Without a good backstory, many of the most famous and valuable collectibles would be little more than forgotten knickknacks.
That T206 Honus Wagner card worth millions? If it wasn’t for its legendary rarity and the many unbelievably dramatic tales of individual copies passing through the hands of criminals, nuns and world-famous athletes, it might not even be Wagner’s most valuable card.
The Inverted Jenny stamp, which has sold for $2 million in the past, is only valuable due to the error which led it to be pulled from production.
And so on.
But surely, with art, the most established and mainstream collectible category, this isn’t true. Art collecting is based on the merits of the artists and the technique and talent inherent in the work, right?
Well, prior to this day in 1911, most people would have never heard of “The Mona Lisa.”
Until it was stolen from the Louvre in Paris.
Painted in 1507 by Leonardo da Vinci, it would take more than three centuries before the Mona Lisa earned masterpiece status in the 1860s. Still, it wasn’t as if your average Joe could recognize it.
As historian James Zug says to All Things Considered host Guy Raz, "The 'Mona Lisa' wasn't even the most famous painting in its gallery, let alone in the Louvre.”
After it was discovered to be lost, lines formed outside the museum just to see the empty space on the wall where it once resided! pic.twitter.com/mZaQM0t7NG
— Will Stern (@Will__Stern) August 21, 2025
Yet it was the target of the three Italian handymen who pulled off one of the most famous heists in history.
The trio hid after the museum’s closing in an art supply closet. Then they took the painting, frame and glass from the wall, slipped the canvas into a blanket and hopped on an early-morning express train out of Paris.
It would take more than a day for anyone to notice the missing spot on the wall.
So began a two-year manhunt that captivated the world — and would turn the “Mona Lisa” into the “Mona Lisa.”
It soon became a worldwide phenomenon. It made the front page of the New York Times.
Suddenly, images of the Mona Lisa were scattered across the globe, seen by more people than ever would have sought it out normally. Lines began forming outside the museum just to get a glimpse of the empty spot on the wall where the missing painting once hung. Franz Kafka is said to be one of the people in attendance.
All the while, the main culprit, Vincenzo Peruggia, had run into a snag: The painting had become too famous to sell.
During the investigation, the French police even investigated Pablo Picasso.
Finally, in 1913, Peruggia was caught trying to sell the painting to an art dealer in Florence. He would later claim the theft was an attempt to return the work to Italy in an act of patriotism — returning what had been stolen by Napoleon.
He received eight months in prison, and the Mona Lisa received a lifetime of fame.
“If a different one of Leonardo’s works had been stolen, then that would have been the most famous work in the world — not the Mona Lisa,” Noah Charney, professor of art history, told CNN.
Now think what would have happened boxes of 1952 Topps were never dumped from a barge in the Hudson River. Would Mickey Mantle’s most valuable card be his 1951 Bowman rookie?
If the rocket-firing Boba Fett prototype toy hadn’t been pulled from production, would the world’s most valuable toy be a Transformer instead?
A collectible might have value on its own merits, whether through rarity or other causes, but it’s the story that creates legends capable of surviving centuries.
Don’t believe it?
Try waiting in line today to see the “Mona Lisa” at the Louvre. With as many as 30,000 people attempting to catch a glimpse of the painting on any given day, it is clear the visitors are there for much more than just a canvas on a wall.
Will Stern is a reporter and editor for cllct, the premier company for collectible culture.