Woman Gets Back $10,000 in Jewels She Sold for a Dime

A woman has her $10,000 in jewels back today, two months after they were mistakingly sold for a dime at a suburban Rochester garage sale.

Inese Rencis, 64, said she cried and kissed the woman who responded to news reports and classified ads describing the missing jewels, which had been stored in a cookie tin for safe keeping.

“I’m proud to see there’s still honest people in America. I just want to say, ‘Thank you,’ ” said Rencis, a native of Latvia.

Fearing burglars, Rencis had temporarily hidden the jewels in the cookie tin because she couldn’t afford to have them insured. She later forgot about them and sold the tin for 10 cents at a friend’s garage sale in June.

The woman who returned the jewels would not identify herself to Rencis but did accept a reward of about $100.