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These jaw-dropping appraisals from years past will make you want to raid the attic or rush to the nearest estate sale.
Since its introduction in 1984, the column "What Is It? What Is It Worth?" has been a favorite of Country Living readers. With the help of our panel of antiques experts, we've assessed the value of nearly 2,000 items, ranging from dumpster dives to upscale pieces. The most popular item? Chairs. The oldest and most valuable item? Gold coins dating back to A.D. 117-161! Here, we've gathered our some of our highest valued appraisal, all worthy of the "What Is It? What Is It Worth?" Haul of Fame. (You know we never pass up a good pun.)
What to Know: “Your wooden bucket (probably white oak) is called Lehnware, after Joseph Lehn (1798-1892), a Pennsylvania artisan who painted everyday woodenware with repetitive floral and geometric sequences,” says appraiser Helaine Fendelman.
What It's Worth: $22,000 (appraised November 2001)
Market Report: “In today’s auction market, extreme rarities are breaking records left, right, and sideways. Pristine rare pieces by known makers, such as this Lehnware bucket or the Tiffany lamp (below), continue to rise in value.” — Appraiser Helaine Fendelman
What to Know: “Patterned ‘linoleum’ rugs like this 1940s nine-by-six-foot U.S. map example are quite rare,” appraiser James Supp of Coronado Trading Co. tells Antiques Roadshow’s Marsha Bemko. Although they were manufactured in the 1910s through the 1960s by Armstrong Linoleum, they were not actually made of linoleum, but from a felt base. Because the linseed coating used on top of the felt would dry up and crack, it’s hard to find them in good condition. James adds that these pieces were considered “kitschy,” which is still part of their current collecting appeal. What it's Worth: $2,000 (appraised June 2019)
What to Know: The first mechanical horse appeared about 1932, and by the 1960s, horses like yours were fixtures in front of shopping centers around the country, according to appraiser Bene Raia of Raia Auctioneers. “Merita had a long history of sponsorship of the Lone Ranger franchise, and your horse that was used to promote the radio show seems to be from the late 1940s or early ’50s and in great condition,” says Bene. “Both coin operated and non-coin-operated versions are very much in high demand.”
What it's Worth: $5,500 (appraised January/February 2018)
Market Report: “When it comes to toys, it’s those that bring nostalgia that have the most collecting value, whether it’s something like this storefront mechanical horse for an older collector, or Legos and Star Wars items for those in their 30s and 40s. For the younger generation, condition, documentation, and having all pieces intact is very important.” — Appraiser Bene Raia
What to Know: “Your table lamp appears to be a late-19th-century piece made early in Louis Comfort Tiffany’s career,” says appraiser Helaine Fendelman. “The leaded stained-glass shade is original; however, the finish on the copper base is not. It is highly polished and exhibits little evidence of any aging or patina. It is possible to have an artificial patina applied, but value declines dramatically—by at least 30 percent—when a new surface is added.”
What It's Worth: $12,000 (appraised November 2004)
What to Know: Your Yankee Doodle Dandy is an authentic cast-iron “Uncle Sam” mechanical bank made in the late 19th century by Buffalo, NY-based Shepard Hardware Company. Appraiser Helaine Fendelman shares that the company was founded by Walter J. and Charles G. Shepard in 1866 and originally produced tin horns. Their production of mechanical banks like yours began in 1882. Original cast-iron banks were made via a sand casting process: Pieces of a wooden or plaster frame were locked together, and then molten iron was poured into the mold. Fine sand allowed for meticulous detailing on the finished product. What it's Worth: $1,200 (appraised June 2019)
What to Know: Your lovely jumper-style carousel horse was made more than a century ago by the Kansas-based C. W. Parker Factory. Appraiser Helaine Fendelman says the company’s founder, Charles Wallace Parker, was fascinated by the amusement business and crafted everything from banners and band organs to carousels and the railroad cars that carried them. He even operated several traveling carnivals of his own. “Parker was probably best known for his line of jumping carousel horses,” says Helaine. One in excellent condition could bring as much as $30,000, but yours has replacement eyes and is lacking much of its original paint, negatively affecting its value. What it's Worth: 2,500 to $3,200 (appraised October 2018)
What to Know: “The owner of this pennant was a valiant supporter of women’s right to vote in the state of Maine,” says appraiser Helaine Fendelman. She’s known to have worked with Susan B. Anthony, who even personally thanked her for her work in the suffragette movement. Violet and yellow are the traditional colors of Women’s Right to Vote Movement banners, such as this one, but red, white, and blue examples also exist. “This pennant is considered a large piece of fabric memorabilia and is, therefore, rare and eagerly collected,” says Helaine. “Because you are able to trace this piece back to a known suffragette, it also takes on added value due to its history of ownership.” She notes that the pennant’s pristine condition may make some antiques collectors shy away because so many fakes abound in today’s marketplace. What It's Worth: $5,500 (appraised November 2019)
What to Know: British painter Charles Gregory (1810-1896) was renowned for his realistic yacht portraits. “His work typically sells in the $3,000 range, but this one is worth more due to the scene it depicts,” says Marsha Bemko, Antiques Roadshow executive producer, who consulted with show appraiser Aaron Bastian. Your painting shows the America’s Cup yacht race in 1870, during which the United States’ Magic defeated the British vessel Cambria. (The victory began a U.S. winning streak that lasted until 1983.)
