FRESNO, Calif. -- Rick Norsigian, a goateed 64-year-old maintenance worker who has spent most of his life living in the same house on a quiet street in Fresno, has long had a penchant for collecting antiques. His hobby may have paid off in a big way.

Norsigian and his attorney announced Tuesday that 60 glass negatives Norsigian bought at a yard sale in Fresno a decade ago for $45 are the early works of famed photographer Ansel Adams. One appraiser said recently that because they were created between 1919 and the early 1930s -- a time before Adams became wildly popular -- they are worth more than their weight in gold: at least $200 million.

"When I found out about the value, that made my legs start to shake a little bit," Norsigian, who is a painter for the Fresno Unified School District, said by phone from his attorney's Los Angeles office on Tuesday. He was conducting his 12th interview of the day and still had more scheduled. "I never thought in a million years that they would have a value that high."

But not everyone believes the fairy-tale story of an average Joe who stumbles across a long-lost treasure. Most notably, Matthew Adams, the photographer's grandson and president of the Ansel Adams Gallery, said Tuesday that he has viewed the glass negatives and doesn't believe they are his grandfather's work.

"There's no way to prove absolutely one way or another," he said. "I call into serious question some of the evidence they've presented."

The $200 million estimate was made by David Streets, a Beverly Hills appraiser and art dealer. But Adams says that even if they were real, they would not be worth that much. He said prints of his grandfather's photos are much more valuable than the negatives, because they represent a photographer's finished work. If the appraisal for Norsigian's glass plates is accurate, then the 40,000 negatives stored in Adams' archives would be worth billions of dollars, Adams said.

Norsigian's attorney, Arnold Peter, said there is clear proof the glass negatives are authentic:

Two handwriting experts have confirmed that notes on envelopes holding the 6-1/2 by 8-1/2 inch negatives were written by Adams' wife, Virginia Adams.

One of the photographs captures a scene that has cloud formations and shadows that are almost identical to those in an authenticated Adams photo, according to a meteorologist who examined the negative. That indicates that the photo in Norsigian's collection was taken at about the same time as the authenticated one.

All of the photos "show some connection to Adams," Peter said. They include pictures of Yosemite, Carmel and Fisherman's Wharf -- all places Adams frequently photographed.

How the negatives ended up at a yard sale is a mystery. Norsigian said the person who sold them said that they had been stored in an abandoned Los Angeles warehouse. He since has lost contact with that person, however.

Norsigian guesses that Adams stored the negatives in the warehouse while he taught in Los Angeles in the 1940s. Some of the negatives appear to have been singed by fire -- evidence that they may have been salvaged from a collection of Adams' work that was damaged by a 1937 fire.

In October, Peter and Norsigian were in Clovis showing off the photos to local news media. Not much has changed since then. Peter had a second handwriting expert validate the notes on the envelopes as written by Virginia Adams. He also had a photography expert and an art expert view the negatives -- both said that from an artistic perspective, the glass plates were consistent with Adams' work. But the main reason Peter chose to make the announcement now is because he believes that there's simply enough proof.

"When you're doing an investigation, you can always find more evidence," he said. "At some point you have to say you have enough."

But Matthew Adams says more proof is needed. He doesn't believe the handwriting on the envelopes belongs to Virginia Adams because of several misspellings of Yosemite landmarks she would have been familiar with. To prove their age, Adams said, the negatives should be carbon-dated.

Peter says he'd be willing to carbon-date the negatives as long as Matthew Adams promises to authenticate the negatives if tests show they came from the early 20th century. For now, Peter said, he has no plans to subject the negatives to such testing.

Steve Dzerigian, a retired Fresno City College photography instructor who knows the Adams family, questions whether the negatives are authentic. He said he's skeptical of Norsigian's theory of how they ended up in a yard sale, noting that most photographers are very careful to keep track of their negatives.

"The mystery to me is how they would be out of his possession," Dzerigian said.

But Norsigian believes there's a good chance the art world will accept the negatives as authentic originals. Although he plans to sell them eventually, he first wants to give the public get a chance to view them -- and perhaps generate more publicity.

Norsigian and Peter are planning a series of exhibits -- the first one is scheduled for Oct. 14 at California State University, Fresno. Peter said the exhibit will also include the screening of a documentary that is being made about Norsigian's discovery.

After the exhibits, Norsigian said, he hopes to cash in on the negatives and buy a home on the coast to escape the Valley's summer heat.

"I'm just hoping that good things will hopefully start falling in line," he said. "I've had enough bad things happen. I'm due for some good things."

A woman who lives in Norsigian's northeast Fresno neighborhood said she was surprised to hear that the negatives may be worth $200 million. She's known Norsigian since she moved into the area 35 years ago and described him as a "great guy."

"Well, heck, he's done better than win the lottery," said neighbor Patricia Worthington. "I'm happy for him. He's a very lucky person."

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