In the latest thrift store find story, a print titled "Red Nose" caught the eye of Karen Mallet at a Goodwill in Milwaukee. She took the piece home for $12.34. An appraisal revealed the find was an Alexander Calder lithograph worth about $9,000.

Goodwill officials say that other notable finds at their stores have been spotted by employees and sold at auction for high sums.

— In 2009, a painting by Utah artist Maynard Dixon donated in Santa Rosa, Calif., sold for $70,001.

— In 2008, a Baltimore-area Goodwill store netted $40,600 from a Parisian street scene painted by Impressionist Edouard-Leon Cortes.

— In 2006, a Frank Weston Benson oil painting donated anonymously in Portland, Ore., brought in $165,002 — Goodwill’s top haul so far.

Mallet says she will keep her Calder because it's grown on her.