Woman discovers $5,000 portrait of JFK hidden behind old horse picture she bought for $5 at yard sale

Lucky break: Pan Dwyer, of Sun City, Arizona, bought a horse drawing for $5, which was covering up a valuable sketch of JFK

They say that one man's trash is another man's treasure.

An Arizona woman has just discovered that a $5 horse drawing she bought at a yard sale was covering up a portrait of President John F. Kennedy that could be worth $5,000.



Pam Dwyer and her husband found the drawing of the mule pleasing enough but her husband had a 'gut feeling' that there could be something else packed into the picture frame.

Unimpressive: The nondescript picture of a horse came in this rickety picture frame, but it contained something far more valuable than what met the eye

'We just picked it up and brought it home and never really went through it,' Pam Dwyer told KPHO-TV about the piece of art work they purchased at a sale in the retirement community of Sun City.

Though the animal drawing was nice, she said her husband said that he had a 'gut feeling that there's something behind that.'

When they arrive home, they discovered there was a hidden treasure - a portrait of the late President Kennedy from 1961.

'I was just in awe of the detail, and the likeness, and that it was an original,' Dwyer said.

Hidden treasure: The hidden drawing from 1961 was by Carmelo Soraci, who was a prolific art forger

She found out that the artist was Carmelo Soraci, who was a prolific art forger who was jailed for his crime.

But while he was behind bars he began cultivating his own talent.

'He was best known for the stained glass artwork he created when he was in prison, actually,' Dwyer said.

'There are those surprise treasures those things people can find, and then of course there's the hit and miss,' said art appraiser Lisa Barnes, who works in Anthem.

Profit: Pam Dwyer (left) took the drawing to a local art appraiser Lisa Barnes (right) who estimated it could be sold for up to $5,000

'This particular artist doesn't have a history of sales,' Barnes said but she said, 'someone like the Smithsonian would buy this because of the merit of how he captured and he depicted JFK,'

Barnes appraised the portrait at $2,500 to $5,000.

'I'm happy with how much she was impressed by it,' Dwyer said.

Though Dwyer is pleased with the discovery, she said she is willing to part with the piece of history.

'I'll probably sell it, you know we've been on hard times,' she said.