Salesman Sample Plow, ca. 1895
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GUEST:
A plow salesman gave this to my husband's great-grandfather, who owned a hardware store.
APPRAISER:
Well, the wording here, which is very hard to read, but it says "Bissell Plow, South Bend, Indiana." Well, lets see what was in here, in this very unusually shaped box. So it opened up, and there's this wonderful pull-behind plow. And it's just amazing, and the box is astounding too. It's cast iron, nickel-plated. Dates from around 1900, turn of the century. Who's this?
GUEST:
This is the great-grandfather that started the business, and this is my husband's older brother in 1937, and here's the sample plow.
APPRAISER:
Now, we see a lot of salesman sample plows. An average plow like this, auction biddings could be anywhere from $600 to $800. But what makes this one special, just like toys, we like the original boxes. So this means a lot, and I would say at auction, with the box, we're probably looking around $1,200 to $1,500. And I'm so glad you brought it in.
GUEST:
Thank you.
Appraisal Details
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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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