Sold in a hard time, returned as a gift: Joe Perry's '59 Les Paul

Not every separation is theft. Joe Perry's tobacco-burst 1959 Gibson Les Paul was his weapon through Aerosmith's late-'70s peak — it's the guitar in the Live! Bootleg gatefold. When Perry left the band in 1979 amid turmoil and money trouble, the Les Paul had to go.

It began a journey of its own: a Boston guitarist bought it from a shop for $4,200, sold it on to a jazz player, and it landed with guitarist Eric Johnson — who recognized it as Perry's and offered it back for $8,000. Perry, still broke, couldn't afford his own guitar. Johnson eventually sold it, and the trail went dark.

Then Aerosmith's Brad Whitford opened a guitar magazine, saw a spread of Slash's collection, and pointed at the middle of the photo: "I know where it is." Slash — who had fallen in love with that exact guitar as a kid staring at the Live! Bootleg artwork — had bought it after Guns N' Roses hit big, and played it for years. He was in no hurry to give it up; the standoff reportedly strained the friendship. In the end, Slash returned it to Perry as a birthday gift. Perry has said he'll never part with it again.

The lo.st takeaway: this guitar passed through at least five owners, and the only reason it came home is that its history was legible to the people holding it — one recognized it, one saw it in a magazine, one was a lifelong fan. Most items don't get famous. A registered identity gives an ordinary item the same recoverability a legendary one gets for free.