinkets like this pizza end up in a landfill, where they could take up to 500 years to decompose, you can sell it to someone else who will value it and who will be able to buy it at a low price.
Many of the comments on the post were amused and enjoyed learning about the find. "Wow, good job! Good find!" said one Redditor. Another wrote: "I'd mount this near my kitchen knife rack, it's great!"
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