What it's Worth: $10,000 (appraised November 2014)
What to Know: You may have hit the jackpot! Heritage Auctions’ Marsha Dixey checked in with colleague David Michaels, who says you’ve purchased Roman coins called “aurei” (the singular is “aureus”). Like all Roman Imperial coins, the obverse (front) of each coin depicts an image of the emperor, his wife, or immediate family (son, daughter, or chosen heir). The reverse (back) of the coin was reserved for propaganda promoting peace, stability, good fortune, and victory in battle.
What it's Worth: $28,000 for a set of 4 (appraised January/February 2017)
Market Report: “About every 30 years, a new generation of collectors turns the antiques focus to new categories, but measurable genres, such as precious metals like coins, will always remain strong.” — Appraiser Marsha Dixey
What to Know: “Your salesman’s sample is from the Albion Union Windmill Company of Albion, Michigan, founded in 1876 by L.J. Wolcott, an inventor of several windmill designs,” says appraiser Helaine Fendelman. “The wooden replica is an exact scale model of one of the 10-foot to 12-foot-tall windmills that farmers used to pump water. Salesman’s samples are desirable and valuable, especially those with their original parts.”
What it's Worth: $3,500 (appraised February 2006)
What to Know: Dollhouses date back to the mid-16th century, when they were called “baby houses.” “Most dollhouses from the 20th century, such as yours, are galvanized and painted tin and manufactured by companies like Marx in the U.S. and Märklin in Germany,” says appraiser Helaine Fendelman. “Yours is intricately constructed by a skilled craftsman, which, along with its large size, makes it unusual.” She adds that if your house were furnished, the value would be even more! What it's Worth: $1,200 (appraised April 2018)
What to Know: “Crazy quilts are easily recognizable because of their various pieces of cloth in irregular shapes, sizes, and colors sewn together in what appears to be random patterns,” says appraiser Helaine Fendelman. “Swatches of cotton, wool, and silk were collected—an early form of recycling—and joined together by hand-sewn embroidery, then sewn onto cloth backing.” Dates, initials, and decorative elements such as flowers were often embroidered or appliquéd onto the individual cloth pieces. She also tells us there was an intense interest in these crazy quilts from about 1876 to 1900, and then again in the middle part of the 20th century.
What it's Worth: $2,500 (appraised October 2021)
What to Know: Apprasier Helaine Fendelman tells us a classic pocket globe is a very small terrestrial world globe about the size of an average baseball, held in a protective round case that’s covered in a pebbled fish skin material. Inside the case are usually two star celestial maps showing the zodiac signs and other constellations. The maps (or gores) on the globe and in the case are hand-colored engraved paper, which is then varnished. “Your decidedly rare and wonderful piece is a classic English pocket globe made by the prolific Lane manufacturer,” says Helaine. “Nicholas Lane began making pocket globes in the 1770s. Your heirloom is thought to have been produced circa the 1830s by his successors using the Lane name, based on scholarship about an identically named ‘Lane’s Improved Globe’ in England’s National Maritime Museum.” What it's Worth: $10,000 (appraised September 2020)
What to Know: Antiques Roadshow executive producer Marsha Bemko shared your family treasure with appraiser James Supp of Coronado Trading Co., who tells us, “Until recently, hand-painted signs were everywhere, from storefronts to the sides of buildings. The style of your wonderful sign dates it to sometime around 1930 to 1940. Unfortunately, I can’t find anything about the painter of the sign, Fayer, but this is not uncommon, as most of the painters were trade workers. Advertising art is still a very strong area of collecting, and hand-painted signs have always been in high demand. The most sought-after—and most valuable—are signs from known businesses or historic locations and, for Boston, you can’t get a more historic shopping location than Faneuil Hall Marketplace, where this sign for your father’s cousin’s meat stall hung.”
What it's Worth: $3,000 – $4,000 (appraised November 2020)
Market Report: “Appraiser James Supp recently told me that using advertising signs as home and business decor has opened up a whole new market for dealers and collectors, with demand far outstripping supply. He says even 1970s and ’80s signs are rising in value.” — Marsha Bemko, Antiques Roadshow
What to Know: “Beginning with President George Washington, presidential china reflected the personal and public taste of the time,” says appraiser Helaine Fendelman. In 1845, James K. Polk became the 11th president of the United States. In 1846, the Polk State Service was purchased for $979 through the New York dry goods merchant Alexander Stewart & Co. The Parisian firm Edouard Honoré produced the 400 rococo-style dinner and dessert pieces, which are considered to be among the most beautiful of all presidential china. Polk's china features a green border, molded and gilded scrolls, and assorted floral motifs. This rare Polk State Service dessert plate has an elegant sweet pea and violet floral motif. What it's Worth: $25,000 (appraised January 2009); $5,000 (appraised September 2018)
What to Know: We checked in with appraiser Bene Raia, and she says this heirloom appliance is worth some cold hard cash! “Your icebox was made by the Bohn Syphon Company around the turn of the century [1910 to 1920],” she says. “The company used a white porcelain enamel lining because it had proven superior in preventing food contamination.” She notes that due to its size and pristine condition, it’s one cool find. What it's Worth: $3,800 (appraised November 2017)
What to Know: Your gliding rocking chair was made by the Heywood-Wakefield company, which formed at the turn of the last century when Heywood Brothers merged with Wakefield Rattan Company. “Signed pieces with original labels bring premium prices,” says appraiser Bene Raia. “Ornate models like this one are also hard to find.”
What it's Worth: $4,000 (appraised November 2016)
What to Know: “Unlike the elaborate silverware of the late 19th century, most silver items made in the early 20th century are more plain in design, such as your ‘Dauphine’ tea set by Wallace Silversmiths,” appraiser Reid Dunavant of Doyle New York tells Antiques Roadshow’s Marsha Bemko. He adds that the style is typical of pieces inspired by the Colonial Revival craze going on in the early 20th century, in which examples of antique furniture and other decorations from the early 1800s were often reinterpreted for a contemporary, early-1900s audience. What it's Worth: $6,000 to $8,000 (appraised November 2021)
What to Know: “In 1903, Thomas Lee created the very first versions of the popular Adirondack chair for his family’s use at their Upstate New York home,” says appraiser Helaine Fendelman. Later that year, Lee shared his design with his friend, carpenter and shop owner Harry Bunnell, as a favor to help Bunnell bring in extra money during the off-season. Bunnell began making and selling the chairs, but—without telling Lee—also applied for and received the 1905 patent to manufacture his friend’s design, which he did under the H.C. Bunnell name for the next 25 years. Your piece was likely made around 1920 and is an early form of American Art Deco with roots in European Cubism and constructivism. “Because they were used outdoors, these chairs rarely survived,” says Helaine. “Yours still has most of its original paint, which is also rare.”
What it's Worth: $15,000 (appraised July/August 2018)
What to Know: “These circa-1940s croquet wickets are one-of-a-kind handmade objects that are considered Folk Art pieces,” says appraiser Helaine Fendelman. The figures stand about one foot high and are mounted on foot-high wire supports. The brightly painted, hand-carved wooden figures were made in Sabetha, Kansas, indicated by the town name on the hats of the postman and policeman. The wickets themselves are one inch thick and painted on the reverse.
What it's Worth: $1,800 (appraised May 2005)
What to Know: According to appraiser Helaine Fendelman, your beauty is an 1894 parlor stove by the Round Oak Stove Company. In the mid-1860s, when Philo D. Beckwith needed to heat his struggling Dowagiac, MI, company headquarters, he had his foundry cast the firm’s first heating stove. Later, in 1871, when the Michigan Central Railroad needed heaters for its train depots between Chicago and Detroit, they began purchasing Beckwith’s high-quality, durable cast-iron stoves. Thus began the Round Oak Stove Company. Beckwith’s stoves were considered the finest quality, best priced, and longest lasting, and for almost 50 years they made hundreds of Victorian parlor stoves, such as yours, for cooking or heating or both. “The stove’s shape helps identify its age,” says Helaine. “Round stoves with round bases like this one were made between 1871 and the 1920s. In addition, it is important to note that many imitation, lesser-quality ‘Oak’ stoves were made over the years.” What it's Worth: $1,500, in pristine condition (appraised March 2020)
What to Know: In the late 1800s, plumbing improvements prompted the use of new materials like steel (painted red and used on the outside of this one) and copper (used on the lining). Because this antique tub is water tight, it garners an estimate as handsome as its oak trim, explains Marsha Bemko, producer of Antiques Roadshow, who consulted with appraiser John Nye. What it's Worth: $2,200 (appraised May 2015)