Multi-million $ gypsy fortune teller in Virginia City Montana

[41magsnub]

Really cool and not for sale!  I remember seeing this when I was a kid and getting a little freaked out by it.

http://helenair.com/news/state-and-regional/rare-find-discovered-amid-town-s-old-west-kitsch/article_e1247c5a-424e-5e0a-a1ca-050aee84a91e.html

From the article though...  

That dismissal has set collectors grumbling. Theo Holstein, a California collector and renovator of such machines, said he thinks the Gypsy is wasted in Virginia City and should be placed in a private collection for proper care. He said he is trying to gather investors to make a $3 million bid that would top Copperfield's offer.

"They don't have any idea what they have. It's like they have the world's best diamond and they just pulled it out of their mineshaft," Holstein said. "It's good that it's there and it survived, but now it really needs to be part of the world."

Wasted huh?  Because it will be "part of the world" in some rich guys basement?

[just Warren]

ONLY I CAN GIVE HER THE LOVE SHE WANTS AND DESERVES!!!

[Hawkmoon]

The state agency that oversees the commission, meanwhile, is not so quick to reject the idea of selling the Gypsy. Department of Commerce deputy director Andrew Poole said he has not seen any offers in writing, and if one were made, it would go through a bid process that includes the scrutiny of the commission and input from the public.

  "Bid process"?

A public bid process is when a party (in this case a public agency) WANTS to sell or buy) something, and they solicit offers from interested buyers (or sellers). Those offers are "bids."

If I send an unsolicited letter to some agency in my state's government and I offer them $100 to buy a Hewlett-Packard color LaserJet that's worth ten times that, do you think they'll put my offer through a "bid process"? Highly unlikely. More likely is that they'll ignore it completely, or maybe send a response that the item is not for sale.

Why is the Gypsy any different?

[Harold Tuttle]

Copperfield should offer to fund a museum in Virginia City