Family Record with Photos, ca. 1865
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APPRAISER:
Childhood days, courtship, going to school, our wedding day, and all the different scenes evoking something very typical of an American life. Well, the fact of the matter is we can date this object by the different photographs that appear. This is an example of a carte de visite. It's a French term that is translated as "a calling card." And here we see Miles Hughes's name. His wife, Mary Hughes, is depicted in another photographic technique that was also introduced in the 1860s, 1870s called a tintype. That's a unique photographic portrait. So these darker images are tintypes. And these brownish images are carte de visites, albumin calling cards. Of course, the information written in the key also allows us to date this piece. The images down here of the children are really cute, really desirable. In a photographic marketplace, those would probably have the most value if they were sold individually. But what's unique about this is the condition. The fact that it is in its original frame, that it's a marvelous example of pop photographica and vernacular photography. How much did you pay for this piece?
GUEST:
I paid $60.
APPRAISER:
In a gallery setting, I would imagine a work like this would be somewhere between $1,200 and $1,400.
GUEST:
Oh, amazing. Very good, thank you. Thank you very much.
Appraisal Details
Executive producer Marsha Bemko shares her tips for getting the most out of ANTIQUES ROADSHOW.
Value can change: The value of an item is dependent upon many things, including the condition of the object itself, trends in the market for that kind of object, and the location where the item will be sold. These are just some of the reasons why the answer to the question "What's it worth?" is so often "It depends."
Note the date: Take note of the date the appraisal was recorded. This information appears in the upper left corner of the page, with the label "Appraised On." Values change over time according to market forces, so the current value of the item could be higher, lower, or the same as when our expert first appraised it.
Context is key: Listen carefully. Most of our experts will give appraisal values in context. For example, you'll often hear them say what an item is worth "at auction," or "retail," or "for insurance purposes" (replacement value). Retail prices are different from wholesale prices. Often an auctioneer will talk about what she knows best: the auction market. A shop owner will usually talk about what he knows best: the retail price he'd place on the object in his shop. And though there are no hard and fast rules, an object's auction price can often be half its retail value; yet for other objects, an auction price could be higher than retail. As a rule, however, retail and insurance/replacement values are about the same.
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