Hoax Or Not?

[waitew]

I don't how 'Fortean' this is but it's a true story that happened to one my sisters.
In the early 1970's two of my sisters who were then about 14 or 15 years old had managed to save up some money & went shopping at an antique shop in Bellflower California USA.
One of my sister bought a victorian era jewellry box.When she got home she decided to clean it up a bit & found a hidden compartment.In it was a 'Buffalo head' nickle,a hand written note on old yellowed paper & a couple dozen beads.
The note said that the beads were from a tribe of native American 'indians' that no longer exists & that only a few hundred of these beads exist in the world & that they are extremely valuable.
Not knowing what to make of this story my mother took the beads to a local jeweller.He examined them & said he,"hadn't seen anything like them before" & he didn't know what they were made of.
that's basically the end of the story.My sister claims she still has the beads 'someplace'......meaning if she really tore her house apart she Might be able to find them.
I've often wondered from time to time if it's just a hoax or if there's anything to it.Any thoughts?

 

[ArthurASCII]

How can one form an opinion based on the scant information you have provided?
Why not simply do some investigation yourself?
Contact you sister and find out some more info. Perhaps she'll let you borrow the box and its contents.
On a sceptical note, I'm always a bit wary of stories in which people find potentially "extremely valuable" items, then leave them lying around without verifying their true worth.

 

[waitew]

They've been lying around for thirty years because the 'authority' we showed them to didn't know anything about them or think they were valuable. We assumed it must be a hoax.
If I can get them from my sisiter where should I take them?Another jeweller?or someone else?

 

[ArthurASCII]

If I can get them from my sisiter where should I take them?Another jeweller?or someone else?

I suggest that you take them to a museum where there is a curator who specialises in Amerindian artifacts.

Posting a photo or two on this thread might also help. There seem to be some learned posters on this board.