1902 American League Champions Photograph
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GUEST:
When my aunt unfortunately had to go into a nursing home and we cleaned out everything, this was one of many items in her garage, and we kept it. I don't know exactly how my aunt and uncle got it. I know it wasn't hanging in their house, but they did operate a pool hall on the town square in a little town in Indiana. So I feel sure that it came out of the poolroom because there were a lot of things hanging in there.
APPRAISER:
The American League was founded in 1901, and in 1902, this was the championship team, the Philadelphia A's. So Horner did a composite photo of the team. And he was well-known for this. This is Connie Mack. Connie Mack managed the A's for 50 years, 1901 to 1950. He retired after the 1950 season at 87.
GUEST:
Oh, my goodness.
APPRAISER:
And one reason why this team was so successful is this Hall of Famer right here, that's Eddie Plank. And Eddie Plank was the first great left-handed Major League pitcher, the first to win 300 games. And he played for Connie Mack from 1901 to 1914. So this is a great team, and it's a very rare photo. I've only been able to find one other, and it actually came from Eddie Plank's estate.
GUEST:
Oh!
APPRAISER:
This one I'd put an auction estimate of about $10,000 to $15,000 on it.
GUEST:
Well, that's great. That's amazing.
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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