by KYW's Amy Feldman

A now former employee of the New York Department of Education was arrested recently for allegedly stealing hundreds of historical documents, including a letter written by John Calhoun, the vice-president under Andrew Jackson—and then selling them on Ebay.  The bidding on the Calhoun letter reached $1700 before the bidder realized it had been stolen and notified authorities. But what happens if you buy an item with no notice that it was stolen only to find out after the sale.  Who gets to keep it?

A stolen item that is later recovered goes back to the original owner, even if the new buyer had no notice that it was stolen and paid good money for it.  So how do you protect yourself?  If you’re on an auction site that offers buyer’s protection, take advantage of it, at least for the big ticket items. And use common sense.  If the deal is from an unknown buyer and is unboxed, bought at midnight from the back of a truck you can be pretty sure it’s stolen so you risk losing it if the real owner finds out.  You need to ask about its history before plunking down the money even if you’re not buying a historical document.