$23K wedding ring returned after mistakenly sold at garage sale

The lesson of this story: If you're going to sell something like a container or box at a garage sale, make sure you carefully empty out all of its contents beforehand.

Eric Cloutier of Orange County, California learned the hard way recently when he accidentally sold a large watch box that contained his wife's ring wedding, worth $23,000, CBS Los Angeles reported Friday.

His wife, Racquel, had previously placed the ring underneath the box's cushions for safekeeping prior to going to the hospital to give birth to her fifth child.

However, her husband didn't know about the ring in the box. A day after their baby was born, Eric sold the box for $10 at a garage sale in San Joaquin Hills.

"I saw this big box in my closet. It had been there for over a year, probably worth about $120, $130 dollars," he said. "I don't need it. I don't use it. I brought it downstairs, I looked quick in it and there was nothing."

However, there is good news in the end -- the person who bought the box discovered the ring and returned it. "We got the ring back. I am so surprise, it is getting me faith on people again," Eric announced on Twitter Friday